Is this a toe injury?

[GouldieFledge]

So I found some blood in my gouldian's food dish today. My immediate thought was that it was an injury from fighting because it had seemed like my 1 gouldian was picking on the other, but after catching him and looking him over, it looks like the source of blood is from the nail. It seems as though it somehow broke off and the quick was bleeding. I looked at the legs and the chest where there was dried blood and it all looked to be superficial. He also seems to be acting perfectly fine and the other male has no signs of blood/injury.

I'm trying to figure out what might have happened, because the nails weren't overgrown. I looked all over the cage to see if he could've got it stuck in between bars and I can't see anything or any blood. The only areas of blood are the food dish and a speck on the water dish. I was watching him eat today and it looks as though the area in the food dish where the blood is most concentrated aligns exactly with where his nail would rest on the food dish--is it possible that his nail could've broken off like that just by wiggling around while eating? Is that a normal amount of blood for a nail breakage? I examined the chest/head area as best as I could for signs of injury in case it was from fighting, but he was getting squirmy after a while and I didn't want to push him. I'll add the photos, but it's hard to see what I'm talking about with the nail.

What are your thoughts on what might've happened? Nail, fighting, something else?

[lovezebs]

GouldieFledge

Yes, that most certainly appears to be blood, but difficult to see from where.

If the toe is injured, I would clean it, and rub some antibiotic cream over the area. Is the nail on that toe, missing altogether? It's difficult to tell from the picture.

In the first picture, I noticed some sort of a metal thing, with a bell (?) attached to it (left side of photo). Could he have caught his toe on that? And ripped the nail while trying to free himself ?

[cindy]

you may also want to remover the sand cover roll from the end of the perch, they can be abrasive and tear the underside of the foot. The small tears are then a pathway for bacteria and fungus that can cause foot issues.

He has a bloodspot/sore? on his upper left leg near the feather line. If this is the source of the blood, you can clean it up with a bit of mild antiseptic and use a very thin coat of antibiotic ointment on it.

[lovezebs]

GouldieFledge

Is there also something wrong with his eye, or is it just the picture?

@Cindy, you have the eyes of a hawk , to notice that spot.

[Madcat]

Oh no. I hope it healed. Did u use blood stop or cornstarch? Or did it scab over already?

[GouldieFledge]

lovezebs, cindy, Madcat:

I did look at the bell and while I think it would technically be possible to get snagged on, I don't see any signs of that happening.
I will remove the sand roll, I had read mixed reviews on whether they're beneficial or harmful. Is there a better solution to provide for keeping the beaks trim?
Also that leg blood spot drew my attention at first too, I thought that was the source. But when I checked him over it seemed to be superficial.
There's nothing wrong with his eye, he just happened to be closing it when I took the photo, guess he's a little camera shy .
All the blood had already been dry when I came home from work and found it, so I didn't have to apply anything to stop bleeding.

I'm going to post more pictures so it's a little easier to identify what's happening.

[GouldieFledge]

Here's some more photos, hopefully they're a little more distinguishable. I tried to get a shot of the tip of the nail, if you look closely it almost looks like he has a "hangnail" piece sticking off the side...?

I did a more thorough look and I cannot find any injury source. Double checked the leg too, and it's just a dried blood spot that's mostly gone, it's superficial (still couldn't get a great shot of that, though).

[Madcat]

Hmmm... ok. I suppose just keep an eye on it. Yes I do t use the sand perches. I use the natural manz wood perches. I don't use toys in cages either just greenery.

[cindy]

What type of cage are you using?

I have seen birds hop on the sides near a corner of the 30x18 cages and get a toe caught between where the two side meet. If there are gaps that toes can get caught in you can use small zip ties to close the gaps.

[GouldieFledge]

cindy

I do use the 30x18 cages! I have 4 of them together, the males on 1 side and females on the other so each has a 36x30 space. I've got lots of zip ties on, but I'm going to add more to close up any questionable spots. Thank you!

[cindy]

I walked into my bird room and right in front of me a finch jumped up on the cage bars, slid down and got her leg caught between the area the sides meet...I was able to save her and her leg.

[wildbird]

To help keep their beaks and nails trim, a lava rock attached to the cage will work (Petco sells them). Also, you can add small sand stone or lava rock in a reptile feeding dish on the floor. Add some seed to get them to forage in the dish. I wouldn't do that until his foot is completely healed though.

[cindy]

Regarding the small pieces careful not to give too small of pieces, you do not want the birds to ingest it.

[GouldieFledge]

wildbird and cindy, where would i find sand stones or lava rocks to make a foraging dish with? and about what size should the pieces be? i think they'd enjoy that.

thank you!

[cindy]

Personally, I would not put rocks or pebbles in a seed and food dish. The food dish should only hold things that they can eat. If small stones or pebbles are ingested it can impact the crop possibly infection or worse.

A foraging idea...A woman near me who years ago raised owls, lots of them...she provided extra stimulation and foraging by placing in a small pan mealworms covered in little leaves (silk)... the owls would forage through the pan, turning the leaves over to find the mealies.