My new mouse has a sore ear and won't let me hold him. What's wrong?

Hello! I'm sorry to hear that Mickey is having some skin problems. Skin issues are not all that uncommon in mice, the location you mention (the ears) is common for irritated skin. The eye problem probably did stem from him scratching at his ears - sometimes they accidentally scratch the sensitive tissue around the eyelids and cause irritation unwittingly. The best thing you can do for Mickey is to trim his toenails - many skin and eye issues in mice are self-inflicted, and having short nails keeps them from being able to cause further damage. A small human nail clipper works well for this purpose, but if you are uncomfortable with restraining your mouse safely, a vet's office can do it for you. They may also be able to suggest an ointment for the irritated ear tissue. Additionally, they can check for parasites that might be causing him to scratch - this is unlikely, but worth ruling out. In the meantime, to protect the eye, a plain artificial tears ointment that you can get from the drugstore can be helpful. Be sure it's made for the eyes, and that it doesn't have anything in it except for mineral oil and white petrolatum. Good luck, and I hope that little Mickey gets well soon!

Monitor for redness, bleeding or excessive scratching. Clean and sanitize the cage and cage furniture. Discard anything that cannot be sanitized. If the bald patch increases in size or if she develops any of the above symptoms, have her examined by your veterinarian or a vet experienced in treating pocket pets to diagnose illness or injury. If she has cagemates, monitor for barbering (over grooming by other mice).

I am sorry to hear about Rex! I would be concerned about possible skin mites causing these changes, or a vasculitis of the ears. I would recommend bringing him in to a vet who sees pocket pets for an examination. They may try to do a skin scrape or treat him prophylactically for mites.

First of all, Maizy looks more like a rat in the picture, unless she is an extremely large mouse. the lesions looks like a wound at the moment, but if it started as a lump it could be an abscess or a tumor. you will have to take her to an exotic vet specialist to get this checked and treated, if it is an infection she will need a course of antibiotics in order to heal properly.

I am sorry to hear about your concern for Gypsy! We can see mites of the skin in mice which can cause the symptoms you are describing. I would recommend bringing Gypsy in to the vet for an examination of her skin, and they can prescribe medication to treat this issue if needed.

If she is eating some kind of new treat or if her bedding has changed this might be why. Also, mice have Hardarian glands that make their eye and nose discharge red colored, and sometimes when they are doing a lot of sneezing and grooming this material can stain the white parts of the body. If Lemon (great name!) is doing more sneezing than normal, she may need to see a vet for some antibiotics.

The main stay of treatment is to keep the wound clean and dry. Make sure the bedding is cleaned regularly. With rodents, I recommend a dust free bedding called Carefresh. Rodents are very sensitive to dust in the environment. Also make sure that you are feeding a balanced diet approved for rodents and supplementing with healthy fruits and vegetables. Especially the leafy greens. Most healthy animals will be able to heal wounds on their own. Watch it every day for redness, swelling or discharge. If your mouse begins to lick at it too much, you may need to create a small cone to keep her from doing that. This is not generally a problem however. If it gets infected, there are veterinarians who treat rodents and this will generally resolve with antibiotics. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.