I got 2 mice 5 days ago one albino and one brown. The albino: Sebastian is suddenly very tired lazy and looks sick. I can not let him die PLEASE HELP!

You need to take your mice to a small animal veterinarian as soon as possible. Do not wait for advice on a forum if your mouse is in distress. Did you get him to a vet yet or call them for an appointment?

All of the vets are closed now and they are not open on sundays

What do I do?

I am so sorry Sebastian is sick and your vet is closed until Monday.


I really have no idea what to tell you except to make sure he is kept comfortable, has clean drinking water and a clean cage with plenty of comfy blankies or nesting material to stay warm and cozy and if he seems sick, it might be a good idea to have some easy to digest, nourishing creamy type foods for him, like some baby food, or a brand of high calorie shake called Ensure that they sell at grocery stores/drug stores) that are very nourishing for sickly rodents. You could put something like that in a shallow dish for him.


Is he okay enough to eat and drink on his own? Even something like applesauce, if you have it in the house and can offer something like that to him on your finger for him to lick, if he is too weak to eat on his own.


I am just trying to think of things to keep him nourished and hydrated. Can he drink his water okay? He may be eating and drinking on his own, which would be good, but I was not sure how sick he actually is?

I am so sorry, I know how worried you must be.

Yes he can eat and drink on his own. Thank you for all your support and I might post daily updates but, I don't know would that just be annoying? I am checking in on him every hour and making sure he is breathing properly.

Well I am happy that he can eat and drink on his own, so that is a good sign for now. Hopefully you can just help him along through the weekend, and check in on him regularly to make sure he is okay until you can call your vet on Monday.


Is your vet a small animal vet? If he or she is a dog/cat type vet, they will have very minimal if any, experience with small rodents like mice. Hopefully you already have a good small animal "exotic" vet that can check out poor Sebastian.


You can even give his symptoms and your concerns over the phone with the nurse when you call in for an appointment, to get some extra advice!

No, it is not annoying at all to give updates on this forum! That is what we are here for, to help and give advice and support. So please feel free to keep us updated and let us know how Sebastian is doing. I am rooting for him to stay strong and to hang in there!

P.S. I thought of a few extra tidbits of info that could help...


Make sure that Sebastian's cage/enclosure is not near any cold drafts or not in any direct sunlight. Cold drafts, or the heat of direct sun are so dangerous for little critters.


Also, make sure that if you are using any type of bedding for your mice that you are not using anything with pine. Pine is just horrible for small animals and should not even be on the market. Ultra Carefresh, or fleece/flannel bedding are good choices. Some people use aspen chips, but those can be really dusty (dust can get up their little noses and cause sneezing and respiratory issues) and not very comfy for little critters.


Hmm, that is all that comes to mind at the moment. I will be away for a bit but I will check back here later in the evening. Give Sebastian my love and I hope he does okay, poor little guy.

I do have an "Exotic" vet so thats good. I am going to pick up some baby food (or things like that) tonight. I have nice soft bedding not made of wood at all. I have been watching what he is eating closely from now until Monday. Should I put him in a different tank? Just now he started to make strange noises that sound like coughing

Thank you and I will tell him
Z-Mice

P.S. I said should I put him in a different tank because he is living with Asuna.

Hmm, I am not sure if he needs to go in a separate tank or not. If he is sick, then his buddy will probably already have what he has, but again, I am not sure at all about this, as I have never had mice.


I have experience with rats and gerbils only, but I have never been in a situation where I had to decide whether to keep them separately for any reason.

Well, the bedding sounds great and I am so glad you have an exotic vet that knows about small rodents, so that is good news.


As for his coughing, I really am not sure what to recommend. When my rats have gotten a little sneezy or sniffly, I have used baby liquid Sudafed or Benadryl, and I put a measured amount of the liquid into some baby food or on a small chunk of bread with a plastic liquid syringe that has markings for dosage on it. But as for coughing...shoot, I am at a loss.


You know what? I am going to send a couple of messages to two people from this forum who are more knowledgeable than me about this and hopefully you will get some good advice from them tonight. They are Lilspaz and Storyseeker. So keep an eye out for a post from one or both of them in the next few hours or maybe by tomorrow I hope? I want to get you some more help!

Thank you for the help and support it's made things much easier.

Oh, you are so welcome, and I am glad I can help in some way. It is always harder having a sick baby and feeling like there is no one out there to help or to lend an ear. Having someone else know about it and supporting you and your furry boy can make it seem less scary and depressing, I know.



One other thing I thought of is that you have only had your mice for 5 days, and I know that during the first few day of small animals being in a new environment, they can go through some adjusting and their immune systems can take quite the hit as they go through some sniffles and sneezes, so it COULD be that Sebastian is just going through a temporary thing, but I am not sure if that would include coughing?



I just sent two messages to Lilspaz and Storyseeker so if either of them responds to your thread, I am sure it will make you feel even better that you have some more help and advice. Perhaps one or both of them might suggest that depending on his symptoms, he may be going through something that may pass in a day or so on its own? Again, not sure about that fine line between "new home sniffles" and full blown "sick". Hang in there, okay? I will send healing thoughts to little Sebastian.

Wont be on until Sunday sorry. I will be staying up with Sebastian all night.

I don't have health care knowledge for a mouse other than the basics, which Vlad shared.

---Keep in a draft free container.
---Provide a bit of warmth, like a hot water bottle under one corner of the cage so he doesn't have to expend healing calories trying to stay warm. (Don't let it get too hot, and only do one corner, that way if he gets too hot, he can get away from the heat source)
---Keep him in a quiet dark location to minimize stress and disturb him unnecessarily as little as possible. Mice are extremely vulnerable to stress.
---if he's eating and drinking, make sure he stays hydrated. I'm not sure about the applesauce, because I know it can be a diuretic with some animals? Perhaps some unflavored pedialyte to keep his electrolytes balanced? Babyfood would be a good choice. Maybe some dried rice babyfood you can constitute at home as needed.

---Is Asuna a female? If so, she may be a comfort to him while he's sick. If she's female, I'm assuming you got them as a breeding pair.

If Asuna is a male, you'd want to remove him because males inherently don't get along, and even if they are young enough to still be friendly, it would likely still be stressful while he's sick, unless it's very clear that they are snuggly and peaceful for the time being.

That's all I can think of though. There isn't a whole lot of info out there on mice care other than 'get em to a vet'.

Thanks SO much for sharing your info, Story, I really appreciate it. I never thought about the dry baby rice cereal that you can add water to for a nourishing, easy to digest snack...I use that for my boys all the time as a "comfort food" option, which they love, and I totally forgot about that.

Great tips from Storyseeker, Zinc, so that should help!

(Thanks again Story)