This article is from the WSSF 2007 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

Joseph Gleeson, Neurogenetics Laboratory, Dept. Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, e-mail
Q The article you have on hand feeding baby mice on your website was very helpful. Do you have any information on the volume of formula that baby mice require at each postnatal day? I would guess it is about 0.25 cc per feeding on the first day, and then increases by 0.05 cc per feeding each day. Does this seem about right to you?

Answer by Karen Robbins
A On our Orphans page we mention using several things: Whole, raw, fresh goat milk; KMR® (Kitten Milk Replacer); Esbilac® (puppy formula); Enfamil (without iron); Soyalac human formula; and Lambert Kay™ Mother’s Helper™ puppy formula. I would always just feed them until their tummies were full—I never measured anything.

Answer by Carmen Jane Booth, D.V.M., Ph.D.
A What is the composition and Kcal per ml of the formula? I found a paper where they showed that adult mice (22.5 grams) need 8 ml of a liquid diet intravenous per day composed of 40% carbohydrate (dextrose), 4.3 percent protein (amino acids), mixed with vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and other trace elements. I have searched my books and the web and could not find the exact daily Kcal per kilogram of body weight needed from birth to weaning for mice.