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OK. So a little back story:

First, I work at a pet store. Second, at the store we sell baby mice for reptiles and snakes to eat. My boss gets them alive and then freezes them. (Its not really cruel...theres not really a kind way to kill something for food). When they are really little they are called Pinkies, then Fuzzies, then Hoppers and then Adults.

Well, we got a shipment of the Fuzzies in on Friday and it was the first time I've seen them alive and I fell instantly in love. I bought two tiny little babies and have been nursing them since yesterday. They are only about the size of a penny and with only a little fur but they are so adorable. I've been trying to keep them warm and feed them kitten milk replacer every few hours. I also read that they need their bellies rubbed so they are stimulated to go to the bathroom and I've been doing that too! They seem to be doing Ok. I think that they might make it. Their eyes aren't even open yet! They're about 11-13 days or so. And they love sleeping in my hand while I try and read with just the other.

They are so adorable. Except now my hands seem to permanently smell of rodent and milk replacer. Yuck! I'll keep you updated on their progress. Their eyes should open and they should be hopping around in less then a week! Now hopefully they are both the same sex or their cages are going to get expensive.

aww, i bet they're real cute! i hope they grow up real big and hoppety! good luck, moonkit!

Pictures, MoonKit, pictures!

ravaged_warrior wrote:Pictures, MoonKit, pictures!

Tomorrow! I promise!

Well, here are the babies. Im sorry the pictures are blurry but it was so hard to take pictures that close.











Arent they cute!

man, they are small little guys aren't they?

I can see why you fell in love with them, they are cute!

(Watch out for wet tail, all of my hamsters died that way )

aww, they are the cutest dang things ever!

Aww, they are so fragile. I would be afraid to have them as pets becuase of my little nephew and my dogs.

Heh heh... Tiny little things.

awww, good luck with them! they're so cute

Yeah, they are very fragile. The bigger one likes to wonder and I have to be very careful that he doesnt fall off my hand because they're clumsy. Having your eyes closed will do that to you.

I wish you luck with your mousies...just remember they have NO sense of height. Raise them happily, and you'll have friends for a couple of years.
If they are anything like the Agouti Rats I had, they will be pushy little critters...

Anubis wrote:
(Watch out for wet tail, all of my hamsters died that way )

Well its officially a sad day. The little guy stopped eating and was getting cold and didn't want to move much. I put some of the milk replacer on his mouth but it didn't help. He just died. I think it was wet tail. His butt was all wet and he probably was very stressed. I was reading about it and it said that it takes 7 days to show up so he probably contracted it before he got here. Which makes sense. If they're only raising them to sell them as food, why would they worry about proper living conditions? Then the stress of being taken away and being in a new environment didn't help.

And it's apparently very contagious. So I completely cleaned out the cage...hopefully the other guy will be OK but his chances don't seem good. He's perfectly fine now but who knows, maybe he wont be in a couple of days. *sigh*

So. Lesson learned. They may be cute but they weren't bred to survive. Poor little mousie.

You can do it! live little one live.