My bird's foot is injured

[Braedikin]

I feel horrible. When moving some lidded containers my conure dropped from my shoulder and a lid fell on top of her. At first I thought it was her wing, but when I examined her more closely it is her one foot. It is limp and she is not able to grasp anything. Suggestions anyone? I hope my animal vet has some avian training...

[friend2parrots]

this sounds like a serious injury - she may have had bone or nerve injury anywhere between the hip and foot, the bones of her leg or foot may be broken, etc. she needs to be seen by a vet with avian training immediately. if your vet seems incompetent or lacks avian training, and you need to find another one, you can search for one through this website, which lists Members of the Association of Avian Veterinarians - enter the location criteria for your area:

http://www.aav.org/search/

for comfort, please place soft towels on the bottom of her travel cage that you will be using to transport her to the vet.

good luck, I hope your all turns out well for your GCC let us know how it turns out!

[Braedikin]

Went to the vet. He was great, took a quick x-ray and it is a broken leg. He s setting it later today. My bird is in good spirits though...eating well and still active. I bought a tent/hammock to put in her cage to help her rest.

[marie83]

I wouldn't suggest putting your bird back in the cage until your vets confirmed Its healed. You will need something like a plastic tank to stop the bird climbing up and falling again. The risk of another fall is very high.

[friend2parrots]

I wouldn't suggest putting your bird back in the cage until your vets confirmed Its healed. You will need something like a plastic tank to stop the bird climbing up and falling again. The risk of another fall is very high.

+1

yes, totally agree that the cage is not a suitable place for healing. you can get a plastic tank at the pet store - its usually marketed as a reptile tank - ask the store attendant to show you one of a good size that will fit a water dish, and a food dish and give your bird enough room as well. line the tank with a soft towel, over which you can place two or three layers of paper towel that you will have to change frequently throughout the day, to keep things tidy. i also dont think its a good idea to handle your bird at all until she's totally healed, even if she acts normal personality wise. check with your vet what measures he suggests for the healing period.

all the best - its great that you have a good vet and that your bird is eating well - let us know how everything goes

[marie83]

Friend2parrots has said pretty much everything I wanted to say but I was on my phone when i wrote the last message which is extremely awkward so I tried to keep it short.
By the way, whilst I mainly agree that you shouldn't handle you bird in a way that may cause any pain, such as picking him up when its not necessary (obviously you might need to if you need to medicate), if she is really tame it would cause stress to get no attention so dont think not handling her doesn't mean she cant have a very gentle head scratch. Just be cautious as a bird will associate you with pain very very quickly, even if they aren't in so much pain they are making it obvious it hurts as I've recently found out

If your bird cant fly I would suggest allowing him to grow her feathers and learn to fly, accidents are less likely with a flighted bird as they can save themselves from trouble, there is also a hell of alot of other benefits which I suggest you read up on if you havent already.

All the best for your bird having a speedy recovery. I hope you will keep us updated with her progress.

[friend2parrots]

i fully agree with the advice that marie has given above.

while it is wonderful and lucky that your bird has survived this accident, it is always worthwhile to retrace the steps of what happened, to understand what precautions could have been taken to prevent it, as luck is not always guaranteed to be on our side. it does seem as though your bird is clipped (from your profile on the left) - and marie is right to point out that a flighted bird could have saved itself from a similar accident. allowing your bird a flighted lifestyle will not only keep it safer, but be better for its mental and physical health.

there is a school of thought among some vets and bird professionals that promotes wingclipping as a "safety" measure, but this is in a reality an outdated perspective that has been disproven by current research. the reality is that clipping actually makes the bird more vulnerable to danger, as in your own birds situation.

there's a lot of info on this forum and blog as to the hazards of wingclipping. please read the following article by forum owner michael on why wings shouldnt be clipped:

http://trainedparrot.com/Clipping/

there's also a lot of support, info and guidance on this forum and blog as to how to get your bird into a flighted lifestyle, how to birdproof your house to make it perfectly safe for a bird, etc. , what precautions to take, etc. many of us here on the forum have had flighted birds for many years - some of us our entire lives - with absolutely no flight related accidents whatsoever. so i totally agree that it would be wonderful if you do allow your birds wings to grow out. and you will be amazed at how much fun you and your bird will have.

all the best for your 's recovery

[spiral71]

hello
when i fist had my bird she broke her leg through a freak accident while in her cage where her leg was trapped between her bowl and the bowl holder, i freed her as fast as i could but she had aldready bitten her leg so hard that it was broken and at a 45 degree angle but on the advice of the vet i hand feed her with a ten gram spoon and put some calcivet in her water so that in around three weaks with the aid of painkillers she was fine.

it will heal but try and stop her flom climbing as the others said