squirrel tail degloved! ! help!

[jenelleyesh]

My 3 1/2 month old baby red squirrel got his tail caught in his enclosure yesterday it degloved it to the bone and in a panic, I put it back on with liquid skin (it went back on easily) . Can anyone tell me if this was ok or not? I've read about how the bone will just dry up and fall off eventually, but that was after I put it back on. I'm stuck between leaving it and seeing if it'll heal, and taking it off in fear of infection. I'm afraid if there is no blood flow, it'll rot, but I don't know how it'll heal.
Please, someone help me, I've had a lot of pets, and nothing like this has ever happened before:(

[CritterMom]

If it completely degloved then it is no longer viable and won't grow back. How much of the tail is damaged?

[missPixy]

Hi~~ first thing, could you post this in the Life-Threatening forum just underneath this one when you look at the home page? Your post will likely get the immediate attention it needs there.

If you could also post a photo of what the tail looks like now, that would be very helpful.

I want to say the tail cannot be salvaged, but the infection issue is important to discuss with the other rehabbers on this forum.

[jenelleyesh]

I couldn't figure out how to post a thread anywhere but here. New to forums. And it's about the last inch and a half of tail. So you don't think it'll heal back together at all?

[jenelleyesh]

I can't post any picks of it because the tail is on , and I don't know if I should remove it or let it heal.

[Bravo]

Already moved the thread :great. Will remove your duplicate just so others don't get confused.

[jenelleyesh]

Thank you!

[Nancy in New York]

Already moved the thread :great. Will remove your duplicate just so others don't get confused.

I just removed the second duplicate.
Please keep all your posts here in this thread. :thumbsup
Thank you.

[jenelleyesh]

I'm so confused!..haha I can't find the thread and I don't know when someone replies.

[jenelleyesh]

Sorry I'm kind of frantic. The liquid skin has been holding the degloved piece in place since yesterday. I just need to know if I should remove it as soon as possible before infection starts. He's acting normal, crazy as ever, but his tail was a little sore this morning. I tried touching it this afternoon and he didn't react like he did this morning. I really don't know what to do, and with him being so young, I don't want anything to happen to him. He's my baby:, (

[Nancy in New York]

I'm so confused!..haha I can't find the thread and I don't know when someone replies.

Go to the top of your page.
See this area below where the red area is?
Click that on, then you press subscribe to this thread.
Then it will give you an option of how you
want to be notified when there is a new post in your thread.

https://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-3Zx9cV5/0/M/i-3Zx9cV5-M.jpg (https://nmognoni.smugmug.com/TSB-Resizing-3-March-2015/n-7xhPnj/i-3Zx9cV5/A)

[Nancy in New York]

Sorry I'm kind of frantic. The liquid skin has been holding the degloved piece in place since yesterday. I just need to know if I should remove it as soon as possible before infection starts. He's acting normal, crazy as ever, but his tail was a little sore this morning. I tried touching it this afternoon and he didn't react like he did this morning. I really don't know what to do, and with him being so young, I don't want anything to happen to him. He's my baby:, (

Can you post a picture? I think we just want to see the tail.
Where did it break off? At the base or does he still have some left?
Personally I think this should come off, but HOW would you do that without
further injury?

[jenelleyesh]

As it is now, if I was to take a picture, it would look normal because I put the skin back on the bone. It's not broken or anything, and it was only like an inch and a half of the skin on the tail that came off. I have read that it's not an uncommon injury because it's kind of like a defense mech incase a predator was to grab it's tail, it will come off easily so the squirrel can escape and that infection is rare. I've also read a lot of different stuff, like the skin will grow back and it'll look normal, or the skin WON'T grow back and the bone will just dry up and the squirrel will chew it off. I haven't read ANYTHING about anyone reattaching the skin to the tail bone, and that concerns me. I don't know if I made the right choice.

[jenelleyesh]

It just came off like a sock, if that is easier to picture. When my phone charges a bit more, I'll try to get him to hold still for a picture. He's kind of hyper..lol.

[Nancy in New York]

As it is now, if I was to take a picture, it would look normal because I put the skin back on the bone. It's not broken or anything, and it was only like an inch and a half of the skin on the tail that came off. I have read that it's not an uncommon injury because it's kind of like a defense mech incase a predator was to grab it's tail, it will come off easily so the squirrel can escape and that infection is rare. I've also read a lot of different stuff, like the skin will grow back and it'll look normal, or the skin WON'T grow back and the bone will just dry up and the squirrel will chew it off. I haven't read ANYTHING about anyone reattaching the skin to the tail bone, and that concerns me. I don't know if I made the right choice.

That's what I'm saying. I think I would remove it, but HOW?
I have never reattached a tail.
I had a squirrel once that was gotten by the tail by
a crow.
The bone kept drying out and my vet then would cut it back and
covered it in vet wrap so that she wouldn't chew it. After several clippings back,
she ended up with ~ 1/2 of her tail left. No infection or anything.
I just don't have any idea how you would remove it now without hurting this little one. :dono

[jenelleyesh]

That's why I wondering if it'll heal back together correctly. I feel terrible about everything and I just don't know what to do. I don't even know if I could take him to the vets because it's illegal to have them in most places. A friend of mine referred me to this page to ask and see if anyone had any advice.

[jenelleyesh]

I could remove the liquid bandage with warm water, or wait for it to come off. That might be what I have to do, just wait for the bandage to disinigrate and fall off.

[jenelleyesh]

263770263771263772

[CritterMom]

I would STRONGLY suggest that you just leave this alone at this point. That stuff is basically super glue and I think you will do more damage trying to remove it. I don't think it will increase the chances of infection, but you need to watch it very closely. I would apply some Neosporin to it.

