zebra finch with swollen, bald, plucked face

[flowergoose]

I noticed this today?! So it must have only happened very very recently! She's one of this years babies (early this year) and has always for along with her family.... I have about 23 finches in a big indoor flight cage (7 feet tall, about 4 feet across and a couple of feet wide) with two button quails. I didn't feed them ANYTHING unusual, they had their regular seed mix with greens etc, and all was normal.

Her face is red and sticky with blood/plasma that's seeped out from plucking, she keeps shaking he err head and itching it so I immediately thought scaly face or air sac mites? I rescued a finch a few weeks ago that had TERRIBLE air sac mites, and she's almost better so she's been in a small cage in the bottom of theirs. But I doubt that's the problem. I've had plucking problems before with a few individuals but never just around their face? It's usually their backs or the backs of their heads.

I can't add photos in because I'm on my ipad but I'll add the photos as attachments. I really hope someone can help!!!

[MiaCarter]

Oh poor girl!

I'm not sure she's plucked, to be honest.
Looking closely, it seems like she still has most of the feathers.
Some appear to be broken off, which is to be expected if she was rubbing her face.
And the inflammation makes the feathers appear more sparse.

So I don't think you have a plucking problem.
I think there's a good chance the blood/plasma is due to the same - her scratching or rubbing the area.

Can you tell if she's irritated and inflamed on her chin? Or is that just drippings down there?

I think it's very curious that it appears to be right around the nostrils; the spot between the nostrils is clear.

The air sac mite can live on surfaces and once they get onto a bird, they climb onto the head, down the nostrils and into the respiratory tract.
I've never seen this as a manifestation of ASM, but I guess it's theoretically possible if she came into contact with them and was acutely allergic.

External mites like scaly face mites also come to mind.
I HAVE seen a case where the bird is acutely allergic to the mites and it looked a lot like this. The skin gets inflamed and itchy, and then they scratch which makes it a bloody, infected mess. The case I saw was much more advanced than this --- the entire head was one giant, itchy, infected sore --- but it would have looked like this early on.
In cases where they're allergic to the mites, you have the normal effects from the mites, plus an allergic reaction. And while scaly face mites are the most likely, since it's only impacting her face, I guess it could theoretically be any type of mites/lice to trigger a reaction.

I'd look for any other possible allergens that she could have contacted. Remember that they can develop an allergy at any time, and to virtually any thing. Even if they've been okay with that substance before.
You can see swelling, itching, trouble breathing, etc. due to an acute systemic allergic reaction/anaphylaxis, but I'd expect to see more swelling around her eyes and redness in a broader area. This seems like a more localized reaction, if it's a reaction at all.

I'd definitely separate her from the rest.
I'd give her a heat lamp and a cage with paper towels on the bottom so you can easily see how much blood she's losing.

I'd consider some antibiotics, as an infection right near the eyes and at the entrance of the respiratory system can go bad fast. I'd also be concerned of swelling/infection closing off her nostrils.

I would try to clean her up as best you can with some wound wash saline.
I would also put some cat-friendly hydrocortisone spray on the irritated areas using a q-tip. You can get it at most WalMarts, so if you have a 24 hour place nearby, you could get it tonight. Super careful to avoid her eyes. I suppose you could use hydrocortisone cream, but I'd be worried it would get into her eye or nostril, whereas the spray is just a liquid that will dry on the skin within a few seconds of application.
If it's itching --- which I strongly suspect is the case --- that should help some. Every 6-8 hours should do it. You want to try to reduce that itching as the more she itches, the more she's prone to infection.

Personally, I'd give her a day or two and see what happens. If it doesn't get better or gets worse, I would treat with S76. She's been potentially exposed to ASM, so that's a good idea anyways. ASM can live outside the bird's body, making it super contagious.

Since you have so many birds, I would strongly recommend a vet visit if that's an option. Many offer Saturday appointments.
I would definitely separate her and I'd carefully check the others to see if anyone else has anything similar.

[flowergoose]

hello, I forgot to reply, but thank you so much for such an amazing message! I kept her in a cage with another sick bird (the one with air sac mites) and she got better immediately! she's fine now, but thank you so much