mouse with swollen anus

Question
QUESTION: I found a mouse with a swollen anus. And this is not the first one that I have found. What is wrong with him and can my pet  mouse (which is a wild house mouse i raised from a baby) and my pets voles and rat catch it.  I also have a mouse running around my shed that is loosing it's hair and sometimes he has sores on his back. what is wrong with him?  I love my pets and would not want anything happen to them, but I kinda like the wild mice to and if there is any way of treating them i will. I have access to meds, I have a friend that is a vet. I would ask her about it but she is a very busy women and also I do not know how much she knows about mice.

ANSWER: Perhaps the 'swollen anus' could be his testicles. If you send me a picture I can give you a more accurate response.

Under NO circumstances can a rat, mouse and a vole live together, it will stress them out and they are likely to kill each other.

The mouse in your shed could have mange or a zoonotic disease. Try to catch it using a humane mouse-catcher but don't touch it. If the mouse is in bad shape the best thing would be to euthanize him (a vet will need to do this). It is difficult to treat wild mice as handling them can be stressful to both the human and the mouse. If he appears to be in good shape you can release him at least 2 miles from your house.

Please note I am not a vet so I cannot recommend any medication. From my experience there isn't a lot of treatment for mice and vets don't usually know much about mice as they are grouped into the 'small animals' category.

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

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

QUESTION: The baby mouse died yesterday and I buried him.It looked like his anus because it had a hole in the middle of the swollen area, and it was up against his tail. But the rat is separate from the mouse and voles. The mouse Lucky is a wild house mouse I raised from a baby. I found her under my stove squeaking and I waited for about an hour for mommy to come and get her.She had no hair, she was a pinkey When mommy did not show up I picked her up and say one ear missing, part of the other one gone, and the tip of her tail was black. I feed milk then later on after we visited the vet goat's milk. after having her for about three weeks my husband brought me three baby voles. ( he had destroyed there nest with a tractor) Their eyes were open. But they were very tiny I feed them goat milk to. I raised lucky in my shirt, but when i tried it with the voles is was kinda painful they bit me when they were hungry. I just had started to be able to have lucky in a cage, in her bed asleep. I thought I would stick the voles in with her to see what would happen. She mothered them. cleaned them, played with them. They have been in the cage together for almost 10 months. They share the same nest and do not show any signs of tring to kill each other. I do not know how to send a pic on this but if u would give me your email address I will send u a pic of the voles and lucky together. Iht7713@yahoo.com or if u have a myspace account you can see everyone at www.myspace.com/ironhorsetrucking. As for the rat he does not pay any attention to Lucky or the voles and when I put lucky up to him they just smell noses

Answer
Thank you for the pictures, Lucky is aptly named as the day you found her she's only 3 or 4 days old. It is very difficult to raise mouse babies but you have done an excellent job - shes in great condition! She's a wood mouse so she'll probably live 12-18 months (possibly longer in captivity).

It sounds like you have a real gift with nursing wild animals, it is very rare for babies to survive without their mother.

Ratatouille is very handsome boy! I love the picture of the ferrets, I have a real soft spot for them!

It's great Lucky and the voles get along, I was worried as I thought the voles were adults when you introduced them! It sounds like you are doing a fantastic job but if you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask.