HELP! SHAFT TAIL GRIEVOUSLY INJURED!!!

[lovezebs]

delray
Thanks Brian. I just realized that it's actually the female that was injured, not the male. So hard to tell apart, but the male is banded, so it is the female.

[delray]

Oh wow, yeah, that must be really hard to tell them apart. Praying for a speedy recovery

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
As mentioned to our Brian, it took me a while to realize, that it's my girl Holly, that is hurt, not Hunter. Hunter is banded, Holly is not .

She looks so tiny and pathetic. Makes me think of someone who had been in a bad car crash.

Yes, Hunter is being very protective of her. Too bad he didn't protect her when she was attacked.

I really hope she pulls through. I have become quite fond of these two in the short while I've had them. They are so beautiful, and always do everything together. If she goes, I don't know how he will get along.

[lovezebs]

delray
Thanks sweetie. I hope she lives through the next 24 to 48 hours. Then we shall see.

[lovezebs]

I think I found the scene of the attack. None of the Zebras appear to be injured. They are all happy and active as usual, the little monsters.

[delray]

Wow this is crazy. I really wonder what EXACTLY happens here and was behind this. Some finches can be really evil.

[Sally]

lovezebs Wow, that is a terrible injury! Do you have cats? That looks more like the type injury inflicted by a predator than by another finch. Even the scene looks like something was on the outside of the cage and pulled the bird up against the bars. And many predators are active at night. If it is a finch (or finches), then I would say they definitely need to be in their own cage, that is aggression in the extreme.

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs --- Hmmm....that's curious that it's right up against the wall like that.

And blood smear on the outside of the cage bars? (Lower left corner and on some of the vertical bars).
I can't imagine how that would get onto the outside like that without getting caught up.
Those are blood smears. Smear involves direct contact (whereas a droplet can be flung.)
That blood wraps around the bars, suggesting part of her was outside the cage.

I mean, it looks like she was bitten from what I can tell in the photos, but looking at that scene, it looks more like she was in a fight with the cage vs. another bird.
Though I can't imagine how as I don't really see anything for her to get caught up on.

It almost looks like a bird (or other animal) grabbed her from outside of the cage.
Possible?

Or maybe she just huddled up against the wall immediately after? That's possible too. But how would she smear the blood around and on the outside of the bars? That's what doesn't make sense.

I'd go over the others with a super bright light/flashlight to check them for her blood. See if you can ID an attacker.

If you have cats, I might peek at them for signs of blood. Just on a sneaking suspicion.
I agree with Sally that this looks more predatorial just based on the number of missing feathers. A finch would need to take several large bites repeatedly at the same location to cause that bald patch. Seems unlikely that you'd take multiple bites in the same spot. Seems more likely that all those feathers were pulled in one go.

Clearly, I've got my birdie forensics hat on today! LOL

[lovezebs]

Have discovered the culprit... and for once it wasn't a Zebra, ir a bird at all.

Noticed the area where injury took place and that there was a blood smear on the outside of the edge of the tray, which I found rather suspicious. Also the fact that this seemed to have happened at odd hourse and that I didn't hear any noise or screaming.
Process of elimination, my dear Watson. Checked the cat's paws. There is definitely a touch of blood on one claw and a little blood stain on the hair surrounding that same claw. Mystery solved.

Now to figure out how to fortify the cage against other such attacks.
This is an older cat which has never shown much interest in the birds in the last few years. And no I am nit going to shoot the cat! However, nails need to be trimmed and a barrier of sorts attached to the bottom of cage. Well off to find what I need for some rudimentary construction.

[lovezebs]

Would appear that we all had the same thought at the same time. Your posts were coming through while I was typing mine.Great minds think alike.

Now to construction.

[delray]

WoWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWO. sally was right!! Well that wasn't very nice of him to do. Glad you solved it though.

[MiaCarter]

Well, great minds to think alike!

Poor girl. Must have been even more terrified with a cat! And in some ways, it's good that it wasn't the zebras.

I'll bet that's exactly what happened with Millie too.

I would get some cat alarms:
http://www.amazon.com/Tattle-Tale-Sonic ... B000ANOT9U

That will, at minimum, make it more likely that you'll be alerted to the situation.

I would ensure the cages are on a stand or table that makes it impossible for the cat to sit alongside it. (Although he could always jump on top of it, so I'd be sure the sides are reinforced with zip ties.)
So if you put the cage on a stand that's the exact same size or on a table that's just a tad smaller, the cat can't really access it as required.

Those mesh skirts that keep the seeds from scattering come to mind. But I can envision the cat's claws getting entangled and then he panics and sends the entire cage crashing down.

Or another idea: could you put foliage in the cage around the bottom so as to prevent birds from getting right up beside the bars AND it would make it more difficult for kitty to visualize them too. I might put some on the outside of the cage for good measure, essentially making it really difficult for the cat to connect with the bird. He'd get a paw-ful of foliage.

[wilkifam]

Oh my gosh, poor guy! Does he even have a wing left? Looks like it is missing. Hope he does OK.

[David]

Lovezebs,

Oh my god! I feel bad to seeing your bird like this. I don't think its night fright, why she loose do much feather like this? Really attack by zebras? I doubt they zebras can't pluck her in a group like this, plus your guard mate look so protective, shouldn't hurt by others. I hope she's not getting any infection, please do your best as the members told you since I don't have much experience when take care of serious injured birds like this


I am glad she is ok not in so dangerous situation now, and still alive... It's important to separated her and the mate is next to her beside keep them warm, try to dimmer the light to warm so not too hot for her. Let us know how things going, heart sank when saw her injure and suffering so much like this.

[delray]

David she said she is pretty sure it was her cat. Scroll up for more of whar she said. lovezebs how's she doing??