Ouch--mouse bite.

[shelliebear]

Ok, so I went to stun a mouse today to feed to my ball python, and as I picked the little guy up he bit me. Hard.
After I pulled him off of my pinky finger, guess what he does?
Yep, goes right on and bites my other finger.
...Hard.
It hurt
Now, however, I'm concerned about the amount of swelling around the punctures. How much swelling should there be? The bite was a few hours ago, and the joint in my pinky is hurting, the bone is achy, and it's pretty swollen.
He got me in a bad spot, on the side of my finger where there's barely any skin, it's just a lot of my bone.
What do I need to do? I put neosporin on it and bandaged it for a while.
Anything I should look out for? Do I need to go see a doctor?
He was an icky feeder mouse from a pet store...they're not kept in the best of conditions, it doesn't seem like.
Thanks. Shellie

[shelliebear]

Oooh-do I need to get a tetanus shot? I haven't had one in quite a long time. :/

[shelliebear]

[dr del]

I wish I had any advice to give but I have no clue on whether tetanus would be a good idea and dr's are free over here so they get used a bit more.


dr del <---- not a doctor!!

[susannwv]

I dont think you have anything to worry about. Just keep it clean with peroxide or alcohol and keep the neosporin on it. I work at a pet store and have been bitten several times by many different things and yeah it gets sore and sometimes red around the bite but I just keep it clean but Im no doctor just my experience. If it does start looking infected I would go see a doctor.

[txherp]

I think you will be fine, just keep it clean and use antibiotic ointment. Stay away from using peroxide as it kills new cells. Soap and water is the best. Poor mousy, he was just scared because he knew he was about to die

[wilomn]

I suspect it will go necrotic in a matter of hours, fall off in a matter of days, and leave you without a pinky, if your whole hand doesn't rot and die, by the end of the week.

It's true, it can happen, I saw it on the internet.

[shelliebear]

Wilomn: I always saw that you can die by getting slapped by pancakes.
That was on the internet too. 100% true. XD
Thanks for the responses everyone. I will keep an eye on it.

[zina10]

Actually, I wouldn't wait "to" long to go see a doctor.
Esp. about the tetanus shot. If you still had immunity it wouldn't be so bad, but ...

Animal bites tend to get infected. They have lots of bacteria in their mouth and it gets deep into the tissue during the bite. The other thing is, the wound usually closes quickly and seals the bacteria in.

Seen some of the WORST infections (required hospital stay and IV antibiotics) from cat bites into hands.

If the swelling continues and there is pain and heat, please go to the doctor...

[mommanessy247]

i thought tetanus shots were only needed if you got puntured by anything metal, like stepping on nails or something like that...i didnt know dr's gave tetanus shots for animal bites...hmmm...what about treating snake bites? they have salmonella in their mouths so...how do u prevent getting sick from salmonella if you get bit by the reptile? i've been bit by cats so many times but never encountered anything more then local pain and some minor swelling around the wounds cuz i always washed the bites with soap and water and kept the area as clean and as dry as possible.