Question
Lazarus
I rescued a 1 3/4 inch long baby field mouse yesterday from the mouth of a labrador retriever. It weighs approximately 5 grams. I found instructions yesterday on a different site that told me to feed infant soy formula every 3-4 hours. I have been doing this regularly, but the baby is having a hard time adjusting. It's eyes are not open but it does have fur. It will lick the milk off of my hands or its feet, but does not seem to understand how to suckle the milk out of the "nipple" I made out of the cloth. I have not yet been able to get the temperature in it's box up to 100 degrees, by either a light or a heating pad, but I have had it under a heat source since I found it (first the light, now I am using the pad). It is not injured and crawls around a good bit, but does seem to shake quite a bit. It has pooped 3 times (after each feeding). The last time it was a little bit watery. Is there anything that I can do to help it learn to suckle? Can I offer it any kind of solid food like bread soaked in the formula?
AnswerDear Tina,
Your little Lazarus is less than 2 weeks old. The closest thing to solid food it can eat right now might be yogurt. An eyedropper is the best tool to use to feed the pup. If you don't feel it is eating enough, you can feed it more frequently. A mother mouse feeds its young every half hour.
Two extra notes. The pup may have received an infection from the bite. If so, it may appear fine one day and simply die the next; it's not your fault. Second, this is the exact age to be able to tell if it is a boy or girl, since with its sparse fur you should be able to find tiny nipples if it is a girl. Here are photos to help out with sex ID:
http://www.thefunmouse.com/info/sexing.cfm
Best of luck to the little pup. Feel free to write back with more questions.
squeaks,
Natasha
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