Yellow Toe!!

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:51 pm

Hey Everyone!

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what is wrong with my finches toe.

She's a Rosy-rumped red-eared waxbill (Estrilda rhodopyga). I purchased a male from one store and it was the only one they had. I was a little disappointed because I always buy in pairs. However, a couple days later I was VERY excited to see a female in a different store. It's one thing to find a red-eared waxbill in the store, it's another to find the correct SPECIES of red-ear that you're looking for! So needless to say (and I'm ashamed to say) I purchased right away, without taking a close look at her. Her feather was good, and I neglected to look at toenails thinking 'Big deal, I can always trim the toenails when I get her home'.

Well.. I noticed when I got her home, that her toe nail was yellow. In fact, it sort of looked like my toenail that turned yellow after I lost it and it grew back (eww, I know..bear with me here). So I just 'assumed' (ass-u-me) that the toe had gotten caught at some point in something and she'd perhaps lost it and it had grown back in that way. No big deal, it's just a toe nail.

Well, today, when moving them into their breeding cages from the aviary cage, I noticed the first knuckle of her toe is yellow too. Now I can't swear it was not yellow before, but I'd like to think I would have noticed it being yellow when I noticed her toenail the first time. So I think the yellow is going up her toe.

Does anyone know what causes this? Am I going to have to amputate this toe? I"ll get a picture and post it as soon as I can...

Any help or suggestions would be deeply appreciated!

Thanks
Jeannette

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 11:51 pm

Only one of the toenails is yellow? Very yellow or more of a flesh color?

I have had quite a few birds [all species with pale legs, though] with all of their toenails yellow (and occasional yellow discoloration to the bottoms of their feet) and was told that this could be an indication of too much vitamin A in the diet--but this is probably not the case for your hen since her feet and nails are (or should be) so darkly pigmented considering her species.

Keep an eye on it to see if it really is progressing up the toe (taking photos at regular intervals such as daily or once each week really helps for tracking progress). I will look through some of my books to see if they mention anything about a condition like this and get back to you soon (probably after Monday since I have an exam that day).

Off the top of my head (and if the color turns out to not actually be progressing up the toe), I wonder if she just has a focal area of depigmentation the same way pied society finches do--some of their toes and associated toenails can be black while others are more of a fleshy color, in the same mottled theme as the rest of their brown-splotched-with-white bodies.

Another thing you might want to try doing is taking her out and bending her affected toe to make sure that it really is that furthest joint/knuckle that is discolored and that she doesn't just have a really funky toenail. I had a gouldian cock one time whose toe I swore up and down had died, but it turned out that just the toenail was affected (and so bizzare looking that the top half of the toenail actually looked like the last joint on the toe--hence why I thought the actual toe was dead). Anyway they have 3 little bones in each of their toes the same way as your finger does:

so as you bend the toe you can have a better idea of where the yellow color starts and stops.

If you are really worried in the meantime, consider calling an avian vet.

I am interested to hear what other people might make of this in the meantime also, so please feel free to share any additional information you pick up in your search for an answer.

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:59 am

Whatever became of this yellow toe? Is it really spreading?

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:52 pm

Hey Tammie,

No, it's not spreading. It's still the toe nail and the first knuckle of her foot (third digit of the middle toe). It hasn't spread any further so I'm at a loss of what to do now.

I put some vaseline on her feet because I'd read that in extreme cases of scaly leg they can get 'toe necrosis'. But she doesnt look like she has scaly leg at all. I did see some 'white/grey' on her feet, but no unusual tassel like growths. I figured it wouldnt hurt anyway.

She's still on her feet, and it doesnt seem like it's bothering her. It's bothering ME though. I keep thinking her toe is going to fall off.

And I'm not sure if I answered Christy's question earlier or not, but it's not flesh colored at all. It's yellow like.. pee yellow. LOL

I mentioned it to someone else and they said 'cut it off'.... I will if i have to, but if I dont have to and it's fine, I'd rather just leave it.

I tried to take pictures but none of them turned out very well. I'll have to try again

Jeannette

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:15 am

I would not cut it off until you know for sure what is causing the yellow color--if the toe is not 'dead,' it has a blood supply and the bird will bleed to death when you cut the toe.

Can you see the quick/blood vessel within the toenail? You can try clipping the middle toenail a tad "too short" to see if it will bleed--if it does the toe is not dead, and you can cauterize the nail to stop the bleeding. If it does not bleed, I still wouldn't chop the toe just yet--although lack of blood might indicate a necrotic toe.

One thing that can cause the death of a digit or just part of a digit is very fine strands of material (such as from nesting material) wrapping around the toe and cutting off its blood supply. These are nearly invisible to see with the naked eye and often require magnification to witness--vets remove them using a dull scalpel blade and very precise, careful movements to gently "saw" away the constricting material. I am still not entirely convinced that a bird which normally has black toes would have a toe turn yellow when it died, though, but this raises interesting questions for me to investigate.

I still need to consult my books about this (been keeping really busy these past couple of weeks), but I'll let you know if I find anything if and when I do.

-Crystal

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:36 pm

Thanks Crystal.. and my apologies for calling you CHRISTY in another post. My brain farted. As I get older it gets more stagnant. Sighs.

Yeah, I've taken a look at the toe and I dont see ANYTHING Around the toe, and I've taken a real close up look, but maybe I'm wrong.

There is no vessel in the toe nail, but I have not attempted to cut it short intentionally and check either.

For now, since it's not spreading I'm leaving it alone. She doesnt seem bothered by it, and if she was that would be a sure sign somethign is wrong, right??

Jeannette

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:55 pm

It's worse than you think Jeannette. In one post you called Crystal "tammie".

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:07 am

Aww heck.. see I told you. The older you get the more gaseous your brain gets.

Sorry guys!