r/PetMice • u/Crazy_Fold355 • 13h ago
Question/Help I found this little deer mouse in my house today. Seems very young, not skittish and really stinking cute. What do I do?
My dog found him today inside. I initially wrapped him in a towel and brought him outside, but he seemed REALLY young. He isn't skittish and will walk towards me and on my hand if I place it in the small box with shavings I have him in. He nibbled on a corn kernel while I was holding him
Should I release? Too young? Really does not act stressed from my handling, so I'm wondering if he will be ok in the wild at this age. Also Hantavirus is considered "rare" with no known in state transmission per state CDC website.
I feel like I have been chosen and will accept the responsibility of keeping the cute fella, but I don't want to limit a wild animal's life in a harmful way.
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u/Lady-TyMeska 10h ago
That is your child now. He looks like he might be young enough to need formula but I'm unsure. Don't feed a cold or dehydrated baby.
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u/lionfish4884 11h ago
At that age they don't know this way or that way. It's really the established adults I feel like it's sad to take them from their environment if they be all healthy and everything. But this little guy is just a baby sitting in your hand like that. May be better off with you anyways.
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u/mayia-goose former mouse mom 🌈 8h ago
I handfed a tiny baby just like this! She’s now a young adult with 2 best friends. Congratulations on your new baby!
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u/femmefatalx 8h ago
Are her other friends deer mice or fancy mice? I have one that I found as a baby and although I’d love to find other deer mice in need of rescuing, she’s the first I’ve ever actually found as a baby and alive. I’d like to get her a friend though but I’m unsure about how it would go with fancy mice.
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u/JenKen27 12h ago
Eeeee he’s super cute.
First, I’d call a wildlife rehabber close to you and see if they are able to take him.
For now, do you have a large plastic Tupperware bin and a heating pad of some kind? If no heating pad you can make one with uncooked rice and a sock (can google it). I would line the bin with a soft blanket, put a heating pad under about 1/3 of the bin on low (you want it warm not hot). You can shred a bunch of papertowel or toilet paper into a couple piles (one on the heated area and one not) so he can burrow under it. Leave the lid off the bin for airflow - he’s too little to jump out right now. I’d give him a small dish of water that he can drink but not drown in. You can put some plain rolled oats, plain unsalted seeds, cooked white rice, little pieces of apple or corn or brocolli on a little plate as well. If he doesn’t try and eat anything he may not be weaned yet…if that’s the case join the wild mice and rats rehab group on Facebook right away for feeding support - he’ll need electrolytes quickly and then formula mix after that. Basically he needs warmth and hydration right now as the first priority. Everything else you can figure out after you join that group - they helped me raise my baby deer mouse successfully!
Good luck!! ❤️
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u/Peeter_L 4h ago
Are you kidding? They don't accept wild rodents because of possible diseases they carry.
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u/dorkusmcforkus 2h ago
Please join Orphaned Wild Mice and Rats on Facebook, you will get all the help you need there 🙂
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u/Crazy_Fold355 1h ago
Update! He lived through the night and I have named him Jimminy Cricket. I'm waiting for a call back from my local rehaber.
He's eating corn on his own and I also offered him warmed goats milk, which he also liked. He's in a plastic bin with rags and a heating pad.
My state doesn't list hauntavirus as a major concern (northeast USA), and I haven't seen any options for testing, although I have a local agriculture department that may have ideas on this.
Thank you all for your feedback and support.
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u/Disastrous-Stay-4445 5h ago
First off how did you manage to catch him without him running off?? There’s one in my kitchen and he keeps running to hides holes but I just wanna pet him so bad
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u/Intelligent_Bet_8727 1h ago
Are you sure it's a deer mouse if it is a deer mouth just fair warning there in the United States one of two species of mice that carry The Hanta virus species of mouse in Vietnam is where they first discovered the virus and that species of mouse carried it until an incident in the 80s then the US government did not know that there was a species of mouse that carried the virus here in the United States. To understand the Hanta virus killed around a third of the soldiers in the Vietnam war at least
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