About Jess Expertise I can answer questions about most species of rodents. I will answer any questions about health, husbandry and welfare. I can also give advise about behaviour problems, how to overcome these and ways of enriching the life of your pet. I can help with those wanting advice about house rabbits.
Experience I have experience with rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, gerbils, hamsters and chincillas.
Education/Credentials I am qualified in animal management, I work as a veterinary nurse.
Question I work at a petstore and some heartless bastard dropped off 4 mouse pups in a ziplock bag. I am now taking care of them. I was told by 4 different people (a vet, a worker at a wildlife rescue center coworkers...etc..) what to feed. all of them different. i lost two of them so far, the remaining two seem in good health. i've had them for almost two days. I started out feeding them KMR milk replacer for kittens, then was told that puppy milk would be better. so now i'm feeding them Esbilac milk replacer for puppies. neither of the peopel i asked were very sure of what they were talking about, so its kinda frustrating as i'm worried about the little guys. I have them in a little critter keeper with a towel on the bottom ( a smooth kitchen towl) because i dont want them to accidentally ingest or inhale bits of bedding, with a little terry cloth blanked for the two of them to snuggle with. I try feeding them as often as i can, but let me tell you...this is a tricky endeavor. and messy too! how can i be sure they're getting enough food, how would you suggest i go about feeding? i've been using a small syringe (without the needle, dont worry!). Underneath the critter keeper, i keep a sock filled with rice that i heat up every once in awhile. I;ve also been having them go to the bathroom about every half hour. and using a Q-tip that i've dipped in warm water to "bathe" them...please help by offering as many suggestions as you can, i'd be much obliged. thanks for your time!
Answer Sounds like you are doing everything you can! Feeding such small orphans can be almost impossible. When I was taught how to hand rear kittens I was told that if the milk is made up too think it can kill them! So its not easy when you are trying to feed tiny baby mice with milk that isn't natural for them and when you have no instructions about how to make up the milk. Also its very easy for them to ingest milk into their lungs and this can cause respiratory infections. It's so hard because its not really ideal to use a syringe but they dont really make bottles small enough to feed baby mice! You can only do your best, it can be heart breaking when you are trying to clear up someone elses mess and you get attached to the little creatures and they die. One thing I would suggest is to gently massage their tummy after each feed as they can get wind like human babies. The best thing for them to eat is mouse milk but since thats impossible, just give them what ever milk replacement they seem to prefer. They should really only be taking tiny amounts at each feed, if they seem like they have had enough then they probably have. You could weigh them daily to see if they are putting on weight. Hopefully they will. You are meeting their needs for warmth, stimulating them to go to the toilet and I think feeding will be your most difficult challenge. If you can get them through the first few weeks then they will have a much better chance of survival. Good luck and let me know how you get on.
