Broken/Dislocated/Fractured tail on mother gerbil

[loxy]

Hey guys, I've got a problem.

I checked on Bee when I got home today and she's managed to hurt her tail, it's bent and swollen at the base and hanging a bit limp after that. Looks internal.

Sorry for the blurry pics but she's pretty fast and I was trying to take it with my iPad:





It must have happened today she didn't have this in the morning. She's still jumping up to me, I saw her groom it as normal, there's no blood.

What can a vet do for her?

She's got 7 five-week old pups and 7 five-day old pups with her, it's going to be hard to take her to the vet.

I don't understand how it happened, there's nothing in the tank but a few bits of cardboard and a mineral block. I can only think that maybe she tried jumping and fell on it?

EDIT:

Well she's always had a habit of wagging her tail when I let her out of the tank and she can still do that, it feels like the tail is still articulate. It's definitely the bone structure rather than a lump, I can see it going up in a little n shape. She doesn't squeak or bite when I touch it but then she's a tough girl, she came to me with a fractured paw and still swings off it. She isn't acting any different but I know that doesn't mean she's not in pain.

Equally concerned about if medication would have an affect on the still feeding pups. Maybe I should keep an eye out and get her checked up once the pups are older?

[betty]

Only just seen this poor girl - what happened in the end? Was it just a dislocation and your vet re-placed it? Or was it something more sinister....

[loxy]

As the pups are still very reliant on her and I didn't want to stress the family out, I haven't taken her to the vet yet. She's coping fine with it, it doesn't feel like it's actually broken, I think the vertebrae have just buckled. The swelling went down a bit but she still wags it and has no trouble balancing and jumping. I'm going to take her to get it looked at once the pups have left home which will be in about 3 weeks.

Will update with what the vet comes back with x