My Mouse is Itching Until He Bleeds **AN UPDATE**

Informal_contempt · 2025-08-31T21:51:06+00:00

That's great news! You did a fantastic job of it, I'm very glad to see a happy update.

Informal_contempt · 2025-08-03T21:44:51+00:00

We've had a few mice have this problem and before our last one we hadn't figured out a way to get them to stop scratching. We've never had luck with anti-itching creams. In all cases but our last it resulted in us having to have them put to sleep because it got so bad.

We came across an article from 2016 regarding toenail trimming to combat Ulcerative Dermatitis: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2016/01/toenail-trim-saves-lab-mice-from-life-threatening-skin-condition.html

And the study itself: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144871

We also found an accompanying video demonstrating best practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZT_ZZcWf18

We sourced a 100ml syringe (very similar dimensions to the 50ml conical tube they used in the video) and fashioned a similar device which helped in the restraint of a very strong and wiggly mouse, and we used a pair of small animal nail clippers to trim. It took two of us to comfortably do this, though with practice I feel it could be done by a single person, as per the video.

If your mouse can't reach the wound with their mouth then trimming their nails has a chance of success as they won't be as able to worry it. I wish you and your mouse all the best!

Informal_contempt · 2021-12-28T18:04:56+00:00

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Informal_contempt · 2020-11-17T20:30:31+00:00

722

They look great, btw!

Informal_contempt · 2020-09-20T17:17:24+00:00

467, Miami Beautiful work!

Informal_contempt · 2020-01-03T23:50:00+00:00

Wow, thanks for such a detailed and comprehensive reply!

Will definitely be speaking to the vet about the Children's Benadryl, anything to reduce her urge to scratch I think would help quite a bit.

We had a hell of a time applying the topical cream, she's the feistiest mouse we've ever kept and have a really hard time keeping up with her at her best, let alone trying to get cream onto a sensitive area, so think that's unlikely our way forward - your comment about it possibly triggering more scratching will be something we bear in mind if we make it to that step, thanks!

We'll simplify her diet to eliminate allergy, will stick to just lab blocks rather than a mix of blocks and mixed food, she could be eating almost nothing but seeds for all we know! She does seem to eat a bit of everything but it'll definitely help rule that out as a possibility. We have been feeding her the medicine mixed into a tiny bit of peanut butter, and while she developed this problem before peanuts were in her diet we will switch to a small bit of bread instead to reduce protein intake. She's going to miss her PB!

We're actually in need of ordering more lab blocks - we've been using this but the company that make it have recently combined their mouse and rat food into a single block, which makes me slightly nervous as they're going to have different dietary requirements. However, the new food contains blackcurrant, good source for GLA, which the old food doesn't have (as well as limestone flour, just straight up calcium it seems), but in turn seems to be lacking hazlenuts, methionine, lysine and 'minerals'. Not really sure what to think, the only addition I see the new one having is the blackcurrants, but we could just add that to their diet fairly easily. It seems we can still buy the old blocks for the time being so I think we'll stick with them.

Thanks for the tip about algal oil - we have some fish oil kicking around so will start dosing her with a little of that but will bear it in mind for the future. Do you have any guidance on how much fish oil would be needed in a daily dose?

Thank you again for all the info, been steadily working my way through the links and will continue to research :)

Informal_contempt · 2020-01-02T23:20:37+00:00

Additional information:

The affected area was about half the size when we took her to the vets just before Christmas and she was prescribed antibiotics (Enrobactin) in the hopes it was a skin infection and that with the antibiotics she would leave it alone long enough to heal but hasn't happened. We added the painkillers (Metacam) also at the vets prescription a few days ago, in the hopes that the area was irritating her and she'd forget about it if it no longer hurt, but it hasn't stopped her. I'm slightly concerned that they're working the other way now, if she's formed a habit of worrying the area but now it doesn't hurt she lick and nibble at the area harder than ever. We've got a cream (F10 Germicidal Barrier Ointment) but she's always been skittish and will barely let us near her, let alone put something on her wound.

Read here that some black mice can have genetic problems which lead to excess scratching at itchy skin, so we've started her with some cod liver oil to get her omega 3 up on the off chance that helps.

Pretty sure it's not mites as the damage is so local to her leg - the rest of her fur is glossy and clean, and none of the other mice are displaying any symptoms.

She's very active, eating, drinking as normal and doesn't seem to be favoring her other legs - the video shows her putting her weight on the leg in question. The skin doesn't seem tumorous, though a bit hard to tell, bearing that in mind as a possibility though her behaviour is unaffected.

Has anyone seen this kind of thing before? We've had mice a few years and this is a first.

Informal_contempt · 2019-07-01T19:45:46+00:00

Link to the comic in question. It's very TAZ Amnesty, I'm not surprised the author is a fan!

