HELP! SHAFT TAIL GRIEVOUSLY INJURED!!!

[lovezebs]

Woke up this morning to find him/ her severely injured and bleeding from top of neck, one wing torn apart. Those damn Zebras!
I cleaned him up as best as I could and put him and mate in hospital cage under heat light. I don't think going to make it. Mate standing guard over him and keeping him warm.

Would they attack him in the dark? They must have ganged up on him like bloody sharks and jst ripped into him.

[afinch]

WOW. This is terrible... You're having a tough week lovezebs.

[MiaCarter]

Lovezebs -- Oh no!
That's awful!

In all my years of bird keeping, I've *never* ever heard of any birds fighting after dark.

And I've actually never seen (or heard) of finches fighting en masse or ganging up on one bird with the exception of bonded pairs who have a nest and are trying to protect it from an aggressor. And even then, it's a defensive "get away from our nest" sort of aggression.

Since this occurred at night, I think it's much more apt to be a result of a night fright.

But let's not worry about that for now. He's separated and safe. At the moment, his health is more important than the dynamics of what happened. Let's focus on your little guy!

Glad he's in his own hospital cage.
I'd give NV powder or Thrive.
If necessary, you could make up your own electrolytes solution. I have a recipe here:
http://wp.me/p4JWrl-F

I would give him antibiotics for certain since there's a high chance that he has bite wounds, which have a virtually 100% infection rate.
If he's not eating on his own, I would consider crop tubing the meds.
If you're not comfortable with this or don't have the right equipment, mix the antibiotics into some honey and dab it onto the side of his beak where the upper and lower mandible meet. It will take some time using this method, but you should be able to get the meds into him this way.

The honey is a good idea if he's not eating. He'll need the energy.
Offer all his favorite foods, with a focus on high protein foods. That's what he'll need to heal.

I hope, hope, hope he makes it through. The first 24 hours will be essential for him.
I"m glad you've got the mate with him. That's good. And a heat lamp too, right? So that's good.

I'll post this note up so you get it asap. I've got some other notes for you too, though!

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs -- Okay, so other thoughts....

Have you cleaned him up?
If not, I'd get some wound wash saline (you can find it in the first aid section near the hydrogen peroxide, witch hazel, etc.)

If you can't find any, you can get some sterile eye saline for contact lenses OR look in the incontinence section for flushing saline OR look in the allergy section for nose flushing saline. Same exact thing, different bottles. Just ensure it's pure saline, without any special additives.
http://www.walgreens.com/q/saline-washes

So, I'd flush those wounds with saline 2x daily for 2-3 days. I'd try to use a wash cloth to catch the saline as it runs off so it doesn't soak into his feathers.

I think you could do a small dab of antibiotic cream (and just wipe off any excess) or a super tiny dab of antibiotic ointment.

I'd also examine those damaged feathers for signs of any bleeding. Chances are he would have bled to death if he had any damaged blood feathers. But you never know. If he has any feathers that appear to have an active blood supply, you would want to pluck them. The quill would look dark colored and just a small bump could dislodge the clot and cause more bleeding. But generally, the blood supply retracts pretty fast, so you probably don't need to worry unless he's actively or just finished moulting.

I'm worried about the neck injury. Is his crop damaged? That's a fairly thin tissue that could be easily torn if the crop was full.

If you can post some photos, I can see if there's anything else I can recommend.

What's in this cage? Anything that could have caused these injuries? Metal cuttle bone holder, by chance? I'd look through for any signs of blood on the cage/accessories.
Has this guy shown signs of fighting with the zebras before?
Is this a new pairing with the shafttails and the zebras?
It's funny as I've always found shafttails to be more aggressive than zebras. (But I've had very few issues with zebra aggression over the years, so I think I've lucked out in this regard.)
I just can't envision a fight in the dark, especially if they've been peaceful cagemates for a long period of time.
But if it's a relatively new pairing and/or they've shown signs of tension, I guess the chances of an attack would be more significant. I'd be curious to see where the injuries are located. (eg on the leading edge of the wing? Is the neck injury on the same side as the wing?)


Keep us updated!

