Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my share of mouse bites, mostly it's only hoppers that get me now. Today I was cleaning mouse cages, and one of my special fancy bins of mice had a lot of dead mice in it. I decided to move the remaining male and three females to a smaller cage and hope they survive (They ARE special mice). The male, unlike his normal self, rattled his tail. He's one of my docile mice that wouldn't ever bite (and never has in almost a year that I've had him). I picked him up and he bit my finger, and that wouldn't have been terribly remarkable (it HURT, but I have lived through worse)... except that it wouldn't stop bleeding ... the bite turned blue like a bruise and then a sort of "Gel" white with a blue center, and now my finger is swollen to twice it's size, AND my hand is starting to swell (Swelling is starting in on my wrist).

Since a lot of the mice in that mouse colony were dead, should I worry that this mouse has some disease and has passed it on to me? It's still "Bleeding" (lots of white blood cells... it's a "diluted" look) The injury is also very hot and exccept for the blue/white center area it's very red. And it's Aching in the joint near where the mouse bit me. I did take one picture before the swelling got huge... I'll see if it turned out and post it, but my camera's batteries ran out.

Anyway, opinions would be welcomed. I hate to see doctors for ANY reason, and I sure don't want to drive myself to the ER for a stupid mouse bite.

Thanks for reading and for any comments or suggestions.
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~Sasheena

Sounds like it might very well have had some kind of bacteria in its mouth or you could just be having a localized reaction. You can be bitten by something 20 times.. but that 21st time you could have a reaction to the same bite. If you get the pic I could probably tell you more but I'd suggest trying a benedryl or something to control the reaction and keeping a watch on it from there... if it gets really bad, its time to go see a doctor about it. Mice can have some rather nasty germs at times.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.2 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 het Blizzard (Lilith) and 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
5 Gerbils
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

I was able to squeeze one more photo out of my dead batteries and made a composite of the bite both five minutes and roughly twenty minutes after. I'll be in search of a benadryl, but those put me to sleep in a big way... hubby too, in fact he's out for the count having taken one. both joints on my thumb, and all three on my index finger next to my thumb are now "achey" I just hope it's something that Benadryl will work on.

Again, comments, suggestios, etc are welcome

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~Sasheena

I would get to a dr soon as posible. It looks bad. I had a friend get bit by a rat one time and got really sick from it and if he would have waited a few more days to go to a dr he could have been in the hospital or even dead. Get it checked out, thats not normal.

The mouse got you right on the joint, where the skin is thin against the bone, with no fatty tissue to cusion the blow, and there are quite a few veins...it could be that the mouse sliced you open just right and hit the bone in the process, which would make you feel bruised. Don't forget too that there is fluid in the joint to ease movement, a thick syrupy fluid in a cell too.

Have you ever hit your hand on something over a joint? I've done it many times on my joints in between my fingers and on the palm side of my hand and it does swell up just like that; a localized lump with swelling around it. If you have and know what I'm talking about, does this injury feel similar?

I would clean it out really good, put some neosporin on it and take some ibuprofen for the swelling/pain. If it doesn't look and feel better within a day or two, then go to the doctor.

Well I took an antihistamine, went to sleep with a bandaid over the wound (the wound itself is extremely tiny). The swelling has localized to the thumb and hand around the thumb. Still the three thumb joints (finger, hand, wrist) are very painful to the touch, as is the skin. It could be just a bunch of "joint fluid" or whatever leaking about and causing the swelling. The wound itself is dry and looks like any extremely minor bite... will be healed in a day or two, but I'm guessing you are right. Even though he didn't do much towards puncturing the skin, perhaps the force of his little teeth on my joint was enough to create some injuries to the joint.

Just my luck that I have to take a typed midterm this evening, and on saturday I have EIGHT hours of tests that are all written, including essay questions, and if I don't take those tests this saturday (and pass them) I will lose my job. (I'm a teacher, the tests are to get me certified in the state of Arizona). But I'm sure that I'll survive. "Luckily" I've injured the second joint on my right hand thumb before, and have become quite proficient at writing left handed.

I'm thinking since the swelling is a calmer color, localized and not still spreading, not nearly as achey, and I have no fever or chills or other symptoms over systematic difficulties, that I will be fine letting this go. I'll take an anti-inflam this morning (they put me to sleep) and hope that does the trick.
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~Sasheena

what school do you teach at? i live iin arizona too! i go to stms.

