FINCHforum

Hi--this is in regard to a spice finch I rescued from a pet store about 3 or 4 weeks ago--he initially had really overgrown nails. I first let him settle down for a few days and then decided to move him to a flight cage and took the opportunity to trim his nails in the process. It went well until he got away from me (yikes)--was a major chore to find him (in an Easter basket in the crawl space of all places!) and then catch him, but we finally got him into his new home! All has been well (even got him another spice finch friend) until yesterday when I noticed he is standing on one foot a lot. The foot he is favoring appears to have a nail missing from one toe. There's no blood or anything--doesn't look torn or damaged--there might be a tiny new nail there (hard to tell--if it's a nail, it is very tiny). Can their nails spontaneously fall out if they were previously stressed from being overgrown (even if the old nail was trimmed to a normal length)?

He had one other nail that I suspected fell out (a couple weeks back) and a new nail has been growing in its place, but he never favored that foot in any way--and that time there was a drop of blood found. Since the trimming and the exciting finch-on-the-loose event, he has not been getting hung up or caught on anything that I have seen. He's eating, bathing, and likes to sit close with his new friend--he's just not standing on that left foot much. Sorry this is so long--any insight or ideas gratefully accepted!
Connie

Would it be as simple as he is sleeping?......Birds sleep on one foot....Maybe he is tired and resting a lot?....Maybe he is getting more comfortable and feels safe enough to nap more?

He could be resting--usually when he takes a "nap" he turns his head over on to one shoulder and kind of hunkers down on the perch. With the one foot, he is awake and standing on the other leg--I wouldn't have thought anything of it except for the one toe missing its nail. I will just keep an eye on his toe and make sure nothing changes for the worse. Can older nails that have been very stressed die off and get pushed out as a new nail grows in?
Connie