Baby field mouse.

Question
I am currently hand raising a baby field mouse. Its eyes have opened and it has been gaining weight.  Should i start giving it solid food? Also, whenever i feed it, it opens its mouth really wide and pushes against my hand as if it is gagging. I have heard it is because their tongue is tired or it is ready to power suck on the bottle.  What should I do?

Answer
You can start to give him solid food from now. You can give him commercial mouse food as well as nuts, seeds, cooked pasta and potato, fresh fruit and veg, crusty bread, fromage frais, crackers. peanut butter e.t.c.

The action you are describing sounds like he is looking for a nipple as it's instinctive. Although he is cute you need to start to reduce your handling time as a tame mouse won't survive long in the wild. Now his eyes are open you can feed him with a mouse bottle attached to the cage or a bowl. You can also include water into his diet. Make sure he cannot escape from his cage as he will nibble through cardboard or squeeze through tiny gaps. In a few days in will reach the 'flea stage' and become near impossible to handle (even fancy mice go though this). The best place to keep him is a glass or plastic tank with a secure but ventilated lid.

A few weeks before you release him include soil, grass, twigs and leaves into his cage so he can get used to the. Just make sure they haven't been sprayed with any harmful chemicals. You should let him go in a suitable spot when he is about 4 1/2 weeks old. I think your mouse is about 2 weeks old now.

Please feel free to ask any more questions.