Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My spouse caught a wild mouse at work and brought it home because the housekeeping crew for the hospital was going to kill it! Anyways, now it is sitting in a cage with bedding, hide areas, food, water blah blah. My biggest questions are, can anyone identify what kind of mouse it is? I am thinking deer mouse. In that case arent they dangerous, healthwise to humans? What about my other animals? The cage is in the reptile room with 9 bearded dragons. Of course they arent housed together but they are in the same room. Plus my cats and dogs go in and out of the room as well.

I am kind of struggling on what to do. There is just way too much snow outside to release him/her. Not to mention temps have been getting REALLY low. (I live in upstate NY). Anyone have any ideas? No I am not going to euthanize it! Or feed it to anything! So please dont bother suggesting those ideas.

Thanks, Lindsay

Looks like a deer mouse, peromyscus (sp).... you can feed it until spring, but be aware that this is the kind of mouse that carries the hanta virus. (spread through dried feces in the air). It could be dangerous to have around!
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~Sasheena

Yup, deer mouse. If you aren't going to kill it in any way (ie:feeding, euthanizing, etc) then your only other option is to keep it alive. Like Sasheena said, be wary. Wild animals harbor parasites, including fleas & ticks (Lyme disease), or rabies. Don't handle it, and release it in the Spring. My guess is, if you return it to where you caught it, it would find it's way back into it's burrow and survive the winter just fine.
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1.1 Ball Python 0.0.1 corn snake 1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish 1.2 cats 3.1 kids 1.0 husband and now...
0.0.1 Pink Zebra Beauty Tarantula
0.2 Solomon Island Boas

We cannot return it to where it was caught because my spouse caught it in the lobby of our local hospital! They were going to kill it. I have heard from lots of people and even read that the chances of catching the hanta virus is pretty small especially living in the northeast. Obviously I dont want to expose my household to the virus, but I dont want to let a little one die

I just thought of another option. Check for local wild animal rescues in the area. Audubon Soc or Nature centers should be able to direct you to a rehab, and they take in all sorts of animals. They may even be able to re-release it to an area where it won't find it's way into a hospital when it gets cold! I did this with a baby squirrel I found one year. I was concerned about having it in the house with my cats and kids, but couldn't bear to just leave it to die (and I kill mice every week for my snakes dinner....I should be hardened to this but I'm a big softie..)
Whatever you decide, that mouse is one lucky guy (or girl) to have been found by you. Good luck with it!
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1.1 Ball Python 0.0.1 corn snake 1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish 1.2 cats 3.1 kids 1.0 husband and now...
0.0.1 Pink Zebra Beauty Tarantula
0.2 Solomon Island Boas