HELP......injury!

[Twinmom0804]

Everything was fine this morning. I came home form shopping and looked in on my guys. One of my Societies was sitting on the edge of a dish. I noticed something dark on the side of dish, and realized it was blood. Then I saw he had blood on one of his feet. His foot looked very strange, but then he moved it and it was just sitting funny. From what I can tell, his foot looks OK, but still blood on it. Then I noticed there is blood and ruffled feathers on the side of his head. As I was trying to get a better look at his head, he scratched that very spot with the foot that has the blood. So now I do not know if it is his foot or head that is injured. Am pretty sure the foot though, because the more I look around, there is blood everywhere. On the perches and all the dishes. He is acting fine. Eating, flying around. None of the other birds are picking on him. He is using the foot, not holding it up or anything. Thought about maybe putting a bath in there to see if he might use it. I do not see anything in the cage that he might have gotten his foot caught on. I am not sure what to do. Please keep in mind that I am half afraid to handle birds. That is why I got cage bound birds.

[Twinmom0804]

Update........I put a bath in there and all four used it. My guys love baths!! The injured one, Mocha, her foot looks just fine now. All the blood was washed off. The spot on her head, hard to tell now because it is wet. But she is still scratching it. Will wait until everyone is dry and try to get a good look then.
BTW....do not knew if Mocha is female, I just say her because she looks like a her.

[Sally]

Keep an eye on them. It could have been an injury Mocha got from flying around in the cage, or it could be an injury caused by one of the others picking on her. If that is the case, and one of the others is picking enough to draw blood, then you will very likely need to separate them. Yes, most finches love baths!

[Twinmom0804]

Thanks Sally! This morning everything looks great. Cannot see any problems with Mochas foot or head. Still no aggression or anything with any of my guys. I am so relieved!!

[finchmix22]

If you have the zebras in the same cage with the Society's, I'd separate them as soon as possible. It is likely the zebras attacked the Society's. Society's are passive and get along with every other finch species. Zebras though, are aggressive and territorial. What size cage are they in? How many together? I'd proabably keep the zebras in a 30 in or wider cage and the Society's in another cage, about 30 inches wide. Society's can deal with smaller cages, but zebras are more aggressive in crowded or smaller size cages. Keep us posted and Welcome to the Forum!

[MiaCarter]

Aw, I'm sorry to hear you had such a scare!
It's always frightening when blood is involved.

Whatever the case, it sounds like everyone is acting okay, which is a good thing. So hopefully it's something minor.

Do you happen to have a metal cuttle bone holder? Those are notorious for causing slice type injuries that are hard to spot.
If you have any bamboo nests, I'd also check those out too. I once saw a little bit of bamboo in the entryway and it was causing injuries as they arrived and departed.

So yeah, I'd look for anything that could have caused it. it's surprising how they can figure out how to get injured in what seems like a safe cage!

And, of course, as the others mentioned, it could be a squabble. So that's something to look out for. I personally haven't had many problems with zebras and societies, but many others have, especially in a smaller cage or a cage where there's nests and breeding behaviors, which tend to bring out the nasty in zebs.

[Harley2013]

It could also have been maybe a flight feather that may have gotten caught and and broke and is bleeding, if I remember correctly, your cage is a little small and your looking for a larger? If the four of them were flying around and one got caught up in something, it could be a flight feather as well. I had this happen years ago with my lovebirds. You should keep some styptic powder on hand or cornstarch just in case of instances that a bleeding injury needs help. These little birds can bleed to death very quickly if the injury will not stop bleeding. I'm glad to hear everyone seems okay, but keep a watchful eye. I had a red factor I purchased for myself in January this year. He was housed alone in a 18x30 and one day I came home to find his leg caught in a bamboo nest, it had severly broken, and we rushed him to the ER. Vet. Our choice was to amputate, or euthanize him. He had already been through major stress and trama and who knows if he would survive if we amputated after all that, and how long he had been like that before we came home. Sadly, we decided to euthanize him. We were devastated. Only 4 months after having him,waking up to singing, he was gone......

[Twinmom0804]

Harley2013........I actually have the cuttlebone holder and the bamboo nest. I will check them out thoroughly. Thank you!!

[finchmix22]

Harley2013
So sad! I have two finches with amputated legs due to injuries and they get along fine. I put them in a handicap cage with a platform perch and a wider normal perch with a nest for resting and the food on the floor on paper plates. They perch OK and can sit on the edge of the water dish and drink, but they have trouble taking baths! So, I spritz them with water to help them preen.

[Harley2013]

What happened to my red factor was a tragedy. He had a breeders band and a piece of the bamboo nest somehow slid up in between his leg band and leg, causing him to panic because he was stuck, and could not get free. It was a freaky accident, but yes, for everyone out there, do check you nests and cage accessories thoroughly.