sleeping in soil/ inflamed privates

Question
QUESTION: I just checked in on my mice and one of my girls has crusted over eyes. She is eating and getting around fine since she was blind any way, but i know crusty eyes arent good. What can I do?!

ANSWER: Dear Chelsea.

You can gently wipe her face with a warm, moist cloth or paper towel until the crust comes off.  Repeat this as necessary.

I always have to tell you to go to the vet first when a mouse is sick, but I know mice are often low-budget pets, so I'm not pushy about this.  If you choose not to, here is my advice.

She might have an infection, so the question is, do you leave her alone or do you put her on antibiotics just in case?  I would wait a day or so to see if she has any other symptoms.  If she does, or you decide to use antibiotics right away, I use a simple antibiotic you can get from a pet store, Tetracycline.  Note-- vets have access to lots of newer drugs that you can't get over the counter-- mice are often given a drug called Baytril, for instance-- so again, consider a vet visit.  

The directions for administering the drug are contained in this previous post of mine

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2008/9/Administering-antibiotic-Tetracyclin

Let me know if you have any more questions.  I hope the other mice are doing well.  You had the bully mouse, if I remember..?

squeaks,

Natasha

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yes that was me! Thanks so much for your answer. I did some research last night and came up with the warm water and stuff. Her eye hasn't crusted over since then and I am giving her a few days to see if there is an infection. I think she may have just has a bit of an injury. She is my little blind baby so maybe she ran into something? Any ways, I moved her to her own cage today so that she wouldn't be bullied by my other girls any more. She is currently recovering from mites (which I took her to the vet for) and doing just fine. Just out of curiosity, would there be a reason a mouse would sleep in their own filth? Justice does it all the time. I would like to discourage this, but what is more discouraging than sleeping in your own potty? She gets poop stuck to her tail sometimes too. I've been cleaning that off gently, but I'm afraid it is irritating the skin on her tail. Also, I don't know if it means anything at all, but her genitals and anus have been kind of...weird looking... since I got her. They kind of protrude and look swollen. Is that a sign of previous birth, deformity, or nothing at all? Thanks again for your prompt responses. I do appreciate it!!

Answer
Dear Chelsea,

I'm sorry everybody bullies Justice.  Mice actually really need a lot of love, so if she can live with somebody, she should; otherwise you have to try to give her at least an hour of people-time a day.  Of course doing this makes for a very sweet mouse. Also, she should be as close as possible to the others because they do chat all the time in high pitched squeaks.  Idea:  You could find her a little baby mouse to live with.

Although mice don't usually sleep in their dirtiest corner, they do soil the nest.  I hope that when she was with the others, she slept with them.  Now she should have a very separate nest to sleep in that she can't confuse, which should clearly be in one corner.  Give her a little house or box with some cloth or kleenex to sleep in.  You can change the kleenex when she urinates on it, which she will sometimes do.  She should soil a corner on the other side of the cage (usually under the wheel).  If she chooses to sleep in a soiled corner instead of her nest, you could put her in a cage with a wire floor so that her waste falls below the floor.  If you still have trouble, give  me details and I may be able to find a solution.

Her poop shouldn't usually be sticky enough to stick to her tail.  The genital/anal problem (doesn't sound good) may well be connected with a diarrhea or gastro-intestinal problem.  I would recommend she see a vet for that.  If that's not a possibility, the same antibiotic regimen as above would help if the problem is bacterial.  

Best of luck to little Justice.  These days, Justice needs all the help it can get!

squeaks,

Natasha