infection?

Question
Hi,I was wondering if you could help me at all.I know you specialise in rats so this may be out of your field but i would greatly appreciate any advice you could give me.
I have a pet mouse,male about 2 years old.The past few days he has not been as active as usual and then tonight when going to feed him i noticed that he had been scratching his eyes and made them very sore.While checking him over i discovered that he has a growth of come sort on his front paw and that his other front paw seems to be discoloured - almost like its going black,this is mainly around where his nails are.It also looks like the rest of his paws may be going the same.He was cleaned out 2 days ago and there didnt seem to be any problems  but my dog at present has an eye infection so i dont know if this could be linked or maybe it could be a tumor,it just seems strange that it is based around his paws/where his nails grow.He is eating and drinking ok and gets cleaned regularly,he doesnt seem to be in any pain(still climbing etc)Any help would be greatly appreciated.Thanks for your time.

Answer
 I don't think it's related to your dog's eye infection but a paw turning black is never a good sign.  The scratching could be caused by an allergy or external parasites, but that shouldn't cause his paws to blacken.  I'm afraid you're going to have to take him to a vet for an exam; mice hide their pain very well and his lack of activity may be due to pain.  A vet will be able to tell you more, at this point without seeing him it would be impossible for me to tell you what to do or what is wrong with him.  I hope everything turns out well for him!