my baby mouse is weening and i cant get it to drink from the water bottle in the cage

Question
ive been feeding my baby mouse kmr for about a month now and its ready to be be weened. i know this because it only drinks from the bottle every eight hours or so, but i cant seem to get it to drink from the water bottle in the cage. ive tryed many different ways and it seems to be scared to try and ends up biting me. HELP

Answer
Hi Bette,

You might want to try watching it at night - it's possible it's drinking on its own when you aren't looking.  You can also try moving the water bottle closer to its level, or to a different spot in the cage.  In the meantime, since feeding a month old baby can be tricky, you can add little pieces of moist foods like fruit or stale bread soaked in water, or even a little scrambled eggs made with water instead of milk, to keep mousey hydrating on its own.  Try moving its normal food source a little closer to the bottle, too, so it is more tempted to explore it when eating and thirsty.

Try not to force little mouse to drink - this just makes the bottle scary.  It's best if the little thing can explore it on its own time.  Be patient - he'll get it eventually!  :)

-Tam