Diarrhea in baby mouse

Question
My children are trying raise a field mouse that they found on the ground after it fell out of our car.  There were two, one has died at about 5 - 6 days of age unfortunately.  The other has a yellow diarrhea that appears to be from Rotavirus, (at least we hope it is that and not MHV)  We are not able to see a blockage in the anus.  We have done a brief (maybe a minute) warm water soak and will continue to do this.  Is there anything else we can do?  Would the blockage be easy to see?

Answer
The best thing is to take him to the vet. If this mouse has a disease you may need to have him put down. I would keep this mouse away from your children until you know for sure. I am not sure this mouse will survive anyway and if he does he will be weak. It will also be difficult to handle once he opens his eyes (about 14 days) and may bite. Until then you should feed him on puppy/kitten formula through a pipette/dropper.

The good news is that mice make great pets for children and adults. Just make sure you get them from reputable breeders/pet shops. They should be friendly, easy to handle and should NEVER bite or nip. Some breeders don't handle them from a young age resulting in jumpy aggressive mice.

They should never be kept by themselves. You can have as few as two or as many as you can house! Read a few books or look on the internet about keeping mice to make sure they are right for you and your family. I strongly recommend females as they don't smell as bad.

Please feel free to ask any more questions. Good luck.