I teach at buckeye high school
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~Sasheena

Personally I would go see a doctor, maybe even bring the male mouse as well to a vet to be tested for any known ailments mice can transfer to humans. Why take risks with your own health? It could be an allergic reaction to the bite, or the mouse may have bit a nerve or something in your thumb.

Considering there were other dead mice in teh bin with the male, there is a high possibility it has developed some sort of contageous disease that should be identified. Take him and any dead mice (refrigerate the dead mice only) to your vet and get a necropsy done on the dead and tests on the living one. Get yourself to your MD as well.

I thought I would give everyone an update on the mouse bite I suffered Wednesday evening.

I never did get to the doctor (have to take time off work to do that, and am always reluctant to turn my students over to a substitute!)

I may still go to the doctor, if my hand continues to hurt on Monday. But so far I've noticed the following, which makes the mystery greater to me.

The actual wound is healing nicely without any redness or any sign of infection. My entire thumb, wrist, index finger, and even down to my elbow is still painful. Mostly only with movement of the fingers, or OUCH, if I bump my hand/wrist against something like I did this morning. Writing is painful, and things that put pressure on my thumb and index finger are pretty much impossible... like brushing my hair. If I'd had any sort of infection to the wound I would have felt more inspired to go see a doctor. I'm thinking that the crushing injury to the actual joint is what is responsible for the actual reaction, as fluids that aren't supposed to be loose GOT loose and inflamed the tissues. I've been favoring my hand yesterday and today, and tomorrow I'll have to torture it by taking 8 hours in tests. No choice. But overall I think it was just a severe fluke. I thank those who helped and gave me their advice, all of which I consider to be GOOD advice (even if I didn't take it). Again, if I don't have a full, or at least close to full recovery by Monday, I'll see the doctor. Just hate seeing doctors.
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~Sasheena

Maybe it hit a nerve. That can really cause a lot of pain. I hope it's feeling better.

MissHisssss.

Go to an after hours clinic. Most cities have at least one of those. Bring a book though cause some can be busy this time of year and they typically work in a first come first served basis. Wounds can heal and still have major infections, especially if the infection is deep under the skin. From the pain you are describing it certainly sounds like a nipped nerve and I wouldn't risk ignoring it for too much longer. It being now the weekend, the only real option would be going to the hospital or hoping two more days won't make things any worse and go Monday.

You might want to check out this link. http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/pbs/zoonoses/animal bites/anmlbitesclinmicro.html
There is a part towards the bottom of the page that deals with rat bites,I'm not sure if a mouse could carry the same thing but it might be something to think about. I really think if I was you I would get in to see a doctor as soon as possible.
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1.3 Ball Pythons
1.0 Brooksi
0.1 Goini
0.1 Goini x Brooksi
1.1 Blairs Grey Banded
1.1 California Kings
1.0 Normal Corn
1.0 Pastel Motley Corn
0.1 Okeetee Corn
0.1 Emory Rat x Corn

Thanks for the link, I read through it. Actually I'd looked up the Rat Bite Fever the night I was bit and I can't remember what about it exactly led me to rule it out as even being a possibility. After 8 solid hours of testing, including 200 multiple choice questions and 8 pages of essay questions... a test that determines if I have a job next school year... I feel pretty bad... I'm continuing the Anti-inflammatories and while it is not recommended, I'm waiting to see if the pain subsides or not. If it doesn't subside I'll plan for a substitute on Monday and go to the doctor instead. In case it's not painfully obvious, I have a strong almost obsessive aversion to doctors. it's just impossible to accept that a tiny little mouse bite caused this. The bite itself is almost fully healed over. As it is though, I'm not very good at teaching with my hand being unusable...so I'll have to see the doctor... *sigh*
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~Sasheena

Yeah,I hate doctors too, but sometimes you just have to give in and go. Hope it turns out ok for you.Keep us posted and I'll be thinking about you.
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1.3 Ball Pythons
1.0 Brooksi
0.1 Goini
0.1 Goini x Brooksi
1.1 Blairs Grey Banded
1.1 California Kings
1.0 Normal Corn
1.0 Pastel Motley Corn
0.1 Okeetee Corn
0.1 Emory Rat x Corn

so it's easy to believe that a mouse bite can do harm.

:

this sounds alot like what happened to me from a cat bite...the actual wound was small..a puncture to my forearm..a few hours later my bicep and tricep swelled while my forearm appreared to shrink...i got put on meds and the infection went away in a couple of days...you really need to go to the doctor as this infection can spread to your heart and you know what that means...if your like me then you have to be pretty scared before you go to the doctor...please don't screw around and go the doctor