WARNING!! Not for the Feint of Heart...or Stomach..

[Ginene]

Wow...poor baby girl. That looks painful. Just wondering why you didn't bring her to an avian vet sooner? That growth is massive and must have taken a while to get that big.

[cindy]

Thank you EVERYONE for all of your prayers, well wishes, and guesstignoses... Much appreciated. My little lady is TOUGH... I'm especially attached to her because she is my first bird, (i bought her and her mate together, but....) when in the pet store, all the males looked alike, and there was this beautiful white baby... I fell in love with her, i said I want the white one, deffinitely and then whatever male you can catch... So she is special to me. She's a fighter for sure, and I know she (we) aren't out of the woods yet, so thank you everyone. I do have a question, for MiaCarter Cindy. I am planning on seeing a vet, but not knowing when I will be able to get an appointment and get there (I work in a small office and 2 people, and the other woman I work with is leaving for 2 weeks) So it's going to be hard for me to get anything done during the week MiaCarter any of those vets you speak of up her in MA have weekend hours do you remember? So in that, I may not get here there right away, should I give her the enrotex i have (antibiotics) or Ronex? Also, should I be putting a topical anti biotic on her to fight off any infection? If so, any suggestions on the best one to use? Can I use a regular triple antibiotic oinment like neosporin or bacitracin?
Again, thank you all so much. I really appreciate all of the thoughts, and kind words. You guys, as ALWAYS, are the best!

It was suggested that you wash the wound in chlorhexidine and a broad spectrum antibiotic be given... Baytril or the generic version,Enrofloxyn can be given... Terri at glamgouldians.com ships quickly and she is one of the people I consulted for you... if this is due to a sinus infection a topical antibiotic will not do much for her. You can put a little topical on the wound but she still likely needs an antibiotic.

http://glamgouldians.com/product-enrofloxyn.php

Most vets have Saturday hours.

[cindy]

Ronex is not an antibiotic it is a anti-parasitic.

The medication you have https://ladygouldian.com/content/enrotex

Enrotex can be used.... I would start that..you mentioned you used it prior..how long did you use it for?

[MiaCarter]

monotwine - Scalped?!?! WOW! That's incredible!

I too have seen some really incredible injuries that have healed with little or no intervention. Mostly in my ferals. I had one guy who showed up one day with his skull exposed (about the area of a golf ball and a half. Looked like he had an abscess that burst. It was awful because he was one of the "fringe" ferals who doesn't show up regularly so I couldn't trap him. But she showed up 2 weeks later looking good as new! It's really incredible how they can heal, even on their own.

It's a bit late in the game now, but it would have been tough to get a Sat appt with the vets I had in mind; they were always booked up well in advance on weekends. But I'm sure if you call around and explain it's urgent someone will see you. It's a bummer, as you're at a disadvantage being a new patient; they tend to give preference to existing clients.

How is she doing?

[Majd]

Many years ago I was at my cousins... They had a pair of canaries... On of the birds had something like this. A big scab like this one but it was on the wing if I can remember... The scab went so big the poor bird couldn't move properly and was getting weak... The owners did not even notice what the bird had... So I took her out of the cage to take a look and when I held the scab it easily pulled off... It bled just a bit and the bird was very relieved and happy.... I think it was something related to feathers as much as I could tell...

[jebediah]

I agree with everyone else. Definitely cyst like. My friend's rat had a cyst form in his sinuses and it fell off like this did. It regrew eventually. An antibiotic will definitely keep her safe from infection with a giant hole in her head.

Poor girl! I'm glad to hear she's still sassy though!

[cindy]

Ellen, your little girl needs a good long round of baytril (mentioned above as recommended by the people I sent your photos to) or the generic which you mentioned you mentioned you have on hand... I would extend treatment to at least 2 weeks followed up with probiotics... the bird should be contained during treatment, no free flight, a sinus infection can possibly through off it's balance. Also it is important it is not exposed to anything else from other birds since it's immune system is compromised by infection.

Keep us posted.

