Midi Waffle

My friend rigged an avatar for me without a tail, and sent me the tail separately. It's got bones in it, so I uploaded it as I did with the other part of the avatar, as well as a few different ways, but no matter what I try, I can't get the tail to bend. Does the whole thing need to be uploaded as a single mesh for the tail to move? I know the SL skeleton has tail bones, so how do I go about making a mesh tail work?