zebra w bleeding foot

[ac12]

I found blood spots on my perches this morning.
I found removed the bird and checked him. He had blood on spots on his lower feathers over his right foot and on both feet. It was a bit hard to tell, but I think the blood came from his foot, not his body. It had already coagulated so I did not want to wash the coagulated blood away and start it bleeding again. On another bird a while back, I had washed the coagulated blood off her foot, and it started bleeding again. So I carefully washed the blood off his lower feathers, and some off his foot. I moved him into a hospital cage (a travel cage) with no perch, and a cardboard floor.

Anything else I should do?

[CandoAviary]

A product like quik stop powder will help the blood to clot/stop. Some people use corn starch.

[ac12]

I left the clotted blood on the foot. Although I wanted to wash it off to inspect what had happened. I just did not want to start it bleeding again. I have a container of the powder to stop bleeding. I got it for when I trim their claws, if I cut the quick.

Should I wash the clot off the feet to inspect the injury?

[Finch Fry]

More than likely you have a severe case of bumble foot if its bleeding already.

Here is something to read. ACT FAST! They have sparse blood to spare. http://www.avianweb.com/bumblefoot.html

1. remove your perches in the main cage and let them stand on the bottom of the cage. Or change the perches to something smoother... immediately. Your hospital cage will also suffice but only short term, the bleeding foot is indication of an environmental issue with your main cage and needs to be fixed before letting them back in there.

2. go get some ointment or gel to help soothe their foot. I use vasoline. In fact, sometimes you cant tell if its scaly mites or bumble foot but the vasoline on their feet (leg, top of foot and underside of foot) is the treatment for both of these.

3. keep an eye on him/her... they have such little blood. Also, immediately offer a hot source for them to go and rest close to. Usually, a desk lamp with a 60W or higher bulb in it placed right up against the corner of a cage is sufficient enough to raise the local 5-6 inch vacinity temperature up as high as 10-20 degrees F. This will let the little guy grab a nap and rest after his blood loss.

[L in Ontario]

If it were my bird - I would wash off his feet even if it started bleeding again (you have the powder to stop the bleeding) to see exactly where the blood is coming from on him and from there - to determine what caused it. Is the wound on the top of the toes or on the bottom or on a leg? Was it caused by a part of a perch or something else in the cage?

Keep us posted.

[ac12]

I checked his foot, and there was blood on 2 spots on the bottom of the left foot
1 - right under the ankle
2 - on the middle front toe, what looked like a crust of light brown

Reading the description of bumble foot, it seems to fit the problem.
I had a very similar problem with my first pair. I saw blood on the perches and the foot of the hen was bleeding. I put her in a hospital cage w a cardboard floor and no perch, so the bottom of her foot could heal. I think the problem in that case was poop on the perch. Dried poop is like very rough sandpaper.

I cleaned up his foot and have not seen blood on the cardboard floor of the hospital cage. So the wound has closed.

The articles recommend antibiotics to combat bacteria entering the foot via the wound. I think I will start that tomorrow.

I took out the perches and sanded them to remove any poop (dry poop is like ROUGH sandpaper) and sanded them smooth using a finer sandpaper to remove any splinters or roughness. I used to just use the rough sandpaper, so the perch would have texture for the claws to grab onto.

[L in Ontario]

Glad to hear you cleaned up his foot and check it out. How about just using branches that you can toss out when they get dirty instead of using sandpaper. Just seems like it might be quicker and less work for you. (I love "less work")

I would probably run him through a round of antibiotics too if there's a chance faeces could have gotten into or caused the wound.

[ac12]

Man scaling DOWN the dosage is a pain.
The dosage on the bottle was 2 teaspoon into a quart of water.
But the small water bowl is only 1 ounce, so that is 1/16 of a teaspoon. I'll have to estimate it, my smallest measuring spoon is 1/8 teaspoon.