Wild mouse
 

Hi all, I'm a new member and so I hope you all can help.

I have an orphan mouse that had eyes closed as of Sunday and is now eating, pooing, and urinating, climbing- just fine and has her eyes open pf course.

I've been feeding her every few hours with kitten formula and seems to be thriving. Here's my question, [I]sometimes when she is drinking from the eye dropper, she seems to "choke"[/I]. Her mouth is open, she twists away and she strains her head upward. It's very strange. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this happen and any advice? Thanks!

[QUOTE=Larkin;1047114]Hi all, I'm a new member and so I hope you all can help.

I have an orphan mouse that had eyes closed as of Sunday and is now eating, pooing, and urinating, climbing- just fine and has her eyes open pf course.

I've been feeding her every few hours with kitten formula and seems to be thriving. Here's my question, [I]sometimes when she is drinking from the eye dropper, she seems to "choke"[/I]. Her mouth is open, she twists away and she strains her head upward. It's very strange. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this happen and any advice? Thanks![/QUOTE]

Maybe the hole is too wide and the mouse is getting too much milk at once. You
can buy bottles to fed small animals. I should warn you a mouse will leave a trail of urine so other mice will know where to find food . I would not let the mouse run around your house unless you want it whole famliy moving in too.



[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4_mFLcLBio&feature=relmfu[/url]


I found this utube and it show a baby mouse being feed with an artist paintbrush dipped milk.

Are there any wildlife rehabbers in your area, Larkin? Maybe they'd have some advice? Have you tried changing the angle of the eyedropper? Maybe she's just craning her neck too sharply...

Well, we decided to try her on solid foods. She is eating softened oatmeal and drinking up formula and water.
She did start this behavior/choking at first when she ate, but then we haven't seen it as of Saturday or today.
I think she was either choking or possibly eating to fast?
She's fat bellied and playing and sleeping-along with voiding and stooling!

To answer your question-there is no one that I know around that would rehab a deer mouse orphan! People look at me like I'm crazy but oh well.

Barkingdog-I watched that video too. The mouse didn't like the paintbrush. She preferred to lap up droppers of formula from the crevice of my hand rather than the paint brush or the dropper directly. (another hint it may have been too big). I still give her a couple of feedings this way because I'm concerned she's not drinking enough and misses the bonding.

[QUOTE=Larkin;1047180]Well, we decided to try her on solid foods. She is eating softened oatmeal and drinking up formula and water.
She did start this behavior/choking at first when she ate, but then we haven't seen it as of Saturday or today.
I think she was either choking or possibly eating to fast?
She's fat bellied and playing and sleeping-along with voiding and stooling!

To answer your question-there is no one that I know around that would rehab a deer mouse orphan! People look at me like I'm crazy but oh well.

Barkingdog-I watched that video too. The mouse didn't like the paintbrush. She preferred to lap up droppers of formula from the crevice of my hand rather than the paint brush or the dropper directly. (another hint it may have been too big). I still give her a couple of feedings this way because I'm concerned she's not drinking enough and misses the bonding.[/QUOTE]

I wonder if you had a hand puppet that looked like a mouse would help make the mouse feel safer. Are you going to keep the mouse for a pet? wild mice are cute.

I'm not sure about keeping it, the kids want it and the mouse sure is sweet right now. She likes to be cuddled in your hand and she soon falls asleep.
I always worry about the viruses they carry and am a huge "wash your hands" freak. I worry about her escaping too, I would hate that to happen. So I'm undecided as of yet.
She has lots of hiding places in the aquarium and different fabric choices along with some wood shavings to explore for now to keep her happy and entertained.
She's eating and drinking just fine too by the way!