Once something is severed from the body, there is no re-attaching without a skilled surgeon with the ability to do the microsurgery required to re-attach all of the tiny blood vessels. Without that, you may as well attach the tail of a stuffed toy to him. It is great for pulling together the lips of a cut, but not for this. Once the blood supply is cut off, it is cut off, and blood supply is what keeps everything alive.

I suspect you will find that tail tip fallen off in a few days to a week. The bone, if any is left sticking out, will dry up and fall off to the first point of the injury. The only thing that can really screw up something like this is if the squirrel begins to fuss and mess with the tail and begins to mutilate at the point of the injury.

Healing injuries can itch like crazy and that is usually how it starts. If you begin to see him messing with it a lot you need to come back here - Children's Benadryl will help relieve the itching but you will need to come back here with his weight so we can safely dose it for you.

I stepped on my gray squirrel's tail when he was a baby and degloved about an inch. His tail is shorter, of course, but most people wouldn't notice it.

[jenelleyesh]

Oh my gosh, thank you so much!
Do you think it'll become infected between now and the time it falls off? I could get a damp cloth and wipe the liquid bandage off if I need to. I just want to make sure he will be ok for the time being. And of course, I don't want him to try and rip it off himself.

[jenelleyesh]

He doesn't seem bothered by it at all at the moment, and he hasn't been acting any different since it happen. He's just like "whatever". He was hand raise from 2 weeks old when his momma was killed and my friend found him and his 2 brothers and his sister, so he's a pretty chill squirrel. He doesn't bite, and loves to play.

[Nancy in New York]

Oh my gosh, thank you so much!
Do you think it'll become infected between now and the time it falls off? I could get a damp cloth and wipe the liquid bandage off if I need to. I just want to make sure he will be ok for the time being. And of course, I don't want him to try and rip it off himself.

I would try to smell it daily and watch for any infection, drainage/moisture.
Run your fingers gently down his tail and smell your fingers.
Sometimes you can actually smell infection, before you can see it, if there is too much fur in the way.

[CritterMom]

If the liquid bandage dissolves in water, you may want to just see if you can hang his tail in water to loosen the bond and it may just fall off on it's own. The skin that the fur is attached to will deteriorate faster than the bone does and it *could* cause a problem. I can guarantee that it won't attach and grow, so there is no reason to keep it there unless getting it off will hurt him more. You can apply the neosporin to the bone that is left behind a couple times a day then.

I dont think this hurts them all that much. It seems insane - it is part of their SPINE for God's sake, but there you go. Resilient little things!

[jenelleyesh]

I'll definitely make an effort to remove it without doing damage. Thank you to everyone who replied. It's sad that his beautiful tail will be no more, but in light of all this, he will be super cute with a stumpy tail:)

[jenelleyesh]

How long after the injury would it start itching for him? It doesn't look like he's tried to chew at it or anything, but it has only been a day.

[CritterMom]

It may never. I would think you would see it early on though. My squirrel never even looked at his until he obviously trimmed the bare blackened stump off. Just keep it clean and try to keep the neo on it.

My squirrels winter tail is now squared off on the end, and his summer tail ends in something that looks like a little devil's tail with two forks at the end.

[jenelleyesh]

So Neosporin won't hurt him if he ingest it? Someone said on a thread I read online yesterday not to give it to them. But they also said that the skin and hair would grow back and it would look normal again, which obviously won't happen.

[jenelleyesh]

Oh and should I wrap it? How do I keep the bone from continuing to rot, or will it just stop rotting once it gets down to the uninjured part?

[stepnstone]

So Neosporin won't hurt him if he ingest it? Someone said on a thread I read online yesterday not to give it to them. But they also said that the skin and hair would grow back and it would look normal again, which obviously won't happen.
The Neosporin will be fine, I use it all the time, it's not going to hurt him even if ingested.
I actually had a squirrel that had a good section of her fur pealed up the side of her tail like a banana. It either fell off or she took it off. Her fur did grow back. The difference is it was just the fur, it wasn't degloved. No tissue was involved, no fracture, no exposed bone.


Oh and should I wrap it? How do I keep the bone from continuing to rot, or will it just stop rotting once it gets down to the uninjured part?
Wrapping is not necessary and would only cause him to chew on the bandage which could cause further injury.
Unless infected, the bone doesn't actually "rot." It dries up, gets brittle, and falls /breaks off at the point of injury.

[Mommaluvy]

Neo is used all the time. Although some ( one of my two vets) advise against it. ( she is not fond of antibiotic use in wildlife in general ) But again.. Rehabbers use it ALL the time.

My friend had a squirrel who lost his tail to a chainsaw. It had gone several days before getting to a rehabber. He did just fine with this sort of care.

So while that squirrel was not mine, and the only experience I have with this sort of injury he did fine. So many TSB ers have had this happen in one form or another... Lots of good posts here.

[jenelleyesh]

UPDATE:
I was able to successfully remove the liquid bandage and the degloved tail, without causing further damage. He was not happy about it, squeaked and squawked at me, but did not bite and seemed happier once I removed it. I checked it 9 hours later after work, and the bone had already begun to dry up. I bought Neosporin and have been applying it daily. How often should I put Neosporin on it?

[Spanky]

Just wanted to add that it's my understanding you want to avoid the Neosporin Pain ("Dual Action")... my understanding is you do not want them to ingest the Pramoxine....

[jenelleyesh]

I've only applied the Neosporin (regular, nothing fancy) twice since I removed the degloved part last week. The bone has started to fray (he runs laps in his enclosure, so it scrapes on the sides as he climbs) and he doesn't pick it off. He gives me a hard time when I put it on him, so I thought not doing it as often would keep him from messing with it. He's doing great, and no signs of infection. The skin where the bone begins to show is starting to heal shut, so I may have to clip the frayed bone to it will heal shut.