Does wild mouse pose any threat?

[Jenncure]

Hello all,

I have an odd question. I found an orphaned baby mouse in my basement, and am trying to recuperate it, at least so it's healthy and grown enough to release back into the wild. I know mice can carry all sorts of nasty things, so I'm keeping it well away from my Russian tort. Should I be concerned about keeping the wild mouse in the same house as my Russian? Can it carry diseases/pests that can be transferred to my tort?

Thanks again!

 

[Jacqui]

While I don't know how reasonable and humane releasing him back into the wild once he is a hand tamed pet will be, he should be safe for your tortoise. Most of the danger is from the mice getting in with the tortoise and chewing (eating) the tortoise. They do carry disease, but if you practice good handwashing, mouse enclosure cleaning, ect.., risks should be small.

 

[Jenncure]

While I don't know how reasonable and humane releasing him back into the wild once he is a hand tamed pet will be, he should be safe for your tortoise. Most of the danger is from the mice getting in with the tortoise and chewing (eating) the tortoise. They do carry disease, but if you practice good handwashing, mouse enclosure cleaning, ect.., risks should be small.

*shudder* I hadn't even thought about the mouse trying to chew on my tort. At this point, the tort is still much larger than the mouse, so hopefully that counts for something.

I had thought about whether it was humane to release the mouse as well, but I really don't want a pet mouse. I think I may be stuck with it though, as it seems to have adopted me! The best scenario would be to find someone to take the mouse, but I don't hold much hope of that.

At this point, I'm taking it one day at a time, to see if the baby mouse survives. I just wanted to make sure my efforts wouldn't harm my tort.

 

[gieseygirly]

Find someone that owns a snake......circle of life,right? And then you aren't stuck with a mouse.

 

[Jenncure]

Update: I was able to find a home for the baby mouse, through the Wildlife Rescue League. So here's a shout out to the WRL (they help tortoises too!) http://www.wildliferescueleague.org/

 

[gieseygirly]

Yay! Solution found!