Leg Injury

Atticus Finch · Post by **Atticus Finch** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 3:24 pm

Hello All! This is my first post. You've got a great forum here!

We have two finches: a Gouldian male (Atticus) and a recently added White-headed Nun (I'm guessing its a female). We just added the Nun (Sister Agnus) yesterday and in all the excitement she hurt her leg(she was very spooked and "bounced" around the cage for awhile). I think she got it caught in the cage on landing and bent it when she tried to fly off again. There was some blood, which I rinsed off. It never started bleeding again. The leg looked alright, just a slight "dent" in the middle. She didn't flinch at all when I was handling the leg, and she landed and hopped on both legs with no problem.

This morning Agnus seemed fine, but after a round of play with Atticus, she now sits with the leg stretched out to one side and she leans to the other. She licks at it occasionally, but it hasn't bled again. She still uses both legs when moving around and her toes don't seem to be affected.

I'm just wondering if this is definitely something that requires a vet visit, or is there something I can do. Worst case scenario, if it is broken, is there anything a vet can do for it, or is it just a matter of giving it time to heal?

I'm pretty new to the world of finches and would appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

zookeeper · Post by **zookeeper** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:20 pm

I'm not a birdy medical expert by any means. But my gut feeling is that if she's able to use the leg it will heal itself. Make sure the cage is nice and warm, warmth is good for an injured/stressed or sick bird.

I would recommend moving her to a hospital cage except the stress of another move might make her panic and injure herself even more.

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:37 pm

It's hard to say without witnessing the bird if the leg needs to be seen by the vet or not (and whether or not a vet could do much for it, depending on what the problem is)--what you can try doing to find this answer without too much trouble is by giving your local avian vet a call and asking over the phone if the leg needs to be evaluated by the vet or if it would probably be safe to "wait and see."

Where on the leg was the blood coming from?

My *guess* is that if she can still use the leg, move it voluntarily, contract and stretch her toes on her own, and if no part of the leg is discolored (difficult to assess in a bird with dark legs) or actively bleeding, that giving it time (at least a couple days) to see how things go may be reasonable. If at any time her condition becomes worse (or if she continues to seem bothered by it and continues to nibble at it frequently), I would call the vet again and arrange for a visit, though.

Good luck and let us know how things go.

Atticus Finch · Post by **Atticus Finch** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:14 pm

Well, Agnes seems to be just fine today. She isn't favoring the leg at all and seems to be perfectly comfortable.

At the time. I couldn't tell where the blood was coming from. It didn't look like much of an injury, she must have just scraped it.

She seems to be adjusting quite well. My Gouldian is about 8 years old (he was given to us by a friend), so he isn't really phased by his new cage-mate. Every once in awhile he'll run her off if she is being too much of a pest (mainly at bed time), but he seems to be very patient. Its definitely fun to watch them get to know each other.

I'll keep a close eye on her and if I notice anything, I'll seek counsel from a vet.

Thanks for the advice!

newfinchmom · Post by **newfinchmom** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:59 pm

Definately keep a close eye on her. I knew of a canary that did this once and he seemed fine; however, about a week later he chewed his own leg off!!! I don't know why, but I guess they have a way with dealing with their injuries on their own. As far as I know. . .the bird lived long.