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Thanks Mia. So far stil alive but not up to drinking ir eating. He did however move into some shade, so I guess got too warm. Mate sticking with him.
Night fright would have never done this damage. His feathers were yanked out and he was bitten severely. I actually have some fearthers stuck in ny ceiling.
Thanks for recipe, will try some. Just dont want to traumatise him even more.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter

[lovezebs]

I cleaned him up with some very weak peroxide. He was covered in blood. He was wet and hiding behind the communal bathtub when I found him this a.m. Maybe they got him first thing this morning when there was already a bit of natural light in the kitchen, blood looked fairly fresh, and a lot of it. At least he's stopped bleeding for now.

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs -- Well, that's actually good that he moved out of the heat lamp. It shows he's "with it" and it tells us he doesn't need the maximum amount of support, which is always good.

Since you're confident they're bite wounds, I'd try to get some antibiotics into him. It may be upsetting/stressful, but if they are bite wounds they *will* get infected, so better to get antibiotics into him asap to try to limit that.

But hmm....it really does sound like a fight, doesn't it. (Though they can certainly lose lots of feathers during a confrontation.)

Are any of the cagemates injured?
In most cases of a severe fight, there's usually some sign of injury on the aggressor. (Exception is in cases of a very disproportionate fight. E.g. a large bird vs. a small bird. And of course, it can be hard to see injuries with the feathers.)

I would offer some electrolytes, extra protein and a heat lamp in the home cage so it's there for anyone who needs it. Big fights -- especially at night -- could be very upsetting to the cagemates.

Are there any nests in this cage that could exacerbate aggression?

I'd look in the cage to see if you can find any signs of blood to identify where it may have occurred. Perhaps that could offer insight into what happened.

I just added to the end of my post above, so peek there if you haven't already!

[afinch]

Holy CRAP!

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
My poor little birdie.
I just got Millie back into the flight yesteyrda . Now another patient and this one much worse than Millie ever was.

I'm thinking I have a psycho bird(s) in this flight. I know that Teddy and Timmy, tend to be aggressive, but this is exsessive even for them.

[lovezebs]

afinch
Holy crap, is right. I've never seen anything quite like this before. He looks like he was shredded doesn't he?

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs --- Ooh, this is the same cage as the other injured bird from a few days ago?

That's not good.

I would isolate the suspected aggressors as this really does seem like an escalation. If Timmy and Teddy can't get their act together, then they don't get to socialize.

Though the timing --- specifically, the fact that Millie was just returned --- is curious. A change in cage dynamics always leaves the door open for fighting.

In that photo, is that his wing or his side that's missing all the feathers?
If it's his side, that would be downright bizarre as that area would normally be protected by the wing.

It definitely looks like a triangular bite wound in the neck area. (Bird bites tend to have sharp, clean edges, often triangular or in a sort of diamond shape.) The cut seems like it's a tad bit lower and further toward the back than the crop area. I hope the crop is intact.

Sending well wishes to this little guy!
I hope he makes it. This 24 hours will be the determiner, I think.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Put them into a slightly bigger cage. He is perching.
Also dabbed some polysporin complete on sight of injury.

[delray]

HOLY MOLEY. Hope he recovers and feels better soon. You too!!

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs --- I think he looks pretty good, all considering.

He doesn't look like he's on the brink of death, thank goodness! (Miraculous, really.)
He doesn't seem super fluffed and he's not super low on the perch in the photos, which is great. Plus, perching and choosing to stay out of the light is a good thing, as it shows he doesn't need the extra support on a constant basis. So that's a very good thing!

Check out at the look that the mate's giving you in that first photo. She looks like she's in super protective mode!

Has he had anything to eat/drink for you yet? That's where I'm worried.
He's at a super high risk of getting an infection. So it would be good if he drank the water with the antibiotics. And, of course, we want him to eat to keep his strength!

Poor little guy.
I'm shocked at the amount of feathers he's missing. That's a lot of missing feathers.
I'm glad you put his mate in there with him. That makes it less stressful for both of them.

I'm worried for Millie, though. Timmy and Teddy sound like they need their own cage if they're going to be like this.