Tip of his tail fell off!

[Lincoln the squirrel]

So I have a grey squirrel named Lincoln! Hes about 5 month's old.. I care about him a lot and we have a very special bond. I had some fly tape up near his cage to keep gnats away and he was out of his cage running around like he usually does.. he was on a stand near his cage and jumped for his cage and snagged the fly tape I heard him squealing because he was startled and he ran onto my bed. I noticed the fly tape wasn't attached to him and when I went to pick him up he was bleeding.. I picked up the fly tape to see that the tip of his tail was attached and started freaking out. I care a lot about my furry friend! I also noticed that a good quarter inch of this tail also looks stripped to the bone. I'm extremely worried about him and dont really know what todo will his fur grow back alright? Will it stunt the growth of his tail? Will the bone heal over with skin or will that part fall off.. he has such a beautiful tail and I hope no more will fall off. Also will he lose any balance? His balance with jumping is already a little off which is why I think he hit the fly tape. I let him out when it's nice out and now I'm afraid if I let him out to run in the trees in my yard he will hurt himself if it throws off anymore of his balance. Hope someone can answer my questions! Thanks.

[CritterMom]

No, the tail is actually designed to "deglove" when a predator grabs it. Losing part of your tail sucks but not as much as losing your whole life!

The bony part will turn black and dry up, and will either fall off or be removed by our squirrel. The hair will cover it and the tail will be a bit shorter. I did this to my boy when he was young - I stepped on it, and he did just fine. The only interesting thing is that the end where the hair regrows is always changing. Sometimes his tail is squared at the end. For a while it was forked like a devil's tail! Right now it corkscrews! I play with it all the time.

He will be fine. I have two outdoor squirrels right now that have lost big pieces of their tails. They do just fine. Keep it clean - you might put a little dab of neosporin on it to keep it clean.