That's not a mouse!!

[oc_spirit]

A couple nights ago while one of my mum's friends was leaving the house she saw a small rodent and was pretty sure it was a mouse. My mum HATES mice so immediately set up a trap even though it wasn't in the house (I do not agree with this but w/e). This morning she checked the trap and it wasn't a mouse, it was a chipmunk!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily it didn't hit him hard enough to kill him, were not even sure where it got him, she just found him lying beside it. Currently he's in a cage on the porch (we'll birng him in tonight) and he's still breathing and moving around just very slow and careful. What do chipmunks eat? Just regular hamster/rodent food? Right now we have some soda cracker in with him which i know aint the best but it's better than nothing. I'll try to get some pics! My mum and I named him Tiko (assuming it's male) and me and Tiko are gonna heal together!

 

[skyhigh]

LOL. Haha. That just gave me a good laugh. Well, i've never seen a chipmunk. But just give him some rabbit/guinea pig food for now. Glad that he didnt die

 

[Barb04]

Just be careful since I'm not sure if the chipmunk might be carrying diseases. I wouldn't want you to get bit and ill.

 

[oc_spirit]

I looked up general chipmunk care on the internet and most of their diet is human food so that makes life pretty easy (nuts, fruits, veggies, seeds, etc). I need to find a bigger cage to put him in though since he's slowly becoming more and more active and tight quarters could stress him out. Not sure what I'm gonna use though....I'll probably just put together a couple hamster cages connected with tubes so he has metal stimulation and it mimics his habitat. Need to find some branches for mental stimulation (climbing and chewing and playing). He's really tiny, I don't think he's full grown but he is big enough to be independent.

Here's a pic of the little dude

 

[Ash47]

Barb is right. You may consider taking him to a vet experienced with wildlife to just make sure he isn't infected with anything.

 

[oc_spirit]

I would take him to the vet but I can't afford that right now. And if I gave him to them to care for they'd probably just put him to sleep.

 

[Fran27]

Just be careful, because it wasn't a mouse doesn't mean it won't have the same diseases as a mouse. Personally, I would just let him go back outside, a cage life is not a life for a wild chipmunk!

 

[oc_spirit]

Fran, he is being released back outside as soon as he is healthy enough. I know exactly where his hole is and he wil be released there which is also where he was found. I'm one of the biggest supporters of not keeping wild animals as pets partially due to the spreading of diseases and also because a caged life after a life in the wild is simply cruel IMO Actually by the way things are looking and the rate at which Tiko is improving he should be able to be released by tomorrow or the next day!

 

[juliefurry]

we have had ground squirrels at my parent's house for years and I think as long as he is active and moving around you can let him loose by his hole and he will do fine. I have done that to a few that have been trapped in our window well. As long as he seems like he is moving normal than there should be no problem releasing him. Especially if you say he is getting too active for his cage now.

 

[oc_spirit]

Tiko's been moved to the new cage (1.5ft X 3ft as opposed to .5ft X 1ft) and he seems to be doing ok...he can get from one cage to the other fine (they're attached by a tube) but it's slow and careful. He's spending a lot of time in the house just sleeping but that's to be expected. Pretty sure tomorrow he'll get released!

 

[juliefurry]

that's good, is he eating and drinking for you at all? We had a ground squirrel that had gotten trapped in the window well and we didn't know for days he was so dehydrated when we finally found him I was giving him water by dipping a straw in water and slowly dripping it into his mouth. Unfortunetely I don't know if he ever survived. I thought he was doing ok, so I put him back by his hole and then I never saw him go back in, just lay by the opening. Usually with just a little water I could get them back into their holes and they'd be out causing trouble the next day.

 

[oc_spirit]

Yup he's drinking, eating a tiny bit (mostly the tiny soft seeds) but I saw a couple bites in the carrot and grape too. Today he's not looking so good, pretty quiet but he's still moving around alright.