How to Take Care of Baby Mouse

Whether your hamster has just given birth or accidentally sees a bunch of baby mice that have lost their mother, caring for these tiny and fragile newborns is a relatively difficult task. Baby mice need proper care for a few hours after birth to survive, so you need to act quickly if you encounter a bunch of abandoned baby mice. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Table of Contents

Help the mother mouse take care of the baby mouse

Observe the mother mouse closely to see if it is aggressive or clumsy. If the pups stay with their mother, the mother will take care of them. However, female rats are often quite clumsy in taking care of their young, they can abandon the whole flock and even eat a few young.

If the mother mouse stops nursing or eating her pups, move her to another cage.
If the mother rat is aggressive or not caring for the pups, you will need to feed the pups and take care of them yourself.

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Send abandoned baby mice to other mothers to adopt. If you can find another mother rat who is also nursing, she will probably adopt the abandoned rat as her own. ^{[2] X Research Source} This is the best option both psychologically and physically for the pups, however this is not always feasible, especially when the pups are over 1.5 years old week old.

Quickly find a foster mother for the rats at the pet store or at a rat breeding facility.
Rub the litter from the mother’s cage with the pups so they get used to the mother’s scent.
Place the baby mouse in the mother’s cage.
Observe for signs of aggression, vocalization, or mother abandoning her pups.

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Monitor baby mice for timely signs of diarrhea and dehydration. Even if they are cared for by their biological or adoptive mothers, their pups can still experience problems such as diarrhea and dehydration. ^{[3] X Source of Study} Dehydration due to diarrhea can lead to death in pups if left untreated.

Distended abdomen, lethargy and yellow discharge in the anus are signs of diarrhea in mice. ^{[4] X Research Sources}
Replace mother’s milk or formula with infant electrolyte rehydration water.
Take your rat to the vet for a check-up to make sure they’re healthy.

Feed the baby mouse

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Prepare mouse formula. At pet stores, there are many types of animal formulas for you to choose from, such as Kitten Milk Replacer for cats or Esbilac for puppies. ^{[5] X Source of Research} Or you can use Enfamil (iron-free) or Soyalac infant formula. In addition, you can also give your mouse pure goat milk.

Warm formula or milk before feeding to mice, do not use too hot or cold formula.
Formula milk should be mixed with water in the appropriate ratio according to the instructions on the box.
The pups need to be warmed up before feeding, or they won’t be able to digest the formula properly. If this happens, the formula will ferment in the rat’s stomach and cause them to have diarrhea. You can keep baby mice warm by placing an electric heating pad on low mode under their cage. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

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Use a small syringe, small bottle, or suction line to feed the rat. You can also use eye drops. If you’re using a syringe or bottle, you’ll either pump the milk into the tube or fill the bottle in preparation for feeding the mouse. If you’re using a suction line, simply dip the string in the milk until you see a trickle of milk.

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Pump some milk into the rat’s mouth. Be careful not to push the syringe or squeeze the bottle too hard. If milk oozes from the rat’s nose, stop feeding it immediately. ^{[7] X Research Sources} . The meal will end when the mouse’s belly is full and full.

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Feed the mouse regularly. Puppies from 0-1 weeks old need to be fed 6-8 times a day; baby mice from 1-2 weeks old eat 5-6 times a day; Young mice from 2-3 weeks old eat 4 times a day and when they are 4 weeks old, they only need to eat 3 times a day. ^{[8] X Research Sources} Space each mouse feeding by a few hours. You will also need to feed the mice at night.

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Stimulating mice so that they go to the toilet after eating. ^{[9] X Research Source} Use a cotton ball or your finger and gently rub their private areas. Rats will excrete a bit of fluid, but if they’re dehydrated they won’t pee. You will rub until the mouse is done peeing.

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Wean mice after 3-4 weeks. ^{[10] X Research Source} In the early days of weaning, give your rat a little moist bran pellets; You will spray water on the pellets to soften them and place them in an accessible place for mice.

The baby mouse will quickly come out to nibble on the bran.
When the pups seem to be getting better, you can feed them regular pellets.

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Feed rats suitable bran pellets with drinking water after weaning. You can buy rat bran at the pet store, either in blocks or in pellets. Choose bran pellets with 16% protein, 18% fiber and less than 4% fat to ensure the health of your mouse. ^{[11] X Trusted Source American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Go to source}

You will not need to moisten the bran once the rat is weaned.
You can feed your mice jujubes, bananas, broccoli and other foods, but remember that their stomachs are very small and they shouldn’t eat too much.
Young mice usually drink 3-7ml of water a day. ^{[12] X Research Source} Hang a small animal water bottle in the rat cage and water it regularly.
Before weaning, mice will get enough water from milk. When they start to eat dry food, they will need to drink water from the bottle.

Create the right living environment

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The mouse cage needs to ensure at least 0.3 m2 area for each mouse. This amount of area is essential even when the mouse is not yet fully grown. In pet stores, there are many cages of all sizes, make sure you choose one that is spacious enough for mice.

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Choose the right type of cage. The rat cage should have no openings where the rats can escape and should use a closed floor type (no spokes or wires). Plastic cages will often be damaged by cleaning, so you should choose a metal cage, glass cage or aquarium that can be scrubbed a lot and still be durable.

Rats are very good at gnawing, so you need to choose a cage that does not have protrusions or has spokes/wires that rats can nibble on.
Make shelters for mice, such as small cardboard boxes or tubes.
Using a cardboard box as a cage for newborn mice is only a temporary solution, as mice will very quickly learn to bite the box and get out.

Advice

Show care and love by gently picking up the mouse. Don’t hold them tight!
Remove dead mice from the cage because they can carry infectious diseases that can spread to the whole flock.
Do not disturb the mother mouse and its nest. Mother rats are easily exhausted and become aggressive due to their protective instincts.
Take the pups to the vet as soon as possible.

Warning

Never pick up a mouse by the tail to pick it up.
Make sure the baby rat is not threatened by a cat or dog.

Things you need

Formula milk
Alarm clock
Electric heating plate
Clean bowl
Noggin
Small soft brush
Cotton swab/cotton
Electrolyte rehydration fluid (for infants)
Breeding tank
Toilet paper
Soft wipes
Soft tissue
Day tracking calendar
Pure/homemade goat milk
Clean towel
Kitten formula (mixed with double distilled water)
Distilled water

Steps