Raising a Baby Mouse 4/10 Feeding

Update: many baby mice who are older than a week, i.e. have fur, prefer the 'lapping' method of feeding. Place a little formula on the skin of your hand in front of the baby mouse and let it lap it up. Much easier way to feed and many baby mice prefer this. Babies under a week old though need to paintbrush method.

Warning: Domesticated mice are safe, but wild mice can carry disease. A lot of people keep wild mice as pets and are fine, but it is always a bit of a risk, something you need to be aware of and make a decision over. If you do keep a wild mouse, keep the cage extra clean and wash your hands after handling. With deer mice you may want to wear a surgical mask during cage cleaning.

Warning: for inexperienced animal people the failure rate for trying to handraise a baby mouse is around 75%. It is very painful loosing a baby mouse because you get to love them so much. Think carefully about it before you try.

Feeding

It takes up to ten minutes to feed a co-operative baby mouse, fussy babies take longer. Matilda was not fussy at all and very easy to feed compared to little Stuart. This video shows a whole feeding session, from warming the formula, to feeding, to washing and putting the baby to bed. This has to be repeated every two hours around the clock until weaning, a lot of work, but worth it since you end up with a mouse who thinks it is human. A hand raised mouse is a magical little pet, so tiny and yet so affectionate and trusting.

NOTE: Paintbrush must be no larger than the one in the video, soft and new. It is not a good idea to use a used one because paint residues could harm the baby. Formula that is used must be disgarded since it will now be contaminated, do not save the formula you heated for the next session.

Music by Michael Joseph Murphy (Emerald Tide)