DNA test...nail clipped too far back and bird in pain :(

[KimberlyAnn]

Well, I feel bad.

I have seen DNA testing be done before on a bird and it always went well. This time, it was not the case.

My daughter offered to take our Green Cheek Conure to a bird shop on Tuesday for the DNA test to tell if it's male or female while I was at work. Since I have known this to be a good shop with very knowledgeable people, I was fine with it.

I'm not sure who was cutting our birds nails and accedents do happen, but I guess they did not get enough blood from one nail and had to cut another. The second one they cut was cut way too much. I have not seen it bleed at all and can tell it's healing fine. I don't see any swelling and the foot is not any warmer the the other foot. The issue is, it's Friday and the bird is still holding its foot up on occasion.

Other then that, the bird is it's very happy self. It's playing like normal, it's eating like normal, it's sleeping normal, it's using that foot to climb and eat. It can bend all its toes and leg like normal and I was told there was no struggle when it happened so I'm ruling out any other injuries. It's just holding the foot up when on a perch or on our fingers on occasion. Especially when it's tired. It did not do this before this happened.

The vet did not have time today to look at the bird, but she is on call and we can do an emergency visit when needed. I'm very glad for this. She said it's unusual for the bird to still be in pain, but not uncommon if the nail was cut too much. As long as the bird is eating and not over sleeping, we should not worry too much. We go to see her on Monday if it's not better.

The manager at the shop apologized and said they would also look at the bird tomorrow so we will do that too.

I just feel so bad and just wish we had not gotten the test at all. I wish I would have been there too. Is there anything I can do besides give it time to heal? I know our bird really wants to take a bath. Would a bath help or hurt? I know I tend to over worry as it is, but any advice would help me feel better at least! Lol

Thank-you!

[Eric&Rebecca]

I'd get a vet to check for infection and perhaps wash and sterilise the area. If there's infection or nerve damage this must be determined by an avian vet ASAP

[Andromeda]

I'd get a vet to check for infection and perhaps wash and sterilise the area. If there's infection or nerve damage this must be determined by an avian vet ASAP

I agree, you need a vet to check for infection and nerve damage.

I felt so bad reading this; clipping a nail to purposefully cause it to bleed so you can DNA test is barbaric. I'm not attacking you, OP, because I took it to Google and apparently this is something people do but I find it horrifying. That is SO PAINFUL to the bird.

Surely there is a better and less painful way to get blood from a bird. The blood supply in their nail is the quick (just like our nails have quick) and if you have ever cut or broken your nail into the quick you know how much that hurts! Poor bird.

When my GCC was DNA-sexed I had a vet do it and she drew blood from a vein. Now that's going to hurt, too, but it's WAY less painful than cutting the nail to the quick and the pain will go away almost as soon as it's over whereas a cut into the quick of the nail is going to be painful for days or longer.

Anyway, I hope your bird is okay and please keep us updated.

[KimberlyAnn]

Thank-you both! Yes, I wish there was a better way too. Honestly, I didn't give it much of a second thought because I've never seen an issue like this before. My mind is changed now! I have an appointment on Monday for the vet (She is a bird only vet) and the bird shop took a look today as well as my mom's friend who breeds birds. Does not look like an infection...So far. I'm still watching. They all tellme not to worry, but iI still worry lol The vet did say that if it was still the sane today, that I should call her. She said to watch for swelling, hotness on the foot, not eating, sleeping too much and too much preening. I don't see any of that, but again, I'm still watching. Could you tell me more about nerve damage? Is there anything that I need to watch out for as far as thats's concerned?

Oh yes, the bird was not as tender as it has been. We watched it close today and it did not seem to favor the foot much at all. Maybe a few times, but we were not sure. It's not holding the leg up anymore so I am glad for that. It still ate a lot and drank a lot today. For the first time since we got the bird a week ago, we finally figured out just how it wants us to play. I had no idea these birds liked to wrestle on their backs! It had been trying to turn over and play, but we always took this as "I want to take a five min power nap in your hand" and would pick the bird up, and rub it's head until it dozed off for a few mins. It's done it since we brought it home. But now I see...we want to play! So it rolls on it's back and we tickle it under its wings and let it grab our fingers. It will jump up, hop hop hop...then roll over again and push into our fingers. Almost like a cat!

I had also read that GCC didn't talk all that much or this fast, but tonight when doing our bedtime routine, it had a bunch to say. Hello, goonight, here kitty kitty (an old joke from a bird I had in my childhood. "Casey, what does a thousand pound canary say?" Lol) so I am simply amazed!

Other then that, I'm making sure everything stays clean. We have been very good at potty training so I'm glad for that. Today I had to put the bird in its cage so I could do housework. It wanted up again and so it made a big deal about going potty because it knows it will get picked up again and get cuddles. So I did and then put it back again.

One more question...if I were to clean the toenail, what should I use? I do not see any dried blood...it just looks like the nail has grown over...but I'm sure it has not happened that fast. There are no rough edges. But I'm unsure of how to clean the area and everyone told me to leave it alone. So I have been.

[marie83]

Use salt water twice a day until your vets appointment, just hold the nail alone in it if you can rather than the whole foot, it wont hurt if the foot gets in it too but it may dry out the skin so try not too. Dont rinse the salt off of the nail.

[KimberlyAnn]

Ok thank-you! We can do that no problem. It lets us touch and hold the nail still with head pets. I have used the salt water solution for other first aid things, I guess I just didn't think about it for this.

It's doing great this morning! I have been putting the bird to bed from 7pm-7am in a quiet spot in our bedroom. (This is so hard to do without hearing whining from the rest of the family! Sorry guys...not EVER bending the rules on this one!) We snuck into bed without waking the bird last night. But oops! My husband coughed and sneezed because it's spring here. Bird mumbled "Oh pretty bird...goodnight...goodnight...goodnight" and went back to sleep after a few more soft peeps and beak grinding.

But today the toe is not tender at all and the bird is acting normal and full of energy still. We will check it out tomorrow. But so far, so good!

[marie83]

Lol, he sounds a right character. Glad to hear he is feeling a bit better now.

[KimberlyAnn]

I guess my update didn't post a few days ago. :/

But the vet visit went very well! We went early so we could sit there awhile and make the bird feel comfortable. Take in the smells and sounds. I adore our vet and so does the bird. It didn't squawk once until the stethoscope was being pressed against it's body, but that's understandable! It was very well behaved, I was so proud! It followed direction nicely! Daily training pays off!

The leg/foot/toe will be fine. Apparently, the ligament was pulled a little so that was most of the issue. It will take awhile to heal fully, but the vet said it's nothing to worry about at all. All the other tests we did turned out great! The bird is very healthy. Now we just have to wait for the DNA test to come back so we can name the bird. Finally!

But at first I thought our bird would freak out...there was a huge parrot (it was toweled so we could not see exactly what it was through the little window) complaining LOUDLY that it was dying because it was getting its nails trimmed. At the end, both the vet and the owner put their hands up with their fingers spread wide towards the carrier. They stayed like that for about a minute and the parrot was quiet after that. I forgot to ask the vet why this was done, but I'm pretty sure it was a hand signal that they were done? Anyone know anything about this?

[marie83]

Aww glad to hear your bird is fine
Hang about on the boards and keep us updated about him wont you. I would look forward to hearing your stories

[KimberlyAnn]

I will for sure! No one in my life will appreciate ongoing bird stories as much as you guys! Lol