My chipmunk lost his tail...!

[blackthirteen]

It just happened, he started to ran away and I noticed 1/3 of his tail was on the floor, there was no obstacle so it's what's really surprising me. What to do? There's a little blood on the tip... he also seems scared.

[farrelli]

Please explain the circumstances leading up to it. Did you step on it? Did it get caught? What happened?

If chipmunks are like most squirrels, this isn't so horrible. Tails kind of detach to escape predators. Just make sure that it's kept clean and doesn't get infected. But this is only true if this is a product of traumatic amputation and not a sign of something else. So what happened?

[blackthirteen]

He saw my other roommate coming, he got panicked and started running crazily. There was no obstacles, he rolled on himself while running away, it's the only explanation I have why it detached.

He lost around 10 cm of his tail.

[blackthirteen]

Should I put my chipmunk in the shower a little bit to clean the blood?

The only thing he's doing now is hiding in his small house and probably trying to sleep.

[Jackie in Tampa]

:wave123
no to the shower, he will def not like THAT!
there should only be a small dab of bllod....right??? are you saying he is still bleeding? as in blood flowing...:thinking
he should be okay...it hurts so of course he is hiding...
keep an eye on him, make sure he is drinking plenty...
poor little booger:Love_Icon

[farrelli]

I'd let him hide. If he comes back out, maybe gently wash the end with a baby wipe or a washcloth and then apply some neosporin.

I can't imagine that it just spontaneously detached. Could it have gotten caught on something?

[blackthirteen]

There was absolutely nothing his tail could get caught on... sometimes he seems to try to run away stupidly, he slide on the floor and makes several rolls on himself.

It seems to be a small dab of blood with a lot of red stain on his tail. but it doesn't seem to flow (so far)

It's very frustrating how stupid and pointlessly this accident happened... grr...

and his tail is what give him personality, without it it will remove a lot of his expressions... :(

[blackthirteen]

This video shows the current state of his tail:
http://youtu.be/FXst6UC0UOU

[blackthirteen]

Make sure to watch the video at 0:37, we see it more clearly...

Right now he no longer seems scared and seems to play as usual.

[farrelli]

I think that should heal on its own. If you have some neosporin, just put that on there to prevent infection.

He looks like he has a little ground squirrel tail now.

[CritterMom]

My guess is that he caught it in his cage somehow and did the initial damage to it there, but the piece didn't fall off until he was out of the cage. If you can, put a little bit of neosporin on it. He will be fine.

His tail will not grow longer but the end will eventually round out and look relatively normal. He won't miss it as much as you will! Look at it this way, now you have a bunny-munk...

[blackthirteen]

Today he seems to be alright as if nothing happened. As Crittermon said I have a bunny-munk now :crazy

[Shewhosweptforest]

Awww sweet baby...:Love_Icon glad he's alright ...he's adorable....I just love chipmunks:grouphug