My mouse has funny rings on its tail

Question
my mouse has these funny red rings on his tail, its like bleeding under the skin, and they're heading down his tail, it may be his blood circulation. but im really worried, Hes going to be a year in january.

Answer
Dear Hannah,

Revision:  information from my breeder. It could be an infection. If you can't bring the mouse to the vet, you can try a course of antibiotics for two weeks.

The over-the-counter antibiotic that I use-- and I stress that the vet has more modern ones which they can tailor to the problem-- is Tetracycline, which is available in the FISH section of your pet store or aquarium store.  It either comes in powder, tablet, or capsule form.  If it is a tablet, you will need to crush it into fine powder, which you can do with the back of one spoon against the front of another.  If it is a capsule you will empty the powder out of the capsule.  One capsule is the same as 1/4 flat teaspoon.

Put that amount in his large water bottle, or half that in his small water bottle, and that should be his only source of water for about 10 days. Change it every other day.

Now mix a small amount (again, about 1/4 tsp, or 1 capsule) with about 2 drops of water to form a liquid paste about like mustard. You have plenty to play with, so if the mixture is too watery, try again.  

Pick him up by the scruff of the neck and, holding him gently but firmly,  gently place a small amount into his now open mouth.  Be careful of his nose!  Wipe a bit more onto his whiskers and chin.  He will ingest that when he washes himself.    If you couldn't get any inside of him, wipe some on his sides as well.  Put him back into the cage right away so he will wash himself and not wipe it off while being held.

If it is an infection, this will probably do the trick.   He will probably still lose the tail.

end of revision.

**More likely cause is ringtail; my first answer:

I'm not a vet, so there may well be reasons for this that I know nothing about.  I do know about one thing that will cause that. It's called Ringtail, and it is caused by the humidity being too low (the air is too dry). In the case of ringtail, the tail will not grow back and it will probably break off, though that itself is not a real problem for a pet mouse.  You do want to take care of the situation as fast as possible though. A humidifier in the room will take care of the problem if it is ringtail. The humidity should be between 40-70%.  You can tell that the humidity is getting low when your hair gets staticky (flies around and sticks to your face), though I don't know what the humidity level is exactly for "staticky hair!"  It is also important that the diet be low in fat-- cut out nuts and sunflower seeds.

If you can get the mouse to the vet, that's the best option. If you have a nice vet you may be able to call and find out if there are other possibilities. There may also be another way to treat it that I don't know about. In any case try to raise the humidity and lower the fat content of the mouse's diet.  I'm going to put the question out to my mouse and rat friends to see if anyone else has an answer, and if I get some more information I will change this answer and you will get a notification.  

Sorry I can't give you a definitive answer-- though I try to help as much as possible, my expertise is not in medicine. Best of luck. And if you could keep me posted as to what happens, and what your vet says, if you talk to one, I'd really, really  appreciate it. It will help me very much with future mouse questions.

squeaks,

Natasha