raising orphaned mouse

Question
My daughter works in a car dealership. Someone brought in a car because it was making a funny noise. It turned out there was a wild mouse nest in the air intake. The mother mouse and one pup were dead but 2 were still alive so we decided to try and care for them. One died the next day but the other is now 6-days-old, as judged by photos I found on an Internet site.

The mouse is so small that even an eye dropper was too big for feeding so I am feeding it by repeatedly dipping the tapered tip of a never-before used artist paint brush in warmed soy infant formula and feeding every 2 hours around the clock and then stimulating it to poop, which it does every other feeding.

My question is how do I know that the baby has had enough formula? I don't want to over feed it nor let it go hungry. What is this thing that I've read about a milk band? Will that tell me when it's full? It's never all that interested in eating, but it does move it's mouth open and closed if I put the tip of the brush against it's mouth and I think it's sucking on the brush. It's always squirmy and tries to push away. Am I doing something wrong?

Answer
Dear Cat,

Your name concerns me ; ))

The milk band is when you can see the milk in its tummy. You certainly mustn't stop before the milk band. Other than that, be somewhat persistent. When it refuses, try again in five minutes after its little massage.  But if it just refuses, you can stop.

Thank you so much for rescuing the little things.

Squeaks,

Natasha