Heckle has bloody butt

[cindy]

Mrs Horn I had my daughter at 30 and the second at 34, I was not ready for little ones any earlier than that.

My husband doesn't sleep in, it is up and out biking on days off, he does 30 to 40 miles. I start out with him but I do 14 to 20. Believe me there are days when I want to hide the alarm clock.

I really hope your little finch heals quickly. It does look sore, let us know how she is in the days to come. Best wishes

[CandoAviary]

I sure hope not. I would think if she is eating and drinking and acting fine then she will recover. I just hope she will stop picking at it. Like a kid...making it worse.
I have seen those plastic dog collars for parrots that are feather pluckers.... but I don't think it would work fo a finch

[cindy]

how about a cup cake liner???

[pattiej]

Awww the poor baby... Hope she recovers soon. I wonder what caused that??

[nixity]

How is she?

I wasn't sure if I wanted to chime in here or not - it looks like a mild prolapse almost, which is something I just had with one of my society hens - only hers was severe and we put her down

[CandoAviary]

Lisa,
Here is some informatuion on the prolapse that Tiffany is referring to
http://www.avianweb.com/Prolapse.htm

That possibility crossed my mind but I don't think that is what it is. Usually a bird with that...at least those that I have witnessed were in distress. They wanted to stay on the bottom of the cage...not perch, and they didn't act normal. Though maybe in mild cases ...?
Let's hope & pray that it is just a sore

[mrshorn]

I took her out this morning to clean the area, and put some Neosporin on her. She is such a good patient!! She pretty much holds still and lets me do my work. Bless her little heart! She just kind of stares up at me and watches my face. I was up close and personal with her just a few hous ago and she doesn't look like the picture on the Prolapse article. After reading, I think I can rule it out, but you never know. If I am understanding the condition properly, (please correct me if I am wrong) if it was a Prolapse, she would have internal organs hanging out of her right? Am I getting the general idea? She does not have that, as far as I can tell. The article also suggests a lack of Calcium as a cause. She always has a supply of egg shells, a cuttle bone, and has eggfood periodically. I would hope that is enough to prevent an eggbinding. She is not in the process of laying or even making eggs. Despite Jeckles best efforts, she is not interested. The look of it is as if the skin split just a bit, and she is being her own worst enemy. Would it be dangerous to get her that Neosporin with the mild pain killer? Since the cupcake paper E-collar won't go over very well I fear , I'd like for her to forget it is there. She otherwise seems fine.

Tiffany- Thanks for taking the time to point out that possibility. I am going to do some more research on that to see if that is in fact what she has going on. I am sorry your Society had to be put down, but it sounds like it was the kindest thing you could do for her.

Candace- Thanks for the article, I would have had no idea what that was!


I am going to try to take another picture tonight. This is going to sound gross, but what exactly does a normal vent look like? Can't say that I have gotten up in my birdies business like that before.

[CandoAviary]

Yes, the prolaspse would be part of the cochlea(sp?) inverted/ protruding out..which I agree yours does not look like this.
The reason I asked if there was a chance that an egg broke inside or as being delivered is sometimes the jagged sggshell will scrape/cut the vent. She may have eaten the egg pieces and you would never know. If that were the case and a piece of the shell was retained in the canal then the bird would get an infection and unless surgically removed she would perish. If all the shell was passed and eaten and the bird did not bleed out then she should recover. Also sometimes the yolk if inside the bird can poison the bird and cause death. That is why it is never wise to ty to remove an egg from an eggbound hen.
Is the sore looking any better?
One thing you can try to keep her from picking is to keep her preoccupied with stuff. like millet spray, nest fibers to twiddle (with no nest), anything that may distract her.

[mrshorn]

I think she looks good, but she needs to stop picking at it. I don't believe an egg has anything to do with it. She has not returned to the nest since we removed the eggs. Jeckle is trying to convince her otherwise. What do you think about the Neo with the pain killer?

[CandoAviary]

I would use it. If she ate it ...could numb her tounge, possible the numbing agect could make her sick.

[mrshorn]

So you wouldn't? That's fine. Saves me another trip out to fetch one thing. We also had to take our husky, Lulu, to the vet last night. I have medicines and ointments coming out my ears!

[mrshorn]

Still treating Heckle. I think the skin looks better, but she keeps picking at it. She sure loves the heat lamp! I am now totally scared she has a prolapse now. How pronounced is a healthy vent? I tried to look at Jeckle, but he fought me too much to get a good look. It's hard to tell because she is bald there too. She is doing everything else normal, eating, drinking, pooping, etc. How long does it take for a sore to heal?

[L in Ontario]

It could take a couple of weeks or more along with patience and love.

[mrshorn]

I got Heckle out this morning cleaned her off, and did the Neo again. I think the "sore" is starting to look better, but the area around the vent is totally bald. She has plucked out the area all around the vent, and slightly up her belly. Now that I can see all the flesh around it and I can not tell if she has improved or gotten worse. The area looks like it may be bloated or swollen, but I don't know what a bald birdie booty is supposed to look like. Is the vent supposed to be flat against the skin, or does it protrude a little? I took pictures this morning, but ran out of time before I had to leave. I will post them as soon as I get home. After I took them though, I thought they came across looking worse than she does in person. I think the sore looks smaller, and it is scabbed over, but I am now concerned about a swelling problem (which may be nothing more than how a bald butt looks anyway). Please check back tonight and let me know what you all think. I very much appreciate it!

[CandoAviary]

Hope she is healing.