Scout - Skin on tail raw and bright red

[Crystalis178]

Hello,

I just discovered tonight that my little girl Scout was acting very funny in her cage. I took her out and held her; noticed that she started to squeak and grunt very unhappily when I touched her tail. I brought her over to some brighter light and found that most of the mid-section of her tail was very red and raw. I only have two guesses as to how her tail may have ended up like this. I took her to an exotic vet last Friday (7/21/2017) for her first ever check up with a veterinarian that told me she has worked with squirrels before. I've had Scout for about 4 years (coming up to 5 in October) and I've never taken her to a vet but I knew that I needed to at some point in case of major emergencies. The visit to the vet was a very stressful experience for both me and Scout as she doesn't like to be handled by anyone else but myself. I was not present when the nurses or the vet handled Scout to put her under anesthesia; they had to put her in a modified box that is slightly sealed so that they could administer the anesthesia without her bouncing around too much. I can only theorize that they may have pinched/scraped her tail when trying to get her in the box; again I wasn't there for that part. Or Scout was so stressed about the event that she started to bite on her tail. I will be calling the vet tomorrow for some answers.

In the meantime, I want to try to clean her tail up. Is warm soapy water okay to try and use to clean her tail? Would Neosporin or a comparable antibiotic ointment be safe to try applying to the damaged section of her tail?

Here are photos I could take of her tail:

[Rhapsody]

Yes, you can use Neosporin on the tail to help it heal. If the vets office denies
any harm to the tail area, then I would look at the possibility that the visit might
of stressed your baby out and now she is over grooming her tail. (((hugs)))

[stepnstone]

I know the type tank/box your speaking of and honestly I can see that happening, especially with a squirrel!
Add that to one that is already stressed and don't like being handled. If that is what happened it was an unfortunate
accident that probably wasn't even noticed with the "rush" to get the lid closed.
Poor baby . That must feel like a combination of scraping your knee on concrete and getting your finger slammed
in a door! The Neosporin should help quiet it down to where she won't mess with it and give it a chance to heal.

At my vets he don't handle the squirrel (unless pet-able, baby, etc,) until it's under anesthesia and sometimes a little
after while it's still out of it. We hold the squee, we put it in the tank. It goes back in the tank but he carries them back
out like little babies. If it's getting an injection we're doing the holding, once it's getting sleepy they are carried to the
back without using tank. It makes it so much easier on everyone especially the squirrel when handling is done like this.

When I've dealt with similar injury doc suggested diluted betadine wash, keeping up with the Neosporin and not letting injury
dry out. Infant liquid Ibuprofen can also help with the irritation of pain and inflammation and help keep her from messing with it.

[Crystalis178]

Update: We found that Scout has been over-grooming her tail to the point of picking at the skin on it and causing it to bleed. We are able to keep Scout distracted from nibbling her own tail when she is out of the cage but the only time she isn't interested in trying to groom it is when she is eating or sleeping. We were able to gently wash her tail with warm water and oatmeal soap last night. We dried her tail a bit and applied Polysporin before putting her back in her cage for dinner and then sleep. Her tail looked less wet today and more dried/scabby. I did note some fresh areas of dried blood and one area that was so fresh that it was bright red and wet.

Does anyone have any suggestions for us to get her to stop biting her tail? We're not sure what is causing her to do it.

[kcassidy]

I have a few questions.

1. What is her diet like? Be as detailed as possible. What you feed, how often, etc.
2. What kind of cage/room is she living in? Be as detailed as possible
3. If she is in a cage, how often does she get out of it
4. Does she have access to Sunlight?
5. How old is she and....

More pictures please, we love love love seeing them and more than just her tail

Thanks,