Raising a Baby Mouse 8/10 Large Litter, Respiratory Problems

Update: If your baby mouse has a respiratory infection, if you can take it to see a vet, antibiotics may just help. Purring is a real thing in baby mice, mouse raised babies purr a lot when mom is caring for them and they are snuggling with their siblings. In the video I increased the volume greatly, baby mouse purring is much quieter in real life. If the sound your baby mouse is making is as loud as in the video, then most likely it has a respiratory illness. Warning: Domesticated mice are safe, but wild mice can carry disease. A lot of people keep wild mice as pets and are fine, but it is always a bit of a risk, something you need to be aware of and make a decision over. If you do keep a wild mouse, keep the cage extra clean and wash your hands after handling. With deer mice you may want to wear a surgical mask during cage cleaning. Solving Problems Exhaustion Symptoms: human gets so tired they have trouble keeping up with the intense feeding schedule Cause: not getting much sleep for too long Treatment: will power to see the project to the end, i.e. until weaning at around 14 days old, getting another person to help, finding a surrogate mouse mom to take the baby, if there is a choice starting with a fuzzy instead of a pinky Outcome: if human becomes lazy, baby mouse could die; if human resists temptation to cut corners or gets help, then baby will most likely live Too Large a Litter Symptoms: not able to take care of baby mice properly because litter of baby mice very large, human becomes exhausted Cause: way too many babies Treatment: if they are still pinkies: find a surrogate mouse mom to take them, get one or more people to help, humanely euthanize the litter to a manageable number (2 to 4) if they are fuzzies: a lot of work but should be able to do it especially if you have help, fuzzies are more forgiving so if you can only feed them every three hours it is still O.K. since they got a good headstart being cared for by their mother mouse Outcome: if still pinkies and try to raise the whole lot alone then will most likely loose the whole litter, if follow the above instructions, at least a few could live if fuzzies will most likely live although human may take a while to recover from the work load Gaping during feeding symptoms: baby gapes Cause: formula too hot, some kind of discomfort during feeding e.g. brush too coarse or formula a bit off, having trouble breathing during feeding, unknown causes treatment: check formula for heat and freshness, make sure brush has no stray hairs that could be irritating the babies mouth, slow down feeding to allow breathing Outcome: baby will most likely live Milk coming out of Nose: Symptoms: milk is blown out of nose in bubbles Cause: too much milk is in baby's mouth causing it to enter the breathing passages Treatment: switch to a paint brush and if already being fed with a paintbrush, switch to a smaller one, slow down the feeding, avoid getting milk on the nose Outcome: if persists baby could breathe milk into its lungs and get pneumonia, if follow the above instructions baby will most likely live Respiratory Infection Symptoms: baby continuously makes a sound with each breath, baby is hyperventilating and/or gasping, showing difficuilty breathing and in various stages of respiratory distress, may or may not have diarhea, may also gape Treatment: in adult mice antibiotics, in baby mice rest, warmth, quiet, prevention more the issue here: keep away from adult mice who show symptoms, wash hands after handling adult mice with symptoms, make sure formula does not get breathed into the lungs Outcome: baby mouse will most likely die Music by Michael Joseph Murphy (Emerald Tide)