FINCHforum

Has anyone ever happened to notice a large red boil to appear during a finch's molting? My RH WB Normal Gouldian male is just completing a molt, and today I noticed a boil on his side, breaking through the feathers. It isn't affecting his behavior whatsoever. He isn't scratching it, and he seems perfectly happy and healthy otherwise. He and his cagemate get along beautifully and never fight. I'm wondering if it's perhaps related to his molting, and that maybe a feather has become "ingrown" -- in a way that humans can develop ingrown hairs? I've never previously seen this in my 6 years of raising Gouldians, but I'm wondering if anyone has had this occur before. Any ideas?

(By the way -- yes, I know that his nails need to be trimmed. This one HATES being handled and tends to be super-aggressive whenever I trim his nails -- biting the heck out of my fingers. Which makes it nearly impossible to trim his nails. He really would have to be sedated to trim them properly, which I'm overdue to have done.)

can you dampen his feathers and push them away a bit and get a close up of the area?

Wonder if it could be a feather cyst? Never saw that in a gouldian before. Would you have an avian vet near you, might be a good idea to have that looked at.

Best of luck

Cindy -- Thanks for offering to take a closer look...I appreciate that. But handling him is quite an ordeal. A painful one, at that. I was really hoping to avoid having to catch him. But to be honest, if I'm going to need to do that, I'd just as soon take him to a vet while I'm at it -- rather than having to catch him again later. I guess I was just hoping to hear that others have had this occur during molting, and that it's nothing to worry about -- it goes away on its own. But that's not sounding the case.

Debbie -- Good to know, thanks. I'm thinking the same. Unfortunately, the nearest certified avian vet who I trust with my birds is almost an hour's drive away in the DC suburbs. It's easily a half-day ordeal for me to take a bird to the vet -- at least 2 hours travel time, plus time to catch him, prepare a travel cage for him, and whatever time is needed at the vet. Typically we're talking 4 hours easily. But it is what it is. I'll do what I need to do. Will be a good excuse to have his nails trimmed finally.

has it bled at all?

No, haven't noticed it bleeding. And he doesn't even seem to be aware of it at all, so it must not be bothering him. His activity level is normal, he is alert, sings throughout the day, and is eating and pooping normally.

I only noticed the sore this morning, but not sure when it first surfaced. I'm sure I would have noticed it if it's been more than a day or so, so I feel certain it must have appeared within the past 24-48 hours.

I just made an appointment with my vet for first thing tomorrow morning. Can feather cysts sometimes bleed? If that's the case, I'm wondering if he requires more urgent attention.

Best of luck, will be thinking of you both tomorrow
Please keep us posted

Glad you were able to get an appointment!!! Best of luck!!!

DCbeachboy

Hi there mate,

Yea I think im inclined to agree with Debbie here as to me it also looks like a feather cyst as sometimes the odd few feathers are known to grow inwards,

This is more common in the canary world where one tries to breed buff x buff in terms of feather texture to try and create bigger and coarser feathered looking canaries,

This is a term what we call lumps and looks very similar to what yer bird has, it's basically just a fatty residue of where inward growing feathers normally appear, in the past we've actually cut them off leaving a small cut and with a dab of the powder that we use to stop bleeds and some anticeptic the birds appear to be fine,

Incidentally we've only ever removed lumps or cysts that are very loose and that are attached only by a small amount of skin, if this is more of a rounded lump firmly attached to the bird then we'd consult a vet or simply wait for the lump to become more loose which 9 out of 10 it normally does

One word of WARNING though I'd never advice in removing any lumps / cysts if one doesn't have the experience,

I'm pleased for you that you've managed to organise an appointment with yer vet, I'm sure he'll be able to do and surgest something

Hope yer Gouldian will be ok

UPDATE:

Thanks, all, for the helpful input and thoughts.

Just returned from the vet, and after examining my bird closely he says there's a slight chance it may indeed be a feather cyst -- essentially the avian equivalent of an ingrown hair. But unfortunately the lump has blood vessels attached, which leads him to think it is much more likely to be a tumor. They can't know for certain without cutting into it.

He prescribed daily doses of both antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory to try for several days -- just in case that takes care of the problem. But he doesn't believe it will help. So he's scheduled him for surgery on Monday. If they find it's a feather cyst, they'll be able to easily take care of the problem. But if it's a tumor, as he suspects, they will remove as much as possible and have it tested to know whether it is benign or not. Clearly a risky procedure that I'm hoping to avoid. But he is strong, full of vigor and extraordinarily healthy -- so I have high hopes that he will be able to come through it ok.

We'll see how the medications do over the weekend. Thanks again for the concern.

DCbeachboy

Sorry you are having a problem with your gouldian. I will keep him in my thoughts and hope that the antibiotics and anti-inflammatory helps and hoping he will not need surgery and if he does I will be praying for him

DCbeachboy

Hopefully it's just a normal feather cyst

Hope all goes well for you and yer bird

Sending lots of well wishes your way.

So glad you were able to get an appointment and receive help quickly.

All the best

Well, today hasn't gone quite as we had expected.

About 30 minutes after we returned Nicolas to his cage this morning, we returned to find blood splattered all over the cage — like the scene of a slasher film! He apparently had begun pecking at the sore, it began bleeding and he flew around spraying blood all over the cage. He lost quite a lot of blood (probably no more than 7-8 drops — although it looked like much more from the way it was sprayed) and was sitting quietly puffed up on his roost, his plumage stained with blood on the side the sore is on. Was surprised he could even survive so much blood loss.

I instantly grabbed him, covered the sore with styptic powder and returned him to the travel cage; he froze and began closing his eyes, as if he were dying, clearly very weak. We rushed back to our vet again (almost an hour away) — for the 2nd time today. He now says he is certain it is NOT a feather cyst....it's definitely a tumor.

As soon as we got there, they immediately gave him fluids to stabilize him and replace the blood he lost. He seemed to be doing much better by the time we left....he was sitting on his perch, fairly alert. The vet said he even tried to bite him during treatment. LOL So that's a good sign. (The vet also had trimmed his nails for me this morning — so at least that's done now.)

As long as Nicolas is feeling strong enough, the vet wants to try surgically removing the tumor Friday morning....with the obvious risk of him bleeding too much and not making it through. One big thing he's got going for him: He's extraordinarily strong and healthy. If any finch can make it through the surgery, he can (if today's blood loss hasn't weakened him too much). He's the best singer, full of personality, and most acrobatic and care-free bird we have — routinely turning complete circular flips to "show off" for us whenever we're around. At just 4 years old, he has far too much energy and life left in him to leave us just yet. So we're hoping for the best. But it's time like this St. Francis hears from us more than usual.

Here's one of my favorite shots of him, in a more care-free time.

DCbeachboy So sorry to hear that it is a tumor instead of a feather cyst. Prayers sent that Nicolas comes through the surgery and recovers completely, he is a beautiful bird.