Freak accident with split band

[ac12]

I did not know where to post this, so general it is.

One of my societies had a freak accident with his split band.

I found him in the corner of the cage, hunkered down and not looking well.
When I picked him up, I saw his leg up by his beak. Seeming odd I looked more carefully. DRAT
He got the split band on his leg caught on his lower beak. So the band was holding his leg to his beak.

I have no idea how long he was in that situation, but he was not looking good.
I tried a couple tools including a plier, but could not pull the band off of his beak. So I finally tried to get the banding tool into the band to open up the band. I finally got his leg separated from his beak. whew...

But he could barely move
Probably exhausted himself, and unable to eat or drink for a long time.
So NV powder in water and a medicine dropper to get him to drink a little and rehydrate.
2 hours later and he seems to be better, standing and drinking the NV powder water, and later eating.

This is the first time that I ran into this situation.
I've seen birds pulling and biting the band, but this is the first that a bird got the band onto its beak.

[DanteD716]

Wow that is strange Gary! Glad you caught it in time though. What a freak incident

[MiaCarter]

Wow. That's scary and awful.

I hate bands. I've had awful experiences where a bad situation was made worse because of the band.

I was thinking the split bands would be safer, but now I'm not so sure!
Was it a plastic or metal split band?

[Sally]

That surely was a freak accident, don't recall ever hearing about a bird getting its beak caught in the band. Glad you found him in time, Gary, sounds like he is on the way to recovery.

[Corkysgirl]

Oh wow! It's a good thing you found him on time! It sounds like he on the mend. I was wondering if it was metal also. I had gotten a finch from Petco that was banded with a metal band and it wasn't put on right. It was open on one end and sharp, catching on the bamboo nest, etc. What a nightmare!

[ac12]

This was a simple plastic band, just colored.
One of the problems with plastic bands is when I put them on, even pressing them close will not always hold them closed, leaving a gap. It is this gap that I think he got his beak into.

I don't have the tools to deal with a split metal band, if a new bird has one of those.

Using a band has good and bad points.
But I decided that I need to use bands to keep track of my birds.
I've learned that if I don't band the birds I loose track of which bird is which. And this becomes important when I'm pairing them up to breed. In my early days, I got mom and daughter mixed up, because they looked alike. That was when I realized I NEED to band them to keep track of who is who.

I split band all new birds.
- And this bird was just about at the end of his quarantine period.
I close band chicks whenever I can, and those that I don't/can't close band I split band either after fledging or weaning.

[Teagarden]

ac12 It must have been dreadful seeing your bird like that. I hope your society recuperates from the stress of the ordeal.

[Finnie]

I'm glad your bird is OK.

I agree about the necessity of bands. I think ring incidents are few and far between and don't outweigh the value of being able to identify birds with bands.

I've been told that regular wire cutters (small ones) can be used to cut off closed bands, but I think it would be a delicate procedure, so I'm hoping I never have to face doing it.

[Sally]

ac12 NFSS is now trying out a band that is not split. It is like a tiny rubber band. I have ordered some and have placed them on some of my Goldbreasts. This is the first band I have found that will stay on Goldbreasts, and it should not be a problem with hanging up, since there is not a split to catch on things. I had the same problem with split bands, not being able to pinch them totally closed. Paula is also shopping around for similar options with even better pricing. I eventually want to replace every single split band with this type band.

I agree with the others. Though bands can sometimes cause trouble, those incidents are few and far between, and I must have a way to identify individual birds/families. With 100-150 birds, I have to be able to know which birds are related, etc.

[Finnie]

That's interesting about the elastic bands, Sally. Do you have a link to them?

I wonder if the need for cutting those off would ever arise, or if they are completely accident proof. Or maybe their ability to stretch would suffice in an emergency.

[Sally]

Finnie Oops, I meant to post the link.

http://www.nfss.org/nfssorg_shop/index. ... ategory=40#

Here is an enlarged photo of the bands.

http://www.nfss.org/nfssorg_shop/large_ ... dycxeb.jpg

They are very easy to apply, you just roll one band up onto the wide end of that applicator, then stick the foot and leg of the bird down inside that wide end, roll the band off the applicator and onto the leg, and it's done. Since they are rubber, I would think that if there ever was an accident with them, a pair of cuticle nippers would quickly cut through the band (though I don't think these are going to have the problems of the old split bands).

These first kits have an assortment of colors, which means you may have to take off some bands to reach the color you want. In future, I believe we'll be able to order kits of just one color, or refills of just one color. These are still in the early trial stage.

[Teagarden]

Sally Thanks for the info on the new bands/rings. I also have Goldbreasts, Owls, RC Cordon Blue & Gouldians & have been looking for something easier to put on my baby birds. Currently my husband places all the bands for me as my Parkinson's tremor makes it impossible to do.

@ac12 How is your bird today?

[ac12]

He seems to be fine.
I put him back in with the other 2 males.

[MiaCarter]

ac12 -- That's wonderful news!!
Happy to hear he's doing well and he's none the worse for it.

....I've been told that regular wire cutters (small ones) can be used to cut off closed bands, but I think it would be a delicate procedure, so I'm hoping I never have to face doing it.

I've had a few band problems over the years.

You can use a small pair of wire cutters to cut off a closed band.
But the problem is that when you need to remove a band, there's often swelling which makes it impossible to use the wire cutters.

In that case, you need to use a dremel. It was the exact same method used to cut off my wedding rings when I broke my hand. They slide a super thin metal plate between the band and the leg, then, they cut with the dremel tool. But you've got to go super slow, with lots of breaks because the metal gets hot. Once it's cut, you just use pliers to get it off.
The whole process takes about 10 min.

So yeah. That's how it's done.

@Sally -- I love the idea of the rubber bands! What a wonderful idea!
That's a super clever little applicator tool.

[Corkysgirl]

Sally those look great!