Baby mole?

[Oscar]

Our dog brought a mole inside the house today. I want to keep him and take care of him, but I don't know how. Can anyone tell me what they eat and how to properly take care of him?

[NovaAlison23]

Does it have fur yet?

[Oscar]

Yeah...I don't know if color matters, but it's like a mix between dark brown and grey...mostly brown though

[pappy1264]

From the baby mammals book:

Moles are born with their eyes closed. Their ears are located inside the head, but they cannot hear at this age. Their skin is pink. Formula feed every hour.

1 week, continue to feed every hour.

2 weeks-fur develops

3 weeks eyes open

4 weeks wean.

5 weeks release.

Are you sure you have a mole? It says their birthing season is April to May. Shrew birthing season varies according to species, the range of the birthing season is March to November.

Formula 1 part KMR powder, 1/3 part Multi-Milk Powder adn 2 parts water. Because their metabolism is very high, feed mole and shrew babies every hour, until they are eating on their own. Cut back on feedings when they have begun to eat solids adn when they are not as willing to eat at each feeding.

Weaning diet:
In the first stages of weaning, offer baby food chicken, soaked cat chow and canned cat food. When this is accepted well, offer some of the following foods.
Earthworms
Grubs
Crickets
Mealworms, waxworms
Ground beef
Dog food
Mice

Because of their high metabolism, provide a constant supply of foods in the cage.

Natural diet:

Moles: Earworms, insects, grubs, spiders, larvae, pupae
Shrews: Earthworms, beetles insects, grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants, small rabbits voles and mice. They will eat what they can and cache the rest for later.

Release Criteria:
Rlease moles and shrews when they are fully weaned and eating on their own. Any time of day is appropriate. Moles are very territorial and will nto tolerate another adult in their area. Do not release young moles into an existing mole tunnel. Least shrews are more social and usually don't mind sharing a burrow.

Special Considerations:

They spend most of their time underground. They rely on their sense of smell and touch to find food as they have poor eyesight and hearing. Large aquariums can be appropriate cages if they are 'furnished' well. Provide a combination of approximately 6 inches of peat moss, leaf litters and soil and an assortment of PVC pipes and carboard tubes for the babies to use as tunnels. Move the animals to larger cages with small guage wire when they are weaned. Hollow logs are a good natural furnishing for their cage. Moles prefer sandy soils.

(Reuniting Stratagies: For burrowing or tunneling species reuniting is seldom an option. The babies will stay underground unless the mother does not return to feed them. It is safe to say that any babies of burrowing or tunneling species found above ground will need help. Very young babies will die in the burrow.)

Hope this helps!

[Twi_prime]

Hi Oscar. I hope things go well for you and your critter and hope you'll post more as you care for him/her. :)