Bloody tail, lost fur, getting worse

[Chippy101]

Hi there, a few years ago this board helped save a little baby eastern gray squirrel when she was bloating. Well I still have her (I think I treated her too much like a pet, first time rescuing). It's been smooth sailing with her until now.
What is going on with her tail? It started off with some blood in the middle. I thought she scraped it on a tree in her outdoor cage but the next day it's way worse.
What can I do?
Can I wrap it somehow?
Is it something like a parasite or does it look like an injury?



She doesn't seem bothered by it but I don't expect a prey animal to really show it. She cannot flip it over her back. Help! Thank you for any insights

[CritterMom]

It looks like she caught her tail somewhere (tight spots that have pinch points are notorious for this) and tore the tip off and partially degloved the part above that.

Keep it clean - I like Betadyne diluted 25 drops to 1/4 cup water - and watch it. It doesn't look as though she completely degloved it - there appears to still be most of the flesh there. Blood supply is required to keep the area alive so whether it heals or eventually sloughs off leaving her with a shorter tail depends on how good the remaining blood supply is. Using something like the betadyne to keep it clean will prevent any secondary infections from setting in, since you really can't bandage a tail.

They usually do just fine.

Go through her area and look for places where things come to a "V" and any places large enough for her to get her tail through and fix them so she doesn't do it again.

Is there any chance she is chewing it? Can you watch her to see if there are any signs of that?

[Chippy101]

Go through her area and look for places where things come to a "V" and any places large enough for her to get her tail through and fix them so she doesn't do it again.

Is there any chance she is chewing it? Can you watch her to see if there are any signs of that?

Thank you so much! I was totally lost where to start and yeah no idea how I could keep a wrap on that to keep it clean. I will look for those problem areas in her pen.

She doesn't seem to be chewing it. When she is hanging out on a limb she's not messing with it, and I can't see into her nest much but I've kept her inside today and I don't hear any fussing in there. I'll keep an eye out for that.

Edit: nevermind she is messing with it

[Joe Le Boutillier]

Messing with how Chewing or cleaning?

[Chippy101]

Messing with how Chewing or cleaning?

It appears to be cleaning. She's licking the blood off. Although, she's lost a lot of the fur between yesterday evening and this morning. So i don't know if that's falling out as an effect of the initial trauma or she is pulling/chewing it off? I don't know what she did to it through the night but I am hanging out with her all today and every so often she grabs it and cleans it.

[CritterMom]

It may hurt. Can you get some infant ibuprophen? Maybe some pain relief will induce her to leave it alone. A guess at her weight would be needed to dose.

[Chippy101]

It may hurt. Can you get some infant ibuprophen? Maybe some pain relief will induce her to leave it alone. A guess at her weight would be needed to dose.

Looks like I can pick that up. Thank you. She's about 1 pound

[CritterMom]

Looks like I can pick that up. Thank you. She's about 1 pound

Dosing sent by PM

[Chippy101]

Thank you everyone for your help on this! She is doing well, the tail is scabbing over. Time will tell if she regains use of it or it drops off. But as long as she's comfortable and has no infection i feel less panicked