[MidnightIris]

Hey guys,

I haven't trimmed the birds nails in a while now- perhaps 5 months. I was trimming Ollie's nails today and was inspecting his feet. This was the first time he's ever bit me, and it was actually hard. I think it's because he wanted to get back to Daisy. In the past when I trimmed his nails, he was an only budgie. Unfortunately I noticed he has some sort of bump of a lesion on his foot. I took a photo. From reading this article, I'm guessing the "grade" or progression of it is up to stage 3 or 4.

I feel so bad for him, I obviously didn't have enough varied perches in the cage. I thought it'd be okay to have one natural wood perch, their calcium perch, one natural sisal rope perch, their natural wood swing, and the dowel perches at the bottom of the cage. I thought this was okay since they get out of cage time for hours every single day, flying, and on their natural wood play gym.

Here's the photo. Also, I normally hold him differently, with his head between my index and middle finger and the rest of my hand holding him- but he was bitey and was trying to get a quick snap of this pic. On a side note, I'm concerned now that I'm taking like 5 steps back with the budgies trust because of restricting them in my hands to inspect them and trim their nails. But, I'm glad even if I have because now I know Ollie has this and it can get the care he needs. I will be calling the vet tomorrow morning, though I am worried about how much treatment will cost.

 

[JRS]

Ahh poor Ollie :hug:

Glad to hear that you're making a vet appt Bee.

Don't feel too guilty about this, perches are a major cause of bumblefoot but not the only reason and some birds are just more prone to certain conditions than others.
Here's a link to an article that might be worth reading before your vet appointment:
Symptoms & Treatment of Bumblefoot in Parrots - Hari

 

[Therm]

Bee, I'm not sure if you have a company like this where you're from, but when I got my big order of bits from the Natural Bird Company, one of the things I wanted to do was replace all my old perches with natural wood ones from here. I already had natural wood and java perches. I think java perches are really good as they have a lot more variety in perch size.

Flat perches for healthy birds and parrots with special needs

As well as regular perches, I got the budgies some flat perches and the raft swing so that besides from perching, the birds have the chance to rest their feet. It might be worth looking into if you can find some other varieties to help out.
And as JRS said, don't feel too bad about it. You know the problem now and you're taking steps to fix it.

 

[MidnightIris]

Ahh poor Ollie :hug:

Glad to hear that you're making a vet appt Bee.

Don't feel too guilty about this, perches are a major cause of bumblefoot but not the only reason and some birds are just more prone to certain conditions than others.
Here's a link to an article that might be worth reading before your vet appointment:
Symptoms & Treatment of Bumblefoot in Parrots - Hari

Thanks for that link JRS, I found that interesting to read- it's actually the same one I linked in my post which made me realise he does have it. Will try not to feel too guilty. Poor little Ollie. I checked Daisy when I trimmed her nails and she's clear.

Bee, I'm not sure if you have a company like this where you're from, but when I got my big order of bits from the Natural Bird Company, one of the things I wanted to do was replace all my old perches with natural wood ones from here. I already had natural wood and java perches. I think java perches are really good as they have a lot more variety in perch size.
Flat perches for healthy birds and parrots with special needs
As well as regular perches, I got the budgies some flat perches and the raft swing so that besides from perching, the birds have the chance to rest their feet. It might be worth looking into if you can find some other varieties to help out.
And as JRS said, don't feel too bad about it. You know the problem now and you're taking steps to fix it.

Thanks Emma, I haven't quite found an amazing site like that yet over here- mostly sites that sell a bunch of animal supplies not one dedicated to perches for birds. It looks great. They don't have any flat perches so I will definitely make sure to include those in my next shop for them. Thanks, and can't help but feel responsible ofcourse. But it's okay.

 

[JRS]

Thanks for that link JRS, I found that interesting to read- it's actually the same one I linked in my post which made me realise he does have it.....

:001_rolleyes: doh! I must have speed-read your post, I completely bypassed that bit! :hammer:

If you haven't managed to find a platform perch (or afford one after vet bills :scare by the time your new cage arrives... as a temporary measure you could perhaps cut pieces of cardboard from the box it arrives in, or even use newspaper to fit on top of that removable wire platform in the new cage to create a flat platform. Just remember that platforms tend to get soiled faster than regular perches, so with an open wound you'd obviously need to ensure it was cleaned/replaced more frequently than usual.
Hope Ollie's foot heals up soon.

 

[FaeryBee]

Bee,

I'm sorry to hear (and see) that little Ollie has Bumblefoot.

I'm glad you're taking him to the vet and will be treating the condition promptly. :hug:

Wishing your little fellow a full and speedy recovery!

 

[MidnightIris]

Thanks Deborah :hug:

I called the vet today and spoke to a different vet that I saw previously when Ollie was there last, and I was happy with how informative she was- as the previous vet who saw Ollie wasn't very informative. The plan is to increase Ollie's vitamin A intake with dark green veggies like spinach, wrap their perches up with adhesive bandage to add some padding (I anticipated this and ordered it last night, should come in a few days), and start Ollie on Triple C antibiotic at the dose he was previously on. I am to monitor him for the next 1-2 weeks to make sure his lesion isn't getting any worse.

