what to do

Question
hi my name is emily and  found little baby mice. they ar e about 1-2 weeks and there eyes are still closed. we are very concerened about them. we dont know where the mother is but we found them in a 10 year old van sleeping in insalation. what should i do...how should i feed them...how do i keep them warm please e mail me back

Answer
Dear emily,
thank you for your question. Here's a website that has good information in raising orphaned mice:
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/orphans.htm

You can use a hot water bottle or a sock filled with raice/grains that was heated in the microwave or two minutes or so for keeping them warm if you don't have a heat pad. The bottle/sock shouldn't be hot, just warm. The mice also must have the chance to avoid the heat, place their cage so that only half of it is heated.

You will need to wait until spring to release them. As soon as they eat solid foods and don't need to be fed anymore, you should handle them as little as possible so that they stay sh enough to survive outside. You can still offer the kitten milk in a bowl and apart from that, they can eat a mixture of bird seeds (parakeet and canary seeds) and grains (try health food stores, many sell mixtures of several grains). A mix of the seeds and grains in a ratio of 2:1 is good, add a handful of sunflower or pumpkin seeds, some oatmeal and maybe some dried vegetables if you can find those.

Vegetables should be offered daily: dandelion (leaves, root and flowers), daisies, chickweed, marigold, pansies, zucchini, chard /mangold), pumpkin, beetroot, swede (turnip), carrot greens, celery (stalks and root), fennel, parsley, basil, grass seeds, pear, parsnip,  and leaves and twigs of hazel, apple, pear, willow, poplar, alder, currant, beech, birch or maple. Anything you gather outside must be untreated and shouldn't grow near a busy street. It's better to give fruit only as a treat, because normally he wouldn't get much of them.

Animal protein is very important. Insects are most natural for him and should be offered alive if possible so that they learn to hunt them. It may be that you have to offer them killed at first for them to learn that they can eat them, though. Crickets, mealworms, locusts, silkworms (alive or dried), butterworms or waxworms can be fed for example. Dry cat food (without taurin), cooked egg, curd cheese, yoghurt (natural, unsweetened) or small portions of minced meat can be ofered if you cannot get insects.

The cage should be as big as possible, at least a 20g, better more.  Scatter the food in the bedding so that they have to search for it, that will keep him entertained and will also teach him to search for food. Offer lots of toys to climb and hay and toilet paper (unscented) for building nests. If you want to buy a wheel, I reommend the Wodent Wheel (the kind of plastic it is made form is safe to chew, but 99% of all other plastic toys are not and shouldn't be used):
http://www.transoniq.com/

Here are some ideas for toys:
If you can find these balls made from willow/hazel (unvarnished):http://wiki.mausebande.com/_media/farbmaus/einrichtung/einrichtung/fiete_kugel2.jpg?cache=cache
they make good climbing toys. Baskets made from willow or eelgrass can be used as long as they are not varnished, too. Here's a toy build from ropes and a rack for wine bottles:
http://wiki.mausebande.com/_media/farbmaus/pappe.jpg?cache=cache

Wooden ladders normally used for parrots are great for mice, they love climbing around on those. Nests for finches and other birds can be hung into the cage:
http://wiki.mausebande.com/_media/farbmaus/korb.jpg?cache=cache

Pet shops often sell bridges made from willow branches like this one:
http://wiki.mausebande.com/_media/farbmaus/weidenbruecke.jpg?cache=cache
You can build those yourself by drilling holes into the wood and connecting it with pieces of string.

Here's a picture of a homemade "stair" made from an apple branch and little pieces of wood that were nailed to it:
http://wiki.mausebande.com/_media/bastelecke/wendeltreppe.jpg?cache=cache

Coconuts can be made into houses (make the hole big enough that you can clean the nut). To clean out the flesh, use a sharp knife.
http://wiki.mausebande.com/_media/bastelecke/kokosnuss.....jpg?cache=cache
http://wiki.mausebande.com/_media/bastelecke/haengenuesse.jpg?cache=cache

I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer