If you found an orphaned baby mouse (called a pup), DO NOT request help from any forum or message board until you read this.

A pup will need to receive proper care within about 8 hours to survive. This is very important if the pup's eyes aren't yet open. If you request help on a forum, you may not get an answer within 8 hours. If you do receive an answer, it will very likely direct you to one of the following sites. These sites have very good information on raising orphaned mice.

Save some time and maybe a baby's life. See these sites before requesting additional help. The first link is for orphaned baby rats, but I think it has some of the best information. The process is much the same as for mice.

• The Rat Fan Club - Raising Orphaned Rats

• Rat and Mouse Club of America - Caring for Orphaned Baby Rats or Mice

• mouse@horns - What can I do with orphaned or abandoned baby mice?

A lot of the information on these sites is simular, but each aurthor has their own ideas as to what works best. Read them all and see what works best for you.

Ann Vole's Comments:

I have never raised orphan deer mice or white footed mice except where I had another nursing rodent on hand (rat, gerbil, house mouse), They all became healthy adults (except the rat-mothered deer mouse was aggressive to other mouse-sized rodents and had to be kept with hamsters). My advice for orphans is to ask around at pet stores, vet offices, etc. and see if you can find a nursing mother with young babies (so she still has mothering instincts). Get the orphan's smell all over your hands, then all over the mother, keep the mother away from the babies for an hour and during that hour mix the orphans with the mom's litter. It is good to ware gloves during the handling so you don't mix your smell with theirs. Just before putting the mom with the babies, DO get your smell on HER but not on the babies.

Email Ann Vole to find out more about White Footed & Deer mice; be sure to include the word "vole" in the subject line.

Disclaimer:
Neither any contributing authors nor myself are veterinarians or doctors; I don't work in any medical field. Any medical advice for your mice or you is strictly my own opinion. When possible I try to provide links to supporting informational sites. I recommend that you discuss any important medical issues with your veterinarian or doctor. I do ask my personal doctor general medical questions pertaining to my mice. He's usually glad to answer them, but he's not a veterinarian either.