[lnlovesorange]

Cindy... It's funny You mention Terri, I asked her about this way back when it first started and she told me i should divorce my birds, cuz she thought it was plucking!!! LOL, but I love Terri, she is VERY helpful to me and I do ALL my ordering from her. (i was actually going to ask her if I could mail her the mass for her to examine!!!) So thank you, i do have that anti biotic and have started it. Her balance was off the first couple days, but she seems to be doing well... better every day. The reason I didn't bring her to a vet sooner is because I kept asking and consulting people that i trusted VERY much and they said pecking... then it was a large bump and i kept putting stuff on it, and no one knew how to help me, so i hoped for the best... and well, unfortunately a wellness check up at my vet is expensive, never mind a sick visit.... and I didn't know that I could afford it. Anyway, I know that's no excuse, but sometimes life smacks you in the face.... and you just don't expect things to come up... i'm learning the hard way to be a grown up ya know? LOL. But she seems to be doing REALLY well and her balance has improved GREATLY, the only thing now, is that her nostrils seem HUGE... which I'm wondering if this is what you guys are talking about, I'll PM photos, no one wants to see the poor girl with the hole in her head!!! Thanks again, going out on lunch now to check her, and I'll snap a few (really hard now that I've been catching her so much, she has ZERO trust in me.... )

[Babs _Owner]

lnlovesorange

Im glad to hear that lil' gal is still hanging in there! She is an amazing little finch. I get cramps and I'm like "LEAVE ME ALONE!

Your little girls is like "Hole in my head? What hole? Wheres the millet WOMAN!"

Love it!

[lnlovesorange]

Babs If you could have saw the blood loss, and she was flying like.... I don't know, like it was someone else's blood... It was crazy, i seriously thought I was gunna to wake up to a gone bird, but she is my tough little cookie..... Crazy..... and her mate is pretty cool too, he always jumps in front of her, and gives me the evil eye.... like he's protecting her, like he KNEW something was wrong.... Pretty cool (obviously not her having that, but his reaction to the whole ordeal) He's got some good faces... check it out...

[cindy]

Once you get a good course of antibiotic into her the swelling around the eye and nares should go down. In all fairness whoever looked at the pictures early on they would think plucking... as it progressed it was evident she had more going on... Hoping she makes a good recovery for you. Terri and a very nice lady named Pam viewed the pictures you sent me, gave recommendations on care and have been asking how your bird is doing. Keep us posted

[Babs _Owner]

lnlovesorange

Like chihuahuas, I think zebras have no clue how small they are.

Her mate looks like he wants to go flap-and-smack on your face!

[lnlovesorange]

Babs You know what's funny? Don't know how much you know about dogs or what they were originally bred for, but Chiuaua's Actually do know they are small, they just have to be nasty b/c they were originally bred to hunt Rats!!! Not sure if you know that (sorry I'm not being a know it all by any means, I TOTALLY get the analogy) But pretty crazy about those little dogs huh? They would put them in a rat hole in the ground, and they would go get the rats... that's why they can be so nasty... Just my tid bit of knowledge for the day... but yeah, melvin (charlotte's mate) would wing flap-smack me if he could and that's TOTALLY what he's saying in those photos BACK THE F OFF you've done ENOUGH!!! lol Like i said, they were my first pair so i worked with them a lot, and gained a LOT of trust by hand feeding them and spending time with them.. It's all out the window now... Even though sometimes Charlotte would be calm in my hand (like when I put a "soothing" salve on her head, it must have felt good, she would just shut her eye, and lay in my hand) even though I never hurt her, i lost all trust, Charlotte is still better than Melvin, with me, but that's a given, kind of like you are more protective of your Husband/kids/siblings than your self....
@Cindy I emailed Terri today. And Thank again so much, I really appreciate it (btw I wasn't complaining at ALL about people thinking it was plucking, you are right, it did look like that) this was a freak thing, i was only upset at the fact that I couldn't help her... Not at anyone else... everyone was very good to me telling me what they thought. She seems to be doing great, her balance is returning (no more falling forward, or tripping) and she's eating and meeping beeping and pushing Melvin around!!! LOL

[cindy]

I would do extra days on the meds since the infection was bad...follow it up with a couple of days of probiotics to replenish the gut good gut flora that oral antibiotics can kill off.

[Babs _Owner]

lnlovesorange

I would love to see you make a video of his protective side with some funny narrations! I'd laugh my head off! What I love most about my birds is they make me laugh SO much! And I do so much like to laugh!

In the work world and beyond I deal with many rigid, humorless & uptight people and they are emotionally EXHAUSTING by the end the week., but my finches
are sooooo.......just absurd and completely real and ridiculously fun and clownish. Its refreshing. They help me re-energize!

By the way, the imagery of 5 angry chihuahuas going together down a hole to kick some rat hiney is equally hilarious!