I remember a few years ago one of my gerbils tried to run up a climbing tube as i went to pick her up, i only managed to grab her tail which in gerbils is not a good thing to do, she shed her tail, leaving me holding the hairy skin whilst she carried on running with only the bone on her tail!!!!! I felt awful.. neirly fainted with shock at what i had done, felt sooo guilty for weeks, I was usually sooo careful not to grab their tails, but this day it happened so quick. it was late evening so i bandaged it up and took her to the vet the next morning where he amputated it. the vet was great, very understanding and when he gave her to me after the op it was like nothing had happened, she was fine, the wound healed in a few days and although she was a little unstable when jumping or standing up meercat style it never bothered her at all. i think the scars were deeper in me than in her as i still feel guilty when i think about it and always err on the side of caution when handling my gerbils now.