zebra w a foot problem

[ac12]

I have a zebra which had been favoring its left foot for months.
BUT today I noticed that it was swollen, which it had not been before, and I saw a bit of blood on the perch. I removed him and took a look at his foot, wish I had taken a pix. One toe has a red ring around the toe about 1-2mm long. The swelling I am guessing is an infection from a cut or abrasion under his foot. He used to pick at this foot all the time, but until today I did not notice anything different about his foot.

He is in a small hospital cage. Tomorrow I am planning to put him in another hospital cage with a cardboard floor, to make it easier on his foot (I hope).

I removed him before lights out, so was not able to check the supplies cabinet. Tomorrow I'm going to check my stash of supplies to see what meds I have. I think I have Thrive and an antibiotic (I think amoxitex).

Any recommendations on what to do for him?
Should I put something on his foot?

[monotwine]

Sympathies to your little finch.

Perhaps a cut/lesion and maybe your little finch got its toe stuck somewhere.
I would give it a thorough checking out in the morning to make sure there is nothing constricting the toes (sometimes something silly like a piece of hair that managed to get wrapped around can cause swelling and redness)

If you see nothing I would be more inclined to start using an antiseptic creme/salve than antibiotic if it is nothing serious.

[ac12]

Here is a pix of his foot.
Not a good pix, as I could not open his foot (spread the toes out) and take the pix at the same time. And the macro shots did not come out. But you can see the swollen foot and the dark banding on his middle front toe, and where the foot pad is damaged and the skin broken through.

His leg under the orange band had swollen so that the band did not freely move, so I removed the band. Taking the band of took a LONG time because I could not easily get the tool between the band and his leg.
I washed the bottom of his foot with water and put some neosporin on the bottom of his foot where the pad is damaged.

He is now resting on the cardboard bottom of the hospital cage. Not on his feet, but sitting on the cardboard, presumably to keep weight off the bad foot.

[nixity]

Eeek.. bumblefoot, maybe?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblefoot_(infection)

[nixity]

Is there any chance otherwise there might be a piece of nesting material or string tightly wound around his toe(s)/foot?

Just from the way the lesions are along with the swelling it almost looks like circulation is cut off due to a constriction of some sort.

[ac12]

Tiffany
There wasn't any string or nesting material in that cage, at least I did not put any in there, as he was in a "male" cage. Not to say that some might have gotten in there "somehow."

I did not see anything on his foot, but like a dummy, I had a magnifying glass in the room, but did not use it to look at that toe. Next time I check his foot I will try to remember to use the magnifying glass on his foot.

He still picks at his foot, so I might put neosporin on the top of his foot and between the toes as well. That would give me the chance to glass his foot.

I think once the leg started to swell, the band aggravated the problem. When I saw that the band was snug on this leg I removed the band. Luckily it was a split band, so I could remove it.

[ac12]

I found a 2nd bird with a similar swollen foot and leg.
But I'm not sure of the cause of this one. There was no damage to the foot pad. The band was tight on his leg, so I figured the leg was swollen under the band, and I removed the band. But it wasn't the leg, there was scalely dusty stuff between the leg and the band. So I don't know if it was leg scale or scale+dirt that got the band stuck to his leg. And with no slack between the band and the leg, it put pressure on the leg possibly then causing the swelling.

I scraped his leg, getting the band tool into the band to remove it, and I put neosporin on the leg where I scraped it. No blood, but think I scraped off the leg scales to bare skin.

[CandoAviary]

I believe you have those shell covered perches?
Many times those pedicure perches are just too much for the feet of small finches. They become blistered and then easily pick of staph type infections. I would give a flat landing perch for a while so that the bird could rest without having to grip. These are usually made of a wire grate. Eash and apply an antibiotic ointment. REMOVE the pediperch. If you want a natural remedy for trimming beaks and toenails use natural branches.
His feet look awful. I hope you can stop the infection before it gets to the bloodstream. If the finch is beginning to not eat and fluff consider antibiotics in the water also.
Prayers are sent

[SuzE]

If I had found a second bird like that I think one of the first things I would do is disinfect, disinfect, disinfect... It almost seems as tho there is a bacterial thing going on what with the swelling etc.,very nasty looking. Saying lots of prayers for the babies. Hope you find out what it is soon.

[ac12]

Candace,
The perches are wood dowels or branches, no sand or cement perches in the cage. BUT...their poop on the lower perches and cage wire floor is as hard and rough as cement. I have to clean the poop off the perches and the wire grate weekly to try to prevent them damaging their foot pad. I guess I have to clean more often.

I put antibiotics in his water. Today is day 4 of the antibiotic treatment. His foot is a lot better now. The swelling is down quite a bit and he can walk and put weight on that foot.

The other bird seems OK now.

Drat, how do I disinfect a cage in the middle of a stack?
I can't easily take the stack apart, as they are strapped together, and the gouldians in the top cage are sitting on eggs.

[cindy]

I wipe poop down with a solution of white vinegar and water. Can you get the perches that are soiled out, and soak them in the solution enough to loosen it and clean it. Rinse well and let the perch dry before giving it back to them.

The grate you can also wipe down with the solution and dry with a clean paper towel.

[CandoAviary]

Okay it is Chris that has these perches... I couldn't remember who but thought it was you or him.
When I had canaries, they would occaisionlly get bumble foot. I found adding a 1/2 teaspoon of listerine to the bath water (I used the baths that hung on the cage door opening)was enough disinfectant to end any foot troubles. I have never had a zebra with this malady...even though they have not been kept in super clean cages always...
Was this the zebra that had the band slip down on his foot? Could it have cut off circulation?
Maybe a little cut somehow got infected. Keep him on the antiabiotic and try some neosporin type ointment. Sorry you are having these problems Hope your little guy is feeling better soon.

[ac12]

Candace
This was not the zebra that had the band slip down over the back toe, his leg and foot are fine (not swollen).
I like the listerine idea, easy to do. That is something that I can do on a periodic basis for all my birds.

Cindy
Perches are easy to remove. I usually clean them by sanding with a rough sandpaper, to get off the hard dried on poop, then follow up with a medium sandpaper to smoothen out what the rough sandpaper did to the wood.
What is the dilution that you use? I hope weak as I know how potent vinegar is to MY nose.

[cindy]

You can use between a 1/8 -1/4 cup to a gallon/bucket. Rinse the perches well after scrubbing then air dry before giving the perches back.

You can use hydrogen peroxide also 1 oz to 15 oz of water to clean the perches if you perfer something with less of an odor.

Our grocery store offers a Greenwise section of cleaning products. they have a bleach alternative with hydrogen peroxide in it. I use this for a few items in the cage, I rinse several times and allow the item to dry completely before using it again.

[JohnBoy]

Looks like bumblefoot to me. I am not sure how it is treated today but old school treatment consists of cutting a small incision lengthwise in the affected areas and gentle pressure to expel the substances. A blood coagulant must be applied frequently. Should be done quickly to avoid the bird from going into shock.
I had this one time many years ago and this treatment worked for me.