Skin Irritation

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vafa
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Skin Irritation

Post by vafa » Wed Mar 20, 2019 3:49 pm

Hi everyone.
i am new to the forum but i have had zebra finches for many years.
recently one of the male finches i have, started to show signs of skin irritation..he is about 5 months old.
his feet swell a bit and start scaling and i can see some injury in between the scales.
and most of the time he stands on one foot or sits at the bottom of the cage.
this cycle happens every day.
even the vet couldn't understand the problem. it is not mite. i am also giving him antibiotic as per the vet instructions and keep moisturizing his feet every day with vitamin A.D gel.
but this has been going on for about a whole month.
any advice could be very helpful.

Icearstorm
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Re: Skin Irritation

Post by Icearstorm » Wed Mar 20, 2019 6:23 pm

vafa

Could you post some photos? You may have to link to Imgur or something if the forum won't allow you to upload directly (usually due to large file size).

The only foot problems I've heard of in finches are mites, bumblefoot, gout, Staph infection, and hyperkeratosis. How were mites ruled out? If it is bumblefoot, it may be a good idea to wrap perches so they are softer for him to stand on until he heals.

What's his diet? This site may be useful. Do they get any supplements? Vitamin A deficiency could be a concern.

vafa
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Re: Skin Irritation

Post by vafa » Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:29 am

their diet is very diverse. i feed them a variety of mixed millet seed. as well as dried and fresh fruit and vegetables. supplementary drops are also fed to them in their water including B complex vitamins, mineral drops. multivitamin and electrolytes. in addition to boiled eggs (yellow and white and the shell) dried sea shell and calcium.
the vet ruled out the mite after checking him. for now we are giving him antibiotic drops for 7 days in the water in case he had an internal infection.

Image

Image

Image

vafa
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Re: Skin Irritation

Post by vafa » Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:33 am

https://i.imgur.com/xEr6Bmb.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3DREK91.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Pi1nQO4.jpg

i am posting direct links to the images here since apparently the linking in above reply didnt show them; the yellowness of his feathers is because of the gel i apply to his feet. no concern about that. you can notice some redness in his feet that is probably the issue.

Icearstorm
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Re: Skin Irritation

Post by Icearstorm » Thu Mar 21, 2019 6:15 pm

vafa

Hmm, it's unclear what's going on. Unfortunately I couldn't locate it, but someone posted a picture of a finch's foot to one of the Facebook finch groups and it looked somewhat similar and someone said it may have been Staph, which is treated with specific antibiotics.

There was also someone that recently said their bird's feet got better after feeding 1 drop apple cider vinegar/oz water. I don't know how this would work, and there isn't much evidence that apple cider vinegar is all that useful. Plus some birds quit drinking if it tastes weird.

I do have to wonder if you're supplementing too much. A well-balanced diet should need little to no supplementation, and too much runs the risk of vitamin toxicity.

I assume you're still communicating with the vet, so I wouldn't recommend changing anything unless the vet says it's a good idea. Some random kid searching up stuff on the Internet isn't going to have anywhere close to the knowledge an actual trained vet will.

vafa
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Re: Skin Irritation

Post by vafa » Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:09 am

yes i am continuing still on this issue with the vet. thanks for your help.
i am also balancing their diet supplements one at a time. no concern about that.

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