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About Jonathan Wright
Expertise
I can answer questions about wild mammals, as well as other wild animals. I can also answer questions on extinct animals and zoos. PLEASE DON'T SEND ME ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT PETS. IF YOU ARE REALLY WORRIED, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A VETERINARIAN. PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT UNPAID PEOPLE ON ALLEXPERTS ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY AND WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ADVICE THE MOMENT YOUR ANIMAL GETS ILL. Find out how to look after a pet before you get it. It is unfair to keep an animal in inappropriate conditions and give it the wrong food. If you can't keep an animal in good conditions, please don't bring it into your home. I'm not a vet and I don't have any expertise in animal medicine and care. I don't agree with people taking animals out of the wild and then expecting other people to give free advice on how to look after them. It is cruel to take animals away from their parents, who are able to look after the babies and may look for them, while putting their other babies at risk. You may need a licence to look after some animals. You may be breaking the law by keeping wild animals; please check with a local wildlife organisation. IF YOU FIND AN INJURED ANIMAL, PLEASE CONTACT A WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN OR CHARITY AND LET TRAINED STAFF LOOK AFTER THE ANIMAL. DO NOT TRY TO LOOK AFTER AN INJURED ANIMAL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Please do not remove eggs from nests. The mother birds will know the right temperature for the eggs and will not sit on them if the temperature is warm enough for them to develop naturally. It is illegal to remove eggs of some species and, unless you have an incubator or a broody hen, the egg may not develop. If you are allowed to touch the eggs, you can candle them (check details on websites) to see if the eggs are fertile. If the eggs are not fertile, they will not hatch. I do not agree with fights between different animals. Please do not ask me questions about them.

Experience
I have a zoology degree and have been interested in animals since I was two years old. I am a zoo volunteer at London Zoo. I have appeared on a BBC Radio Quiz, 'Wildbrain'.

Organizations
World Wide Fund for Nature. Zoological Society of London. London Bat Group.

Publications
Newsletters of London Zoo volunteers and the London Bat Group

Education/Credentials
BSC degree in Zoology. 'A' levels in Zoology and Chemistry. 'O' Level in Biology.

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Veterinary Medicine > Wild Animals > Wild mouse care

Wild Animals - Wild mouse care

Expert: Jonathan Wright - 11/1/2009

Question
Actually, it's not a question but a clarification. I was reading your article regarding wild mouse care and wanted to let you know that baby mice, and most rodents, need to be fed Esbilac (puppy milk replacer) preferably, or KMR if Esbilac isn't available. Crushed up rodent block or wet cat/dog food mixed with water is NOT ok. Once the babies eyes are open, introducing rodent block crushed into Esbilac in addition to it's pure formula feedings is a good idea and a nice way to start the weaning process. Cat/dog food isn't recommended.

Hope this helps in the future.
Sincerely,
Abigail
Coordinator, South Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

Answer
Dear Abigail

Thank you for the information. It's useful to have clarification about various questions. When I joined AllExperts, I aimed to answer Wild Animals questions via Science. Unfortunately, this is linked to Pets and Veterinary Care.

I don't know much about either subject, but tried to answer questions by using Search Engines. The problem with this is that I can't tell whether the information is correct or not. I also ended up dealing with problems where the questioner wanted advice that would be best obtained by visiting a vet and it seemed that they were prepared to go to an internet site and wait rather than seek professional help (probably for financial reasons). This is why I am now reluctant to give the kind of advice you mention above, as many of the websites seem contradictory. I have written this at the front of my page, but it seems to be ignored by many people.

I'm sorry if the advice I gave was wrong. I tried to cross-reference the answers, but questions about mice can be difficult, especially as many of the 'mice' are not related and most of the care information is most applicable to the house mouse.

I hope that the information you have given me is available to other users of the Internet.

All the best

Jonathan

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