gerbil tails

[Rosey]

My 4 yr old strikes again. I gave him a second chance at holding our gerbil, Rosey, and he acciently pulled the hair, skin and all, off about 1 and 1/2 inches of her tail leaving just the bloody pointy bone exposed. I could use some information about care or is there any? I was wondering about soaking tail in epsom salts which is good for humans, mostly to keep it clean and free of infection. Am I going to need an antibiotic? Any information would be deeply appreciated. Thanks, Becky

[Jade]

What happened is called de-gloving. It leaves bone as well as nerve exposed and is very painful in addition to being prone to infection. I would take him into a vet, where they'll probably amputate that portion of the tail and suture skin to cover the end. He will probably need an anti-biotic as well. In short, he's going to need medical attention.

Best of luck with him!

[Rosey]

Jade,

Thanks for responding. While I was waiting this is also what I found, what do you think??? It totally downgrades the injury???? I don't know, maybe there is something I'm missing here?????

"Most common accident with gerbils is the loss of their tail. The gerbils tail is rather fragile, and when picked up by the tail, or handled roughly, the tail tuft or tail skin can come off. This will bleed heavily, and bare bone might be seen. The bone will dry out and fall off within a few days. Nothing special need to be done, I have never heard of a tail getting infected, it will always heal naturally. The gerbil will hardly notice the shorter tail, and will behave as any other gerbil does.
Off course gerbils can also break a limb. Usually such breaks heal naturally without any treatment. The limb should not be splint, as that can cause even more damage to the animal. Just make sure your gerbil can get to its water and food.
Another reason for injuries can be fights. Those can be very serious, and fighting gerbils might even kill each other. Split up the fighting couple, and make sure they are all eating and drinking normal. In that case, they will be OK shortly, the wounds will usually heal without infections. If the gerbil is cold and badly injured, veterinary help should be applied."

[Jade]

I know I wouldn't want my toe or other appendage to have visible bone, as it would be very painful. I personally would not be comfortable leaving it alone.

[Phoebe'sBean]

Eek, poor babies. I was actually in a pet store just to look around and play with some birdies and I noticed that two gerbils were missing tails, all but a stump! I asked one of the workers [ this isn't a normal Petco chain, these people know what they're doing. ] and he said that the two had gotten into a fight and that they really didn't see a loss of energy or happiness in the gerbils. They cleaned the new tail tip a few times before it healed nicely and said that the gerbils didn't really miss the long tails anymore.

[Rosey]

I can understand your point.

[Rosey]

Thanks for your response, Rachael. That's as close of an answer I could ever get to injured gerbil tails. They didn't say what they cleaned it with did they?
Becky

[Rosey]

Nice looking dog by the way, ironically, she's the same colors as my gerbil Rosey. Hee!

[BCsncritters]

its not that bad really, it has happend to many gerbils in the past of mine, I just lined a special cage with a thick layer of paper towels, it will heal quickly on it own. remeber Gebrils are VERY healthy and hearty creaturs when you take there size into consideration, a broken bone for example is nothing, I have a gerbil break her back, she was paralized for about 2 weeks, but recovered just fine. the ends of gerbils tails come off like that quite often, I have never eperienced it to be harmful in any way, heck one of my gerbils right now only has half a tail left.

[Rosey]

okay, that's it, I'm not worried anymore, she's still eating, drinking and purring when held, so she must be fine, her tail is beginning to dry and shrivel just like everyone has said. Thanks for the reply, it is all encouraging.
Becky

[Phoebe'sBean]

Sorry for not answering, I was off on vacation. I'm glad she's doing alright. And now, they didn't say what they cleaned it with.

Hope she continues to do well