Problems with dehydration
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Problems with dehydration
by MusMinimus Wed 03 Apr 2019, 6:03 pm
Short version as you've probably heard this part before; Baby mice, mother dead, raised them thus far from still being pink at great cost to my sleep cycle.
As of now all six mice are still alive an have just made it to three weeks of age, however a problem began to rear its head not long after they turned two weeks old. The mice showed signs of dehydration, in that their tails appeared 'banded' and no matter what I did, this never really went away. The mice stopped feeding from the brush so I managed to wean them early, this has allowed them to survive and they showed signs of improvement - eventually, initially they developed bloat but patience got them past that - but now the problem is returning and I am rather worried.
Presently I am dropping mouse pellets (I have pet mice anyway, also rats, so such things were already on hand) into a mix of hot water and kitten milk replacement, along with some porridge oats, allowing them to soak in the mixture until they sink to the bottom. At this point I put the pellets and oats in a plastic lid with more watered down formula around them, I change this out regularly to prevent it going bad. The mice do eat, substantially, but they do not lap at the formula, even when I tried grinding the solids down into a fine powder before the wetting. I do still try to brush feed the mice but they are no longer interested.
I have recently lowered the temperature of the heat pad to around 24°C.
The mice show no signs of diarrhea but are pooping normally, they do not pee very much however. I do still massage their tummy lightly every so often though I don't believe they need this now, luckily they're quite friendly and don't appear to get too upset over this.
I still attempt to brush feed the mice and have watered down the formula further.
They are still quite active and seem quite strong, but the banding is slowly getting worse.
I hope someone here may be able to help me, I really don't want to have to sit by and watch them pass away.
As of now all six mice are still alive an have just made it to three weeks of age, however a problem began to rear its head not long after they turned two weeks old. The mice showed signs of dehydration, in that their tails appeared 'banded' and no matter what I did, this never really went away. The mice stopped feeding from the brush so I managed to wean them early, this has allowed them to survive and they showed signs of improvement - eventually, initially they developed bloat but patience got them past that - but now the problem is returning and I am rather worried.
Presently I am dropping mouse pellets (I have pet mice anyway, also rats, so such things were already on hand) into a mix of hot water and kitten milk replacement, along with some porridge oats, allowing them to soak in the mixture until they sink to the bottom. At this point I put the pellets and oats in a plastic lid with more watered down formula around them, I change this out regularly to prevent it going bad. The mice do eat, substantially, but they do not lap at the formula, even when I tried grinding the solids down into a fine powder before the wetting. I do still try to brush feed the mice but they are no longer interested.
I have recently lowered the temperature of the heat pad to around 24°C.
The mice show no signs of diarrhea but are pooping normally, they do not pee very much however. I do still massage their tummy lightly every so often though I don't believe they need this now, luckily they're quite friendly and don't appear to get too upset over this.
I still attempt to brush feed the mice and have watered down the formula further.
They are still quite active and seem quite strong, but the banding is slowly getting worse.
I hope someone here may be able to help me, I really don't want to have to sit by and watch them pass away.
MusMinimus- New Member
- Join date : 2019-04-03
Posts : 2
Re: Problems with dehydration
by MusMinimus Tue 09 Apr 2019, 1:50 am
An update, then, in case anyone wanted to know how things were going. Firstly the bad news;
One mouse passed away, but it was always far smaller than the others and never as active, so I had long suspected it might not make it. Seems to have just shut down in its sleep.
Now the good news; The other five mice are still going strong, very strong in fact. It seems they eventually grasped drinking, or else they appear to have done and no longer show signs of dehydration, they are also far more active. I haven't actually seen them drink yet, aside from suspecting the largest of them was, but their healthier appearance coupled with the water level slowly dropping in the upturned lid I provide them, between it being changed at regular intervals of course, suggests that they are.
Otherwise they've started climbing things, gnawing things and generally being mice. I have only one concern, which is that until the last couple of days they were dragging wet food back into their hide, causing the bedding to become soggy and as a result, or so I believe, one of them has bald patches despite my best efforts to keep on top of the issue. Will the hair grow back or is this permanent? I can't really find much information about this online other than the potential for soggy bedding or the mice having formula in their fur having the potential to cause this.
Lastly here's a photo of three of them while I was cleaning out the tank they're being held in, no doubt everyone here has seen such photos a million times before, but whatever;
This was taken a few days ago, they look far more like 'proper mice' now but I don't currently have access to a camera, in fact even this one had to be shot with a video camera and a still snipped out after the fact. I suppose for comparison, this was how they looked (whilst feeding) the day of the original post;
I'd sure call that an improvement.
One mouse passed away, but it was always far smaller than the others and never as active, so I had long suspected it might not make it. Seems to have just shut down in its sleep.
Now the good news; The other five mice are still going strong, very strong in fact. It seems they eventually grasped drinking, or else they appear to have done and no longer show signs of dehydration, they are also far more active. I haven't actually seen them drink yet, aside from suspecting the largest of them was, but their healthier appearance coupled with the water level slowly dropping in the upturned lid I provide them, between it being changed at regular intervals of course, suggests that they are.
Otherwise they've started climbing things, gnawing things and generally being mice. I have only one concern, which is that until the last couple of days they were dragging wet food back into their hide, causing the bedding to become soggy and as a result, or so I believe, one of them has bald patches despite my best efforts to keep on top of the issue. Will the hair grow back or is this permanent? I can't really find much information about this online other than the potential for soggy bedding or the mice having formula in their fur having the potential to cause this.
Lastly here's a photo of three of them while I was cleaning out the tank they're being held in, no doubt everyone here has seen such photos a million times before, but whatever;
This was taken a few days ago, they look far more like 'proper mice' now but I don't currently have access to a camera, in fact even this one had to be shot with a video camera and a still snipped out after the fact. I suppose for comparison, this was how they looked (whilst feeding) the day of the original post;
I'd sure call that an improvement.
MusMinimus- New Member
- Join date : 2019-04-03
Posts : 2
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