Most important thing first: Jack is ok.

I accidentally hurt Jack. One emergency trip to the vet later and it thankfully seems like he’s going to be ok. I stepped on his tail. I was cleaning out his cage, put my heel back down and didn’t realise his tail was under me.

If you don’t want to read the gory details stop reading here.

Degus have a defence mechanism where if they are caught by the tail they can shed the skin to get away. This leaves the bone exposed and at risk of infection. There can be heavy bleeding. If left to their own devices a degu would chew off the bone.

When I stepped on his tail Jack panicked and took off, leaving behind the skin of his tail, probably about 5cm long. He went to the vet to have the exposed bone amputated. If it had been left there would have been a risk of infection and the tip becoming necrotic. A bit more of his tail was removed so that there was a good bit of skin to fold over the end and stitch in place. This gives him the greatest chance of it healing well and reduces the risk of infection. The skin comes off in rings so that the degu can drop only as much as is necessary.

Degus use their tails for balance and it’ll take Jack some adjustment but he should be able to manage. He’s not allowed a dust bath or his usual substrate until the wound is properly sealed. He’s not chewing at it and he came round from the anaesthetic well and is hungry and active.