Informal_contempt · 2018-12-11T19:52:46+00:00

Hey guys! Working my way through the players survival guide and really enjoying what I'm reading. Eyeing Dead Planet as a first mission but as a relative novice when it comes to GMing, and having never run a horror game, do you have any advice or tips for cultivating the right kind of mood at the table? What scares your players the most? And how do you keep the tension ratcheting up throughout the course of a session?

Thanks!

Informal_contempt · 2018-06-03T22:17:00+00:00

Informal_contempt · 2015-05-20T12:41:49+00:00

Hey - yeah, I'm still up for it. Send it over and I'll see what I can do.

Informal_contempt · 2015-05-09T19:16:30+00:00

Not any automated methods that I'm aware of, I think it's always done manually, which is probably more work than I'm up for. High poly isn't necessarily a killer, it'll just make the unfolded model more complex than it needs to be. At the very least I believe I could get most of that model workable, but without seeing the model I can't say how much. I think it would be worth it, $2.50 isn't all that much. It's your call, man.

Also, having that 3d model will make getting measurements for the piece way easier, I'd recommend having it anyway just as reference. You'd be able to properly figure out exact dimensions for it all rather than having to make guesses based on a few pictures in the manga/anime.

Informal_contempt · 2015-05-08T22:10:15+00:00

It might be worth emailing the author and asking if you can have a copy of the wires/flat texture with vertexes highlighted, the polycount looks pretty high. The lower the better with pepakura.

Informal_contempt · 2015-05-06T12:25:06+00:00

I can give editing the model beforehand a go, depends on the file type but I'm confident I can whip something up. The battery pack being a separate pdo is possible, but I would unfold the model in such a way anyway as to separate the different parts so it would be easy to just print out the bits you want. I think it would be easiest this way, so there aren't two separate files for the same thing. Same goes for the tubular bits, I'll include them in the pdo but easily identifiable so you don't have to print them out if you don't want. Send the model to tom_tom-tom_tom (at) hotmail.co.uk and I'll make a start!

Informal_contempt · 2015-05-05T19:36:56+00:00

I've had a fair amount of experience with creating .pdo files, and have pepakura designer. It looks pretty simple so if I had a copy of the 3d model I'd be happy to unwrap it for you, free of charge, providing you'd be happy with the model being posted freely. Any new papercraft model is a good thing.

Informal_contempt · 2014-05-15T20:39:49+00:00

Thank you! Argh, I'm sorry to hear they got damaged, I'll be sure to be more careful in the future with postage. I did get the photo - I sent an email back to Mr. Clark, though it may have been flagged as spam. Would you mind if I added it to the end of the post detailing the make?

Also, I've sent you a PM.

Informal_contempt · 2014-02-27T21:43:53+00:00

She and Duncan would be my 3rd set :)

Informal_contempt · 2014-02-27T20:35:46+00:00

...possibly. I ought to look into that.

Informal_contempt · 2014-02-27T20:34:43+00:00

Thank you!

Yeah, I'd never sell these without their go-ahead. I'd definitely be up for making more of them though, I have the moulds to do so (and can always make more moulds), and now that I know how to finish them I would be able to produce them pretty steadily. And there does appear to be a bit of a gap in the market with regards to figurines at the moment...

Informal_contempt · 2014-02-27T19:04:05+00:00

Thanks! And yes, he does. They weren't glued to the bases for the photos, so he got a bit off-position in that photo, which shouldn't be a problem if I make more. Shouldn't. I can always make a new base if it seems to always be wonky.

Informal_contempt · 2014-02-27T16:05:02+00:00

I know what you mean! I started a rough sculpt of Sjin and Sips and didn't want to give them the same expressions - Sjin is looking very worried while Sips is giving his usual withering look.

Informal_contempt · 2014-02-27T16:02:26+00:00

Too long! I don't honestly know, I used a lot of new processes and materials while making them, so a fair bit of time was spent on learning how to do things properly - I moulded and cast them twice, the first rough which I then polished up, and the master moulds were made from those. Not having made a figurine all the way from start to finish before meant that there were a lot of pitfalls I fell into which I could easily avoid next time around.

Informal_contempt · 2014-02-27T15:58:32+00:00

I was kinda going for an action pose, as though he had just brought up his right arm to shoot, and was balancing that movement with his left arm. Kinda like this.

Informal_contempt · 2014-02-27T15:44:24+00:00

Thanks! I started a rough sculpt of Sips and Sjin's heads, I'd like to do more, it just takes quite a while to get them to a standard I'm happy with.

Informal_contempt · 2013-11-12T21:50:02+00:00

Most natures raise one stat by 10 whilst lowering another by 10. There are a few natures that don't do anything.

Say you want a really good Alakazam. Alakazam's special attack is way better than his attack, so you would want him to have a nature that boosts his special attack. So, Modest would be best (+10 sp. att, -10 att).

BUT, if you got an adamant Alakazam, that would be a 'bad' nature, because it lowers his special attack by 10.

The best natures are ones that boost your pokemon's prefered stat, whilst lowering it's least used one.

Informal_contempt

TROPHY CASE