Rat Babies

So this weekend I was out in the horse shed doing my twice a year cleaning and disturbed a nest of baby mice. They were up in the wall and when I cleared away the straw holding them up in there they came out. Little tiny things, they have hair but their eyes are still shut. I couldn't just leave them there on the dirt floor without their Mom. So I'm their Mom now. They live in a mixing bowl and share a heating lamp with Cecil the tortoise. I researched a bit online and found that infant formula is a good replacement milk for them, so Greta shares the last remaining bit of formula from her sippy cup with the mouse babies. They didn't care for it at first but after a day of not eating they've decided it's not that bad. I was trying to feed all six individually but that took way too long to accomplish so I learned last night to just soak a chunk of banana bread in formula and put it in their nest. They gather around it and drink away while nibbling on the bread. I think they'll survive. When they get big enough I plan on releasing them into a field many many miles away. For now, I'm their rat momma....I know they're not rats but I like calling them my rat babies (ever see that Friends episode when Pheobie finds the rat babies and carries them around in a shoe box? Yep that's me.) You've got to admit they are cute, in a rodent kinda way.