foundling mouse excretion

Question
QUESTION: my dad found two mice this morning there mother had probably left , my dad was only able to save one mouse , the other had gotten carried away by a bird, it has some fur and its ears and eyes are closed, its really small and we have been feeding it goat milk, my mom says goat milk is good because its digestible and when animals are allergic to milk they often feed it goat milk instead. its really small and i can't tell the gender yet, what would be a good habitat for it and when would be a good time to tell its gender?

ANSWER: Dear Katrina,

The way to tell gender at that age is to look for nipples.  These are easiest to see just about now, and during the next week.  After that the fur is thicker and it's a little harder to find them. The nipples are tiny little dimples, and there are 8 of them, clustered in two pairs near each limb.  Here is a wonderful site for sexing baby mice:

http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/sexing.cfm

The best habitat for the moment is a warm container on a heating pad or hot water bottle.  Once it opens its eyes, however, it will need something with taller sides, because it won't be long before it crawls, then climbs, then jumps!  At that point, an aquarium is best, with litter from the pet store.  Some people use aspen litter; others don't like any wood chips because of slight risk of allergies.  There is paper litter like that called Carefresh, and others as well.  The litter should be something soft.  The mouse should always have soft bedding of kleenex or cloth, and in ten days should have a little mouse wheel.  

The following post will help with the immediate issues:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2009/6/Baby-Field-Mouse-1.htm

Best of luck.  Browse my archives (search under Natasha, Mouse, Baby, and then maybe Found or Foundling or Orphan) for many posts pertaining to your situation.  Feel free to write back as well.

squeaks,

Natasha



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i have one more questions involving the baby mice, the second one rescued has stools that are brown which is what i expect but the first one rescued has stools that ive never seen its almost like a discharge it hasn't pooped that ive seen , but ever time i have to clean them from there messes the first one seems to have what is like a discharge its a Yellow like substance at first i thought it was urine but than when i went to wipe it away with a Kleenex it was gooey, what does that mean?

ANSWER: Dear Katrina,

That just sounds like a type of diarrhea.  It's not too surprising that the mouse has an upset digestive system given the circumstances. However, it would be better to try the kitten milk or pedialyte instead of goat milk.    Hopefully this will improve in a day or two.  

best,

squeaks

Natasha

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: unfortunately the first mouse died, but it was sick to begin with, i found out later that it was sick because when we got the second one it was roudy and slept a little stretched out when we found the first one it was in a ball and always slept in a ball. and the second one just started to get diarrhea and it caught whatever the first one had, i noticed that when we got the first one it jerked a little bit than afterwards until its death all it did was sleep and didn't want to eat, i tried my best but i feel like ive failed. what should i do about the second mouse it started to jerk, i also accidentally dropped him twice, do you think he will be ok? im terrified he will die............

Answer
Dear Katrina,

All you can do for the surviving mouse pup is keep it warm and feed it on schedule, every 2 hours or more frequently.  If it has been dropped it may have sustained internal injuries, but not definitely.  If it caught something from the first mouse, it has no chance.  Still, don't give up.  The symptoms might not be a disease but rather signs of physical stress.  Also, mother mice abandon babies which are sickly or sick, so this might be why you found them.

I wish the little pup the best of luck and health.  

squeaks,

Natasha