# Mouse Fight - Injury



## Bella (Aug 15, 2010)

Two of my does got into a pretty vicious scrap today. My fault, I was really hoping they'd be able to house together since they've done okay in the past (though admittedly not -great-). I was there to supervise and literally had to PULL them apart from one another. They were latched on.

Anyways, one of them got bit badly on a foot. It was bleeding quite a bit, but she let me hold it in a cloth until that stopped.

I'm just wondering that else I can do for her. It looks loads better already. But should I put her in a bit of warm water with epsom salts, or even some peroxide in it, to make sure its nice and clean? I'll be sure to keep her bedding clean, too....


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

That's probably about all you can do. I'm not sure about the wisdom of trying to soak a mousie's foot. Some antibiotic ointment might help a little, although it'll get licked off immediately...maybe ointment and a treat to distract her so it has a chance to do some good. She'll probably be OK ayway, if she's not bleeding. I use bloodroot extract on wounds also. It's a herbal, latin name, sanguinaria, stops bleeding and is also an antiseptic. It tastes good, and is nontoxic. I use it as a mouthwash diluted with a little water....but by the time you got it it wouldn't do much good...the only thing that might make a difference is an oral antibiotic.

You probably won't need that, though. If it doesn't look much worse by 48 hours from the occurence it'll be healing nicely. If it does, you may want to seek a vet. Some of us breeders treat our own meeces with tetracycline manufactured for use in aquariums. You can also find Ornicycline, again tetracycline, made for birds. I think these are both OTC. There are sites that give info about mouse diseases and what to treat them with...http://www.radil.missouri.edu/info/dora ... /mouse.htm. that will give you some idea of how to procedd, maybe.

In any case, like I said, she'll probably be OK. You could flush the sound with mild saline wash. It's surprises folks that does can get so territorial and violent, it's not common for them to injuse one another, but any doe that has been bred can be territorial, especially if you introduce a doe into a cage with another doe AND her female offspring. She'll fight to exclude the stranger from 'her' colony in favor of her girls who share half of her genepool.


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## CatWoman (Jun 19, 2010)

You'll want to avoid peroxide on that type of would, because it destroys healthy tissue too.


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## Marjolijn (Jan 1, 2009)

She'll be fine, just make sure you desinfect it with some iodine. Keep the bedding clean and it will be ok. Mice try to clean their wounds themselfs and since this is a easy area to reach, she will clean it herself. Just keep an eye on it for a few days. If the wound gets red or swollen it will get infected and you best of taking her to a vet.


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