FINCHforum

For a couple days, I've been noticing Ducki was struggling to stay on her perches wherever she lands. Whenever she does get in a good position, she'll lean to one side. I have been looking at her feet to see which one she is not leaning on, which is the injured one. So far, it doesn't look like the foot is broken because none of her bones look irregular. Also, there are no even minor infections on it. There is no blood anywhere. I think she might just have a sprained foot or something.

I have done what I could so far. Since all the perches in the cage are thick and somewhat slippery, I took the time to find and clean a spare stick outside to act as a third perch for her to hopefully do better on. And I've doubled on their crumbled egg shells for the calcium.

So, any advice on a bird with a busted foot? Should I just go ahead and put her in my third cage that has better perches for gripping?

I've had issues with this before. I had a yellow canary, Ringo, who developed ongoing issues with his leg due to a kidney problem. We got some flat wood pieces for him to perch on. This seemed to work OK, and we also had some wide flat dishes for him to get food. Good luck with your bird.

Zebrafincher wrote: I've had issues with this before. I had a yellow canary, Ringo, who developed ongoing issues with his leg due to a kidney problem. We got some flat wood pieces for him to perch on. This seemed to work OK, and we also had some wide flat dishes for him to get food. Good luck with your bird.

I think in Ducki's case, it is just a random little accident she had while fluttering around. It doesn't seem serious but she is struggling to keep herself perched correctly. At least it is not as bad as the one accident that claimed Snow White's life nearly two years ago.

I hope it is so for your little bird. Ringo we thought had caught his foot in the side of the cage and hurt his foot, but it ended up being an issue with his kidneys and liver. This affected his ability to move the leg on that side. Despite repeated treatment, he died at the vets later on. They think it was multiple organ failure.

A perch from a branch outside will offer a little more rough surface for her to grip. Some of the commercial perches are very slick. Another thing you can do to make for a better grip--get some Vetwrap from a vet supply place. It is a stretchy gauze-type bandage used for bandaging horses, it grips to itself. You can take a small amount of that, wrap it around a perch, and it gives a surface that the bird can easily cling to. There is probably a people wrap that is similar, I just happen to have it on hand for my horse.

Sally wrote: A perch from a branch outside will offer a little more rough surface for her to grip. Some of the commercial perches are very slick. Another thing you can do to make for a better grip--get some Vetwrap from a vet supply place. It is a stretchy gauze-type bandage used for bandaging horses, it grips to itself. You can take a small amount of that, wrap it around a perch, and it gives a surface that the bird can easily cling to. There is probably a people wrap that is similar, I just happen to have it on hand for my horse.

Too bad my sandy perches are too small to fit around the big branches they use. I think someplace like CVS or Walgreens might have something like that I can buy. Last time I looked at a CVS, they had dozens of heating pads, bandages and other pads for different limbs.

So far, Ducki seems to be doing alright, despite her injured foot. She is using the stick more, the stick I found in the backyard. She is acting like her normal self and beeping; she just finds it tough to land correctly. I think as long as she doesn't freak out over my usual activities with them (giving them water, food, etc.), the foot should heal properly. Only time will tell though.

Also, I'd rather not take any pictures to show how she's handling it. Again, she gets scared when I am close by.