I named Erasmus after Charles Darwin’s grandfather. The original Erasmus is the patron saint of sailors- I like the connection there! I haven’t seen any Egyptian gods named that. Can you tell me more?

That’s a difficult situation to be in. Once you bottle feed a baby animal it becomes your baby too. How long have you had him now?

@@BorntoBehave I’ve had him for 3 days now.

@@Freedomfred25 your situation is tricky because a wild mouse can carry diseases (so has to be kept carefully not to expose other animals and people), and while he’s going to be tame he is still wild and will need special care. Lots of space, enrichment, and he might be aggressive and fearful with new people (and even with you down the line, it depends). I agree that releasing him at a young age is bad- mice are very territorial and if Gus is a male that means fighting to the death if necessary over a territory. Another male would fight him if he’s young. If he’s well fed and strong he could possibly defeat a local male. Gus could be a female though. In any case, you can’t release him in his natural habitat because the natural habitat for a house mouse is .. a house. And no one wants a mouse in their house. If he or she survives and thrives, he’d cause damage to the house and would probably end up being poisoned by the people living there. And of course it’s not nice to the people, and you’d be displacing / killing another mouse to give him his territory. So, a nice large enclosure / cage with a ton of good enrichment is the only humane solution I see if you want to keep him alive. Adult male mice smell very bad, you can’t really keep them in a home (so maybe a nature center?). If you did sell him for $10 he won’t be snake food because snake owners buy mice for a lot less than that. No one would pay that much for a mouse. And snake owners would be nervous feeding a wild mouse to their pet, since he could carry disease. So I wouldn’t worry about that part. You’re in a rough spot because we do get so attached to animals we raise as babies. I’m sorry. There’s unfortunately a good change he won’t make it to maturity, because bottle feeding a mouse is very difficult. I once kept a baby mouse alive for ten days before she died - my friend found her as a newborn and I fed her every 60-90 minutes around the clock and still couldn’t save her. Maybe you found Gus at an older age and will have better luck. I wish I had a good solution for you but unfortunately it’s really not easy.

Thank you!

This video represents a process known as shaping. It is a procedure for training new behavior and was initially documented/discovered by B. F. Skinner and a couple of colleagues several decades ago. The idea is that a program of successive approximations (a subject is doing something that approaches a target behavior) takes a subject from zero to full capability in terms of performing a behavior. For example, teaching a mouse to play basketball. In this video, a subject is taught to roll a dice and then place it on the table in a particular position depending on the rolled number. This was done with no words, only cues, that indicate to the subject their behavior would be rewarded. In this case, the reward (reinforcer) was a bead being added to their bowl. The training begins with simple introduction to a first step behavior. Each time the subject does something that is a close approximation of the desired behavior, a reinforcer is provided. This continues until the subject is discovering more and more what the desired behavior is through the constant reinforcement of that desired behavior and the addition of more complex or next steps in the process with more reinforcement. The shaping process can be used to train any living organism. Animals and humans can be trained to perform tasks using this process. This can be especially helpful when training neurodivergent individuals to exhibit novel target behaviors such as brushing their teeth or making eye contact when speaking.

The famous "Dicky" study is one of the first applications shaping to a client diagnosed with autism. Wolf M, Risley T, Johnston M, Harris F, Allen E. Application of operant conditioning procedures to the behavior problems of an autistic child: a follow-up and extension. Behav Res Ther. 1967 May;5(2):103-11. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(67)90004-6. PMID: 6025711.

I think younger fish will be a bit easier but it should work at any age

Hello, all of my videos are available for free use with attribution (attribute to Born to Behave). You’re welcome to any of it.

@@IlanaBram Dear Ilana, thank you so much. We will definately insert your Credit. All the best!

Thank you for the very kind comment!

@@BorntoBehave you are an amazing trainer. Hands down

Me too. They're the sweetest. So fun to observe.

Yes I am! And thank you!

The kea understands gravity and that access to the treat requires it to roll to the accessible opening at the other end.