My mouses tail

Question
Hi! My mouse's tail got stuck on the door to his ball! I need help, it was only about a centimeter from the end of the tail, and he has been squeaking. Right now he is currently in his cage. I'm hoping not to have to go to the vet.. any suggestions? thank you!

Answer
Dear Nick,  --see end for added comment--

Your poor little mouse!  I would call your vet to see if they think they could do something, but I do not think if a vet would set a tail break.

I do not suggest trying to set the tail yourself. However, I have had numerous mice who broke tailtips-- back before wheels were tail-safe, I had a couple of mice whose tails ended up with several kinks or bends in them-- but the mouse's well-being was just fine.  The tails heal themselves pretty quickly-- you can imagine, in the wild, often a mouse might lose the tip of its tail to predators who almost catch it-- but of course they don't straighten out.

I assume the mouse is no longer squeaking.  They usually squeak right as pain begins but then are silent afterwards.  If he is still squeaking then something else might be wrong. You can ask your vet if they can do anything but I think the answer will be no.  Although your mouse has been in pain, it would not be a good idea to try to give him anything for the pain because it could easily kill him.

In sum, your mouse should be fine, though he will have a bend in his tail, if you just leave him alone for a day or so to mend.  I actually have a mouse with a kink in her tail right now, from when she was a baby.  It doesn't bother her in the least.

Please feel free to write again with any further questions.

(squeaks)

Natasha

Dear Nick,

I just wanted to add one more thing.  Of course you know now to always watch very carefully for your mouse's tail.  However, the reason this can happen so easily is partly because mice do not pay a lot of attention to their tails.  I can pet the tail of a skitterish  mouse and she won't really even notice.  This shows that they really have very few nerve endings in the tail, and so it doesn't hurt all that much if it gets injured.  The squeak is caused by fear as much as pain.  So it's nothing like you breaking a part of you.  Don't feel so bad-- the mouse will have forgotten about it in 24 hours and will never notice the kink in the tail.  

Natasha