Okay, you all have to promise not to judge me.
We have a mouse problem in our home, and despite what I want, Rod has set up snap traps. We also have humane traps, and most of the mice are caught in those and then transported to a new area many miles away. But a few fall victim to the snap traps.
Having said that, Rod reset the snap traps last night and in the wee hours of the morning I heard the snap. Rod took care of the body before he left for work because he knows I can't stomach it.
Later this afternoon Syd went into the kitchen to make herself a snack and came running to me. "Mommy, mommy, there's a baby mouse in the kitchen and I think it's dying". So I came to look. It's a newborn. Pretty sure mom was snapped in the trap last night.
Not a pinky, it has fur, but the eyes aren't yet open. At this point I had three options, a quick painless death via Rascal the border collie mouse killer, a quick but maybe not painless death by flushing down the toilet, or trying my best to raise the baby and keep it alive.
Ya, you, you, I chose the last option! Don't judge!
We named him GusGus, and he's doing pretty well. I've fed him milk and sugar twice now and he gulps it up, and is very active. Then, just 30 minutes ago, I decided to see if he had litter mates. I found one more. So now we have GusGus and Sofie. They've both been fed, and will be fed every 3 hours. I'll be setting my alarm tonight to do the feedings.
Thing is, I have no idea if what I'm doing is right or if they'll survive, or if I'm just making them suffer instead of just making it quick and painless. But I can't kill them. It's just not who I am. They're both active, as much as tiny little fingernail sized mice can be, and they're both strong.
They're in a box with torn up tissue, all snuggled in. Rod won't buy any supplies for them (actually, he agreed to buy evaporated milk for them tomorrow after work if they make it through the night), they're rodents that are invading our house and he's fine with me trying to save them, he won't hurt them, but he also won't spend any money to save them. Don't judge him either, please.
I've gotten great advice from a friend that has mice and has raised mice, but she's never hand raised them. I need all the help I can get. GusGus and Sofie need to live. If they do... nix that... when they do, positive thinking... they'll be kept as pets. I have a brand new aquarium set up for rodents that I bought for the gerbils, and then they passed away before they could use it. So when they live, they'll be cared for all their lives. I just need to make sure they live.
Please don't think I'm crazy. I'm really not. I just can't kill anything, especially adorable tiny baby mice, and really, they're adorable!
Any advice or help to keep them alive, is very much appreciated, because I have no farking idea what I'm doing, but I'm their only option.