What Should I Do About a Bloody Tail?
We received this note from Trisha about her chinchilla having a bloody tail:
I know this doesn't have anything to do with a chinchilla's eyes, ears, nose and mouth. But one of my chinchilla's tail is bleeding and it looks like he might have lost the tip of his tail. I have another chinchilla with him but they are always nice. After I tried blotting the blood off I put them back together and they went to sleep cuddled up. I can't find any evidence of what happened. I have looked around the cage but all i can find are tail hairs and blood. Please respond quickly.
Our response to Trisha:
Hi Trisha,
Sorry, but there's no way for us to know what happened. If we had to guess, we'd say the tail got caught in something. Any fighting we've seen between chins hasn't involved tails so you're probably right in guessing that it wasn't from a fight.
It seems like we missed one of Trisha's question so she returned to ask again:
What should I do about the bloody tail? I am not sure how to treat it or what to do with it.
And our follow-up to her second question:
Trisha,
The safest thing is to go to a vet to check the tail and see if there's other damage that you can't see. Other than that, since the bleeding has stopped, you'll just have to wait and see how things go. Keep an eye out for any change in behavior or eating habits. And check on the wound to see if it's healing nicely.
A fellow reader. Rose, had this to add:
With ANY fresh wound on a chinchilla, first try to establish the cause if possible (to prevent it happening again). Then stop the bleeding if hasn't already stopped. A veterinary dry wound powder is the best thing to sprinkle over the wound. With a wound that has stopped bleeding, try to see if it is wet and oozing, or looks dry and scabbed. A wet oozing or bleeding wound should be seen by a vet as soon as possible. So should a wound that has pus or dirt in it. A huge wound will need stitches or skin glue applied by a vet, where as a small dry wound can be monitored at home by you. Any change in behavior or loss of appetite in a chinchilla can be a warning sign that a wound is infected. Urgent treatment with antibiotics may be needed in such cases. If in doubt, CALL A VET!!