Have been hillwalking for years and have seen an interesting variety of birds including raptors; but recently started coastal walking and discovered it's a great place to see lots of shore birds, including a Little Egret which is rare for Scotland; and a Short Eared Owl which had just flown over the North Sea to overwinter here!

Hi Nicole.

I hope your little guy is doing well, I had the same thing happen as I found a baby rat drowning in a bucket so I put my hand in and picked here out and she was shaking and eyes bulging but I took her home, tried to wash her but all she wanted to do was bite me but I have had pet rats for many years so I am used to been bitten and have had 4 fingers broken from rat bites but back to your baby rat, I put her in a small rat cage, or you could use a cardboard box or anything that is secure but with access to air and if you could put the top you were wearing when you found him and cuddled hi or any clothes that smells of you that has not been washed in with him then that makes them feel more safe, you can use a towel as bedding which is what we use or go to Pets At Home and buy safe bedding or any soft bedding.

As for bathing/washing try a cotton pad with warm water on it or cotton bud for smaller places but I think he will be too scared to let you wash him properly but if he is wet them put him in a towel and gently sort of massage him or stroke him, when you put him in his ‘house’ put somewhere dark and safe that he can go and hide in as for the first few days that is probably all he will want to do, good things are cereal boxes well any boxes, Sainsbury’s where I live have an area in the store where they have the boxes you can take for free and I often go in there and take some as my rats love to be in the dark.

As for food, you are doing the right thing with the dropper but he may be of the age where he can drink for himself, the wild rat I rescued loved biscuits, yoghurt and milk, does the mouse have fur yet?? And are his eyes open???.

After that he will start to eat and become more tame as our rat did and she loves to run up my arm and hide in my hair as I have very long hair that I pin up and I can walk round the house and she will stay there for hours and she falls asleep and you can see her head hanging out bobbing as I walk.

But as the other person said you won’t be able to release it back to the wild as it won’t know what to do as it will lose its hunting instinct and just sit there waiting for someone to give him his food but they make wonderful pets so not only have you saved a life but found a friend.

Oh as for sexing, females have nipples males don't and females just have a little button down there and boys have a button and bulge below, the private parts should be showing by about 3 weeks.

Well good luck and I hope it goes well for you both and please update to let us know what happens.

Niki

Its nicole. I need some help, fast ! i found a very young mouse in my back yard today, my cat was playing with it. It apperently doesn't have any scratches, and its not bleeding. I would like to keep it. I bought an eyedropper, and I have feed it goats milk through it. It's doing ok, shaking because its cold, but i bought some cotton to sleep in to keep warm. I don't know what it's gender is. Its about one inch long, feels light as a feather, and it's VERY fragile. I have somes questions - Can I clean it? does it need to be cleaned ? Hot or warm water ? Soap ? how many times a month, day or week ? Can I hurt it or drown it easily while washing it ? If i can give it a bath, how should I dry it ? should I let it dry on its own ? If I let it dry on it's own, will it become sick ?  I know these are a lot of questions, but i need to know some answers before I endanger its life some how. Please answer if you have experience, I don't want to hurt my little guy. Thanks, Nicole