Buried my fuzzy little buddy this morning

Question
Last week Thursday my girlfriend brought home what we aged from online pictures to be about 5 days old at the time. This morning (Wednesday/Halloween) I got up at 5 am to feed the little guy and he was fine; he took food and was very animated, what I had come to expect from him during his feedings. When I got up again at 8 to repeat the process it was a complete 180. He wouldn't take food and he was quite lethargic, then a few minutes later he died in my hands. I am quite emotional about it; I had become quite attached to him and I was just wondering if you had any idea what could've happened to him. I thought I was following all the guidelines I had gotten from this website and others perfectly. Any information would be most helpful. Thank you.

Answer
Dear Jacob,

It is soooooooo difficult to replace a mouse mom and mouse nest environment (mouse milk, other pups around him 24/7, exactly the right temperature..). Add in his trauma, both mental and physical, before you got him home and safe and he learned you were safe. These guys just don't have a great chance. We do all we can do.

It is quite normal, when these little orphans die, that there were no symptoms beforehand. So please don't blame yourself for an instant. If there is a mouse goddess, she likes to raise these infants herself.

I am very sorry for your loss. I know one gets incredibly attached to these little pups in this situation.

Just a thought. You might want to contact your local rescues, shelters, and fish and game departments to let them know that you know how to raise mouse pups. They probably don't know who to turn to, and you may be able to save other mouse orphan lives. I'm sure it is rare, but they will be thankful for the offer.

Again, I am so sorry.

squeaks,

Natasha