# How to treat an open wound?



## Tessie

Hello! I am not a mouse breeder, but I am a lover, no doubt.

One of my female mice has an open wound about the size of a pinky fingernail on her shoulder which I suspect is from a bite. She gets on very well with her 2 sisters, but I heard a little squeaking. She also had a little nip on her ear.

She is very obese and I suspected that she would have this issue when I saw the yellow colour on her rump when I got her. Her skin has always been quite red, but it has never seemed to irritate her (i.e. she doesn't scratch it more than normal.) Perhaps it is possible that this is a skin condition?

Anyway, onto the wound, it had started forming a scab yesterday but it now seems to have been scratched off. I noticed the wound 4 days ago (I thoroughly cleaned their aquarium and hoped that it seemed to be healing quite quickly.) It bled a little initially, but it is not bleeding now.

So now I'm worried that her sisters are grooming it and maybe increasing the chances of infection. Should I put her in a separate cage with cloth for bedding instead of CareFresh? She is quite shy and I don't want to stress her out to the extent that it ends up being worse for her.

Should I clean it with betadine or saline solution? If so, how should I apply it? She is quite skittish and doesn't like to be held. How do I hold her so she doesn't wriggle away? I also have papaw ointment (which works for when I cut myself) and tea tree ointment but I don't know if they are suitable.

I'm so concerned about her. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance!


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## WoodWitch

Mice can heal unbelievably quickly. You want the wound to dry out and be clean. I'd use either a light saline or tea tree and then leave it alone...


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## Amtma Mousery

If the wound is open, I would put light neosporin. In addition, I would place her by herself in a non-dust bedding environment, such as paper towel floor and housing box. You do not want any debris or material entering the wound. I suggest also placing a water bowl on the ground, rather than a water bottle. So that the mouse is not forced to stretch for the water bottle when trying to drink- which may cause the skin to stretch and wound to reopen.


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