A wood mouse as a pet?

[Ina]

Hello,

I rescued a baby Wood Mouse from my cat's mouth...

I kept him in a box for a while until he got over the shock and released him again, but I saw that he was not very 'streetwise' and was a bit disorientated.
I put him back into a bushy side, and later on he was hoping down the lawn again towards the house and the cat (who fortunately didn't see him)

I decided to put him back into the box. It's one of those plastic carriers for hamsters. We have hamsters and have bred them in the past, so I'm quite used to take care of rodents, but a wild mouse is a bit different...
Do you think he can be kept like one of the petshop mice (which I learnt they come from House Mice)...

He's doing great at the moment, he bulit a little nest out of some hamster bedding, and now we got a bigger terrarium with shavings, some twigs to climb on and we're waiting for him to wake up to put him into his new habitat, as we don't want to disturb him while he's asleep...

I've never heard of anyone keeping a wild mouse as a pet, have you? SHould I release him when he's a bit older, or he won't be able to survive in the wild by then???
I don't mind keeping him, I know he'll be well looked after, but I know he belongs to the wild...and the reason and decided to take him back is becaseu I think he's too young (the cat had caught another one an hour before but it was too late, he was dead, obviously he disturbed a young litter...)

What would you do?
Thanks

[Jason Green]

Welcome to WAB!

I haven't heard of keeping a woodmouse as a pet before, being young he MAY see you as an adoptive parent (meaning he may not fear you perhaps?) How long have you been looking after him?

Please remember his parents MAY be looking for him as at this age he'll still be fed by the mum.

[Ina]

Hi again!
thanks for welcoming me!

He's been with us since friday night. He is about 3 cm long and is eating raisins, hamster food, pine nuts...also drinking water from a tiny bowl.

I wanted him to go back outside, but when I released him he was just sitting there and had no attempt to run and hide.
There are a lot of cats around, and I know this is how a mouse life goes, full of traps....
But I'd love to keep him.......Am I very bad????? I know he'll die out there.......

I've no idea where the nest might be, but he was not the first one Haggis caught, and I think that if he disturbed the nest, the mother might have moved to a safer place (if they're not dead)...

So far he's doing well, I might give it another try and release him again, see waht happens...If I see he still hangs around and doesn't hide away I might keep him...

I'll try to show you a picture if I know how to...!!

[Jez]

Wood Mice a far more active when daylight ends, so releasing it then would be best. A ground feeder with a guard where larger birds can't access food maybe a good idea to place it in, to give it a fighting chance but remember it's survival of the fittest out in the wild. Death to a woody in it's natural habitat is far better than death in captivity! I wish it the best of luck & hope you turn it loose.

[Jason Green]

Does he have a full coat of hair? If not - and genuinely seems happier to be with you, then maybe he now thinks that being kept by you is how it should be.

When new posters say they've found a young blue tit, I ask if it's calling and they've said it has been - then I've encouraged them to release it safely AWAY from cats etc, and the parents in this particular case actually returned to their juv and began feeding it. By the next morning it had dissapeared along with them! In cases like this where no injury seems apparent I always encourage people to return it to the wild ASAP.

However, in this case it seems young and we don't know for sure if the parents will accept it, it having had contact with humans - for good reason. I therefore think MAYBE the mouse would be safer looked after, at least for the time being. Afterall, if it IS this young if MAY not survive alone. It does seem to be happy, feeding etc, and most importantly SURVIVING. As it gets older or appears stronger, THEN try and release it again.

I have no real experience of having done this personally and I'm sure there are people on this forum who have, who will be able to advise. This is only my opinion.

Please post a pic and keep us updated!

[Dogghound]

3cm sounds a little small for a weaned Wood Mouse i.e eating solids, are you sure its not a Harvest Mouse? Best to release it away from cats in a overgrown local field. Mice are social and will find eachother although this mouse will no longer be welcome back with its mother and if it is eating solids it would not have been long before it left her anyway.

[paulinemiller10]

Wood Mice leave the nest quite young, and at this time they don t move very fast, they usually crawl, but they do fend for themselves at a young age, and a lot don t make it, they have to go out looking for food, so life is never easy for them, I feed mine at the bottom of my garden, they live in a shelter I built for my Hedgehogs, they have become quite tame and come out when they hear me coming with the Hedgehogs supper, so they pinch the food, they enjoy chopped peanuts best, but quite a few of mine have a taste for cooked chicken.

I would keep your little mouse, but if you find he is not happy and is trying to get out, then I would let him go somewhere safe and leave food and water for a while until he settles in. Pauline.