Every animal will do what they can to keep from becoming dehydrated enough to die. An animal has to be incredibly sick to die from dehydration, the thirst for water is a powerful drive. As long as he's drinking, he won't die (and I'm sure he drinks without you watching, too!) It'll take a bit for him to get back to a healthy condition. Look at a dog from a rescue, if they come with fur or skin problems it takes a long time for them to get into a good condition again. As long as you're doing the right things you should slowly see improvement each time he sheds especially. I do agree that, unless really necessary, you should give him a few days to chill out with minimal handling. Good idea to keep a journal- I've got an excel spreadsheet to document feeding too.

Today was feeding day for mine, too. I took a video of it. I'm not sure why, I just think it's neat to see. He stays right in front of the camera, it was pretty successful, though the first few minutes are boring! I thought it might be helpful to post here - the mouse is totally dry, I thawed in the fridge overnight and heated with my ceramic emitter, so no bedding stuck to it this time at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_wC...ature=youtu.be