Orange Waxbill with hurt leg

[Jenny Lee]

Hi, this is my first post.

I have a large flight cage that I house Societies, Australian, Indian Spice, and Orange Cheeked Waxbills. I adore them all, but the Waxbills have grabbed my heart.

Friday night I noticed I did not see my Orange Cheek Torah, her mate Petra was throwing a fit. I found her in a nest with a piece of nest caught in between her leg band and her leg. I freed her, and put her into my hospital cage. There was no blood, but the leg was just hanging. I called the Vet I work for and she said it's is too little for her to set her leg. I contacted 2 other area Vets who recommended euthing her. She is eating, drinking, taking millet, and flying around. She sits on the leg sometimes, but more often than not.

I wonder if I can set the leg myself? ( she is very tiny ) Has anyone done that? I will not give up on her.

Thanks for ANY responses
Jenny

[Finchlet]

Hi! Welcome to the forum! I recently cared for an injured sparrow that had a broken wing. A vet friend of mine made a splint for the wing using tape. I had also searched on the internet for ways of splinting wings and I remember seeing feet and legs splinted in the same way. The birds are so tiny that the tape is strong enough to use as a splint. The little sparrow had a hurt foot too and I was able to immobilize it by sandwiching the foot directly between two pieces of tape. Just be careful that the splint is either too big to fit through the bars of the cage, or small enough that it won't get stuck. The little sparrow liked to jump and grab onto the bars and got his bandaged foot stuck through the bars. i had to redesign it so that wouldn't happen. I recommend paper tape, the kind they put on you after you get blood drawn. It's light, breaths and will be easier to remove when the time comes. I hope you find this helpful. Good luck with your little baby!

[Jenny Lee]

I was thinking that tape would be enough and I could get it small enough for her tiny leg. Thank-you so much for your reply. May I ask, did you do the taping alone or with someone to help?

Jenny

[Finchlet]

I had to have someone hold the bird so I could use both hands. I cut the tape into small pieces and trimmed it down to size after I stuck it on the foot. Might be kind of hard if the bird wiggles too much, but I was lucky not to have too bad of wiggler.