Sick Mouse

Question
QUESTION: My husband brought home a small white mouse the other day. They got it to feed a pet snake at work. However the snake wouldnt eat it and after being left in with the snake for a few days he brought it home. I am noticing the mouse is starting to have a watery eye and what looks to be a small bump under its neck. Any suggestions on what I should do? I am thinking maybe the mouse was sick and thats why the snake had no intrest in it. I dont want it to die so what should I do to help the lil thing?!

ANSWER: bump under it's neck -- where at? on it's chin/throat area? are his eyes bulging, fur standing on end, is he sneezing and/or hacking/coughing? excessive porphin from his nose/eyes?

I don't want to scream "zebra!" if it's just a horse - so if you can clarify some of that for me, hopefully I can help :)

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QUESTION: It is right under its chin. You can only see it sometimes like depending on how it has its head positioned.It is still very active, and hasnt lost appetite and is still drinking. Nothing from its nose. Dont seem to have any respitory distress. Just that watery eye. I havent heard it cough or sneeze and I keep a very close eye on it.

ANSWER: Well, it could be an abscess or a tumor. I know that rats are very prone to chin abscesses, and I would imagine mice aren't too horribly different. Can you handle him? It probably won't take much pressure to pop it, if it's an abscess, and get it all cleaned out. Of course, he won't appreciate that much. If it's a tumor, it'll be free-floating and sort of move when you poke at it; it may also be soft and squishy feeling.

The eye could be completely unrelated, or it may have been an injury to his face that caused both. If the watery eye green or yellow at all, or just clear discharge? If it's green or yellow, it's probably an infection and needs to be looked at. If it's clear, I wouldn't worry.

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QUESTION: The discharge from the eye is clear and usually when its been asleep and is waking up.

The bump under its chin is hard to determine. Its very friendly and lets me hold it but to actually try and check the bump is hard because the mouse is so small. I am guessing just a few weeks..maybe 4 at the most. Do you think it could have been caused by the snake striking at it? There is no actual puncture marks though.

Answer
I'd assume it was from his handling prior to that - or possibly from trying to get away from the snake - if it is in fact an injury. If it's an abscess, odds are it'll burst on it's own anyway (they normally do in that area). If you want to; you can take him into the vet and have him looked at - or you can keep an eye on him and see if it gets any worse. If it doesn't, and he shows no other symptoms, I don't see the harm in leaving him be. I consider myself a pretty practical person about animal care.