Torn mouse ear

Question
My son's mouse lives alone in his cage but we discovered today that the whole top of his ear is completely off! I don't notice any blood or anything, but is this harmful?  The only recent change is we moved him to a different cage.  He's very skittish and we don't pick him up so I'm not sure I could put anything on his ear.  Any insight would be appreciated!  Thank you!

Answer
Hi Laurie,

Does it look irritated, or does it look like it might have happened a while ago and healed up?  I would only worry if the ear appears bloody or a different color than the other for more than a day or so after you noticed it.  Ears usually heal well due to the high number of blood vessels in the area, but if it becomes irritated and looks infected (dark color, pussy, persistently a darker red than the healthy ear) you can use antibiotics.

Since you can't apply neosporin to the ear, you can provide a general antibiotic called tetracycline (available in the fish section of your local pet store) in the water bottle to prevent any infections from spreading beyond the ear.  Here are instructions on using tetracycline:  http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2010/2/Tetracycline-directions-sneezing-mou...

You really don't need to use the antibiotics unless the ear does not appear to be healing normally.  Normal healing involves a normal colored ear (match to the other ear) a scab along the torn edge that heals into normal, pink tissue over the course of a week or so.  Like I said - ears normally heal quickly, so just keep an eye on the ear and his behavior and treat if anything changes for the worse.  Since we're not sure how it happened, it'd be a good idea to check the cages over for anything that could scratch, poke, or pinch.  If the ear already appears healed - it shouldn't be affecting him at all and you don't need to worry about anything except making sure the cause isn't present in his new home.  :)

Best of luck!
-Tam