Swollen Genitals

[IlexAnne]

I have 2, four week old greay squirrels. One boy and one girl. I just fed them and noticed that the little boys penis is very swollen, it is also pink and dark red at the tip. No scab though. I tried to stimulaate him to urinate but didn't have any luck. I wiped off his penis with a warm wet q-tip, and he didn't seem to be in any pain. I also wiped a little bit of Bitter Apple on his penis. (I put bitter apple on my dogs to keep them from chewing on hot spots and such). I've read that I should soak him in warm water also. But I'm wondering how long I should wait for this to heal before I take him to see a vet?

[SammysMom]

Welcome to TSB! It sounds like you may have a suckling issue. Have you seen his sister sucking on his penis? Or maybe even him on his own penis? It can be a dangerous situation so you might want to cover him with a sock to prevent any further irritation. Be careful with the bitter stuff that it doesn't irritate a very sensitive area. I am not an expert, but I am sure one will be along soon.:grouphug

[mpetys]

Welcome IlexAnne! I just recently had this problem with one of my male babies. I had three males together, two brothers, Rob and Bob and another male that is two weeks older named Walt. Rob and Bob both had red penis' at one point. I removed them from the cage with Walt and but them both in separate cages. They both healed. I assumed that either it was Walt doing it to both of them or that Rob and Bob had a mutual thing going on. After they healed, I put them both back in the larger cage with Walt.

Sure enough, happened again. I removed them and put them in their smaller individual cages. Bob's penis was much more swollen than Rob's. I monitored them and increased their feedings after weighing them to get an accurate weight. Thinking that they were getting hungry in between feedings, I was feeding them 8 to 9 percent instead of the normal 7 percent I had been feeding them. Rob got back to normal but Bob was just as swollen. Then one day I walked in and found this little guy in the corner of the cage, sitting in the most funny position and sucking on himself!

So I put Rob back in with Walt and he was fine. I believe that Bob was responsible for both swollen penis'! By this time, Bob had a scab on his penis. I soaked him in a warm water bath, which I was surprised at how much he enjoyed it. I was able to get the scab off and applied an antibiotic cream like neosporin. I monitored him very carefully and when he healed, and I saw no more penis sucking, I put him back in with the other two boys and within a day, he was back at it. I removed him and continued to treat with antibiotic cream as he now had a small abcess.

Frustrated, I spoke to a rehabber about this and was told of the possibility that Bob could be doing it out of stress. That made sense as Walt, the older squirrel was very bossy and overbearing.

I have kept Bob separate and he has done wonderfully well. I am going to put him in with another squirrel group so he can be released with others and see if he will do okay. He is such a sweetheart, so loveable and I really do believe he was stressed out by being with Walt.

Bitter Apple has alcohol in it I believe. I may be wrong about that. Check the ingredients. If it does, I would not use it on his penis. You know how alcohol feels on us when we have a cut. It burns. Use an antibiotic cream like neosporin. I used the store brand. Based on how my little guy reacted to the warm water bath, besides softening the scab, it must have felt good and helped relieved some discomfort. You might want to try that with your little guy. Try not to get him too wet above that area and make sure he is completely dry when you are done. The warm water bath may help yours with urination also.

How often are you feeding these guys? What do they weigh and how much are you feeding them? You may need to feed more or feed more often. It may just be the female that needs more. Make a note of how often and how much you are feeding them and make small adjustments. The antibiotic cream should help keep the female away from the male's penis.

This is just from my recent experience. Hopefully others will chime in with their advice. Best wishes.

[dda0221]

Not an expert by any means, but I just went through this with my two. After trying several things to keep one boy from sucking on his brother, what worked for me was something I found at the feed store for injured horses. It stinks like you wouldn't believe, but it has a natural collagen in it to promote healing and Bitrix (which is used to make antifreeze bitter to the taste) to prevent the licking. Might work for you too.

EMT Spray

http://emtgel.com/whatitis/index.php

Oh and even when I thought there wasn't a scab, I used a tiny bit of peroxide to clean and found that there usually was a small scab blocking the end of the penis, inhibiting his ability to pee.

[mpetys]

Not an expert by any means, but I just went through this with my two. After trying several things to keep one boy from sucking on his brother, what worked for me was something I found at the feed store for injured horses. It stinks like you wouldn't believe, but it has a natural collagen in it to promote healing and Bitrix (which is used to make antifreeze bitter to the taste) to prevent the licking. Might work for you too.

EMT Spray

http://emtgel.com/whatitis/index.php

Oh and even when I thought there wasn't a scab, I used a tiny bit of peroxide to clean and found that there usually was a small scab blocking the end of the penis, inhibiting his ability to pee.

That EMT Spray looks like it would be good to have around. I'll have to look for it at my feed store!

[lilidukes]

Seems like this was the year for pee pee suckers. I had this problem a number of times so I would separate them into their own cages and put the cages right flush up together. Lots of neosporin on the boo boo and AB's when needed. And as soon as it was better I would move them together into a bigger cage. No territorial cage fussing this way. Had two boys I named Ding:Love_Icon and Dong:Love_Icon because of this problem. Had one boy Crusty:Love_Icon who when he came to me had a dry pus cicle. I was scared I would lose that one but he made it and is now in the trees. This can get very bad very fast. Separation is best in my opinion just until healed.