HELP! Found baby mice, hopefully you all can help with them?

[ZuZuGirl13]

My friend found four baby mice, three seem okay, the fourth was originally thought dead but it's breathing, just not as active as the others, who are snuggling together. it pooped once since found, but I have no idea if that's a good sign or not. I'm not sure what to feed them. There's some puppy formula stuff left over, bought about two months ago, it's just born highly digestible milk replacer for puppies. will this work or is it bad? I have them in a box on a towel right now. I figured they didn't need a heat pad since it's kind of hot today, but should I anyway? PLease help! I'll upload pictures in a moment...

[CritterMom]

Baby mice are really, really hard. The closest to mama mouse milk is actually HUMAN baby soy formula - like soy Similac, which can be bought at any drug or grocery store.

Every 2 hours, round the clock. I have a pet deermouse that I raised and she almost killed me. Mice are heartbreakingly difficult. It CAN be done but the odds are against them.

[ZuZuGirl13]

So here they are. Tiny. Really tiny. I put down a quarter for reference. How on earth do I feed them? So, right now three are curled up asleep, and the fourth is crawling around exploring. 147839

Hey critter mom. Thanks. So what did you feed her with? A dropper or what?

[CritterMom]

A 1cc syringe with a motheriing silicone nipple and 2X power reading glasses:D There was some swearing involved, too.

[ZuZuGirl13]

Swearing I'm good at. It's the rest I'm worried about. I'm so scared to pick them up, their just so incredibly itty bitty! The explorer fell asleep and I scooped him up with one finger and moved him into the mouse pile. One finger! I don't know what the heck I'm going to do. Life doesn't exactly go on hold when you'd need it to, ya know? Plus, I'm so worried I'm going to accidentally crush them while trying to feed them. I didn't have to do this with my squirrel. When I got her she was already onto the solid foods.

[Nancy in New York]

Swearing I'm good at. It's the rest I'm worried about. I'm so scared to pick them up, their just so incredibly itty bitty! The explorer fell asleep and I scooped him up with one finger and moved him into the mouse pile. One finger! I don't know what the heck I'm going to do. Life doesn't exactly go on hold when you'd need it to, ya know? Plus, I'm so worried I'm going to accidentally crush them while trying to feed them. I didn't have to do this with my squirrel. When I got her she was already onto the solid foods.

If you could go to Squirrels and More, they have the perfect nipple for those little mouths.
Here is the site:
http://www.squirrelsandmore.com/product/856/mini-nipple-set.htm
Here is the nipple that you would attach to the end of the syringe, Chris also sells the .5 cc o ring syringe.
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[ZuZuGirl13]

Thanks. I'm looking into a store that has one. I need something now.

[Nancy in New York]

Thanks. I'm looking into a store that has one. I need something now.

I think it was either Squirrelsrule&bunniestoo or Nature's Gift that rigged up something for a baby bat. Let me check the threads....this may take a while, you might be better off ordering it from Chris before I get back....:D

[Nancy in New York]

OK I found it in SR&BT about her little bat that she had to rig something up to feed. Not sure if this will help you for now.

"While I am feeding him, I don't hold him, I just leave him cling to the blankie and feed him like that. His mouth is tiny, but he makes a little noise when he gets hungry and he opens and closes his mouth, so I have a tiny little end to a syringe that I use to feed him (it is actually the little plastic cover that goes over the big long needles, that is the only thing I could find that would fit in his mouth (little grey nipple was practically as big as his head!).

[Pierre]

It looks like their eyes are open, yes? And fully furred?

You could just get a tiny bowl and mix the formula with infant oatmeal cereal. It is really fine. They're old enough if their eyes are open to lap this up and be fine. No need to syringe feed. :D

They can also have rat blocks in the cage to chew on. :grouphug Will need the formula cereal for another ~2 weeks tho.

If their eyes aren't open, you'll have to use a syringe.

[ZuZuGirl13]

Good news. My friend found a rehab person to take them, so I dropped them off with her and she's taking them there. :)

[gs1]

it's easier to feed baby mice with a tiny (unused) paintbrush.....the kind used for caligraphy or art .....

here's the video ... this way they don't aspirate and get pneumonia.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDJSeAGgHbM

:grouphug

[pappy1264]

Have done the paintbrush with baby birds....never thought of it with baby mice! Good tip! Hope these little ones will make it, I can attest they are hard and will steal your heart completely!

[momma2boo]

A 1cc syringe with a motheriing silicone nipple and 2X power reading glasses:D There was some swearing involved, too.

I swear sometimes I wish there were "Like" buttons for the posts. If I had been drinking my coffee there would have been a "spit take".