Injured budgie

[Jessil]

I have just purchased a budgie 2 days ago. This morning he was fine, after coming back from work I noticed he was not using one of his legs. On closer inspection, the leg has changed colour. He is eating and drinking still and is moving about the cage with his other foot and beak.
I'm in a rural area and the vet cannot help unless I want the budgie put to sleep. Any ideas what happened? What can I do?

[liz]

Rural or not you have to get him to an avian vet. Something has cut off the circulation in that leg. He depends on you. If the leg is damaged beyond help an avian vet can remove it to stop the pain and he will adjust.

[Wolf]

I also live in a rural area and have to drive over 2 hours to get to my birds vet as there are none closer than that. You really need to get the bird to an avian vet as it is in danger of losing the whole leg and its life following that. Something has cut off blood flow to the leg and that could be from several things, most likely getting caught in something and either breaking or dislocating the leg and or hip. f you have rope perches or strings or maybe a worn sleepy hut it could be a piece of string wound around the leg. In any case this bird needs to go to the doctors.ASAP

[Pajarita]

Yes, he definitely needs a vet if, for nothing else, some metacam but have you examined the leg thoroughly and all the way up to his hip? Could he have a string or something wrapped tightly around it? It can be that something is stopping blood flow to it but there is no swelling and that always happens when there is something tight UNLESS the problem is internal. Is he moving it? Does the foot/toes have any strength? Put your finger very gently in the middle of the sole of the foot and see if he grabs it. If he doesn't move it, have you tried moving the leg to see if it 'feels' right? BTW, you are holding that bird all wrong, you know? Canary breeders used to hold birds that way years and years ago but we no longer do it, it's too stressful for them and not very practical, actually.

[Jessil]

Thanks everyone. So I have rang around and the closest avian vet is an 11 hour drive. I am trying to sort out air transport to get it to the vet at the moment.
And thanks for the notification I am holding it wrong. How should I hold it? I've had it for 3 days and never owned a bird before.. the breeder told me to hold it like that. :S I don't want to stress it more!!

The foot doesn't look worse this morning. The budgie is still eating/drinking and singing. He doesn't pull away or squawk when I touch the foot. I cannot find any obvious reason (like string) that has cut off circulation. He doesn't grasp with the foot.

If I am unable to fly him to the vet, putting him to sleep at the local vet is the best option, right?

[Wolf]

Doesn't the local vet have the means to x ray the birds leg? if it is dislocated he should be able to put it back in or be able to set it if it is broken I would think. There is no reason that he could not consult with the other avian vet and give you both pain meds and antibiotics for your bird if he will consult with the avian vet. I would call him and ask him about this. Also are their any zoos nearby as they may have an avian vet on staff.

[Pajarita]

No, don't put him down. Even if he loses that leg, he can still live a good life with just one. Put a soft bottom on his cage and low perches, staggered up (like stairs steps) so he can climb a bit (don't put the top one higher than 5 inches, just in case) and put his food and water at the bottom of the cage (don't use bowls for the food, just for the water and make sure it's a shallow one with low edges so he can reach it easily).

Look for regular vets that treat exotics; sometimes, they are better than certified avian vets. Where are you located? You don't need to give us a specific town, just a general area - for example, I say I live in Northeast NJ.

As to how to hold him, you are supposed to 'towel' him (only for a budgie, I use a kitchen towel) like this: http://www.birdcageoutlet.com/bird-safe ... a-bird.htm

[Jessil]

I am located in rural Australia. And the local vet is unable to help at all.

[Jessil]

I ended up taking my Budgie into my vet today. He did not know much about birds and that made diagnosing the problem difficult.
He seems to think it isn't broken and said that if it was dislocated, its not anymore. He thought it looked bruised... and found that the dark colour runs right up the birds back. He also found a small cut on one of the toes, that after prodding a bit, bled. So he then thought it could possibly be an infection. In conclusion, he couldn't really help me.

I'm really unsure as to what to do. I don't want him put to sleep if its something he could recover from and my vet is useless in helping. How do I know if the birds in pain? You guys probably think I'm hopeless... and I definitely am! I've been a rodent owner for years... never owned a bird before. I've had the bird for a few days and I feel like I've failed completely.


(BTW, he's only young and I have no idea if he's a he or she)
Here's a photo I took at the vet while he was examining the budgie. You can see the dark colour going up his leg. And the cut is right on the joint of the foot. (oh, the vet wet the bird to get a better look in case you're wondering)

bird5.jpg (45.72 KiB) Viewed 4372 times

[Wolf]

It looks to me as if he got hung on something and dislocated his hip while trying to get free.
Could you post some pictures of his cage, we may be able to see what he mat have got hung on and prevent it from happening again. Pajarita is your best bet on how you might be able to treat this, but don't know for sure.