RAT OR MOUSE QUESTIONS....

Question
hello lindsay-

I JUST SENT THIS EMAIL W/ PICS TO A YAHOO EMAIL ADDRESS
FOR YOU, BUT IT MIGHT BE AN OUT OF DATE ADDRESS, SO I'M
EMAILING THE SAME TEXT HERE, BUT W/O THE PICTURES.  I
LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR REPLY.

BACKGROUND:
my  neighbor found two tiny creatures in her driveway and as
the canyon animal rescuer, i took them to nurse them with the
goal of releasing them.  i originally thought they were very
young ground squirrels, but now i think they are either rats our
mice.  i've cared for baby squirrels before, but not other rodents.  
i have a two out of five found from the litter (they found three
more who were dead) and have had them for 6 days.

when i got them, they weighed 9 and 10 grams, had no fur, pink
bellies with gray backs, eyes were shut, fingers were stuck
together and they had no teeth.  i've been feeding them esbilac
about 10 times per day 24 hours per day.

CURRENTLY:
now they weigh 15 and 16 grams, their eyes are somewhat open
and seem to be able to see (although i don't think they are
completely open), they have upper and lower teeth, they have
gray fur on their backs and whitish fur on their tummies.  i can
also tell that one is a boy and the other is a girl.  now they eat
about 1 cc per meal.  they seem to be peeing a little less when i
stimulate them and there's lots of poop in their cage so i know
they're pooping on their own.  tomorrow, i will introduce a little
bit of soft solid food (banana, strawberry) since their eyes will be
almost fully open by then.  i will continue to feed them formula
but i'm hoping to cut it back to once every 4-5 hours instead of
every 2-3 hours.

their overall length hasn't changed drastically since i first got
them and their tails are about as long as their bodies.  
assuming they are about 15 days old, about 2-3 inches long and
weighing 15/16 grams, do they seem like mice to you?

QUESTIONS:
i'm assuming they are mice, but how can i tell?  also, i'd like to
release them into the wild, but will their survival rate diminish
because they were hand raised?  i live in the country (in
California) where the wildlife is plentiful and water is scarce in
the summer.  would they be more appropriate as someone's
pets?  does my plan change if they are mice or rats regarding
weaning, food, domesticating them, releasing them, separating
them at some point so they don't mate (if the pet route is better,
can they live a solitary life or be mixed with pet store rodents of
the same sex?).  i'd like to do what is best for them.  although
they are very cute, i do not plan on keeping them as i already
have too many animals (nine without these little guys).

i appreciate your help/advice!

rebecca


Answer
they look like baby rats to me because of their size.  Mice are very very tiny.  I would continue as you are and get them onto solid food after 3-4 weeks depending on whether or not they want to drink milk.

If I was you I would keep them as pets as there are enough rats out there and loads of predators.  because they are hand reared they would make lovely pets.  
However if you do not want to keep them and do want to release them it is important that you keep them in a tank once they are running about. try to include natural grasses, sand and rock so that they can learn how to survive.  Otherwise you can keep them or give them to a responsible person.