Hopefully it improves- but if not- I'll be taking him to the vet to be weighed and to possibly have his lesion cultured to determine the best medicine for him. I mentioned to her that I read that Cephalexine is often used to treat bumblefoot and asked if that is similar to Triple C and she said they don't like to use Cephalexine in the beginning with mild cases of bumblefoot (I described to her how his foot looks and guessed it's between grades 3-5) because it's very strong and a human drug so she would like to start him on Triple C first and have him monitored. So I've just started to give it to them in their water with a little freshly squeezed orange juice in there. When I get the new cage, I will separate Ollie and Daisy because the vet says that'll be better to not give Daisy antibiotics she doesn't need.

Hopefully my boy gets better- but I have a feeling I'll have to take him back to get it cultured, but I'm going to stay positive.

 

[StarlingWings]

I'm glad that you had a good experience with the vet! I truly hope that your boy starts feeling better very soon :fingerx:

Keep us posted!

 

[MidnightIris]

:001_rolleyes: doh! I must have speed-read your post, I completely bypassed that bit! :hammer:
If you haven't managed to find a platform perch (or afford one after vet bills :scare by the time your new cage arrives... as a temporary measure you could perhaps cut pieces of cardboard from the box it arrives in, or even use newspaper to fit on top of that removable wire platform in the new cage to create a flat platform. Just remember that platforms tend to get soiled faster than regular perches, so with an open wound you'd obviously need to ensure it was cleaned/replaced more frequently than usual.
Hope Ollie's foot heals up soon.

I ended up reading past this post too! :laughing2: - thank you JRS, that's a great idea. I will do that. I was actually going to keep Ollie in the current cage at first (as he's on antibiotics) and Daisy in the new one- do you think I should keep her in the current one, instead? I also think it'd be easier to take him out of the current one to check his foot regularly- rather than wailing my arm to find him in the big one, lol.

 

[MidnightIris]

Thanks, Star- I will!

 

[Hunterkat]

Poor Ollie I hope he gets better soon! I personally would keep Ollie in the current cage- he'll be easier to catch!

 

[MidnightIris]

Hey guys I spoke to another vet today (I was only calling to know ahead of time to know much a culture would cost if it came to that- to be prepared) while I never got to know how much the culture would cost, she (I never got the vet's name) said if this round of antibiotics doesn't work, i'll have to bring Ollie to the vet and he would probably be started on antibiotic injections then if that doesn't work get a culture. :upset: I really don't want Ollie to have injections if it's not absolutely necessary... i'll traumatize him :crying2:. I know they are vets but I'm Ollie's parront & advocate and also the vet I spoke to the other day (who I liked) didn't say anything about injections...so I'll definitely just wait to see how Ollie goes then ask to get an appointment with the vet I spoke to the other day.

Edit: Because I won't be able to afford to buy more perches for a while I want to re-purpose Ollie & Daisy's play gym to use as natural wood perches. I just need some help with how to do this? I know I need stainless steel washers, wing nuts and the rod part- but i'm not sure what rod and also I don't have a drill. Can someone give me some ideas on how I can make these into perches for their homes?

 

[JRS]

Hi Bee

I think you're wise to keep with your initial vet.

TBH, with the perches, it would probably be cheaper to buy ready made ones than buy the fixings and a drill, but you could send a pm to Trum, the poster in this thread, to ask how he did it:
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budg...ay-finding-appropriate-tree-make-perches.html

What I'd do, is just make a slot in the ends of the longer branches, and fix them to the cage like these:
Great Deals on Canary Cages only at zooplus!: Bird Cage Finca pequeno (Look at the second image)

If they're too short to span the width of the cage, you could fix them across a corner.

Another possibility (& I'm not sure how stable you could make this, you'd have to have a try & see), is to perhaps try to attach the natural branches on top of your current dowels with e.g. cable ties.
Maybe a combination of a slot at the cage end of the branch, and a cable tie holding the 2 perches together at the other end would work best?

You might also find this thread interesting:
http://talkbudgies.com/housing-budgies/380946-carving-dowels.html

 

[Hunterkat]

This video does a good job showing how to make natural wood perches

 

[MidnightIris]

Hi Bee

I think you're wise to keep with your initial vet.

TBH, with the perches, it would probably be cheaper to buy ready made ones than buy the fixings and a drill, but you could send a pm to Trum, the poster in this thread, to ask how he did it:
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budg...ay-finding-appropriate-tree-make-perches.html

What I'd do, is just make a slot in the ends of the longer branches, and fix them to the cage like these:
Great Deals on Canary Cages only at zooplus!: Bird Cage Finca pequeno (Look at the second image)

If they're too short to span the width of the cage, you could fix them across a corner.

Another possibility (& I'm not sure how stable you could make this, you'd have to have a try & see), is to perhaps try to attach the natural branches on top of your current dowels with e.g. cable ties.
Maybe a combination of a slot at the cage end of the branch, and a cable tie holding the 2 perches together at the other end would work best?

You might also find this thread interesting:
http://talkbudgies.com/housing-budgies/380946-carving-dowels.html

Thanks so much Julie! I don't think I'll add the natural perches on top of the dowel ones, but I did place a few of the natural ones between the bars like you suggested. Only thing is, they're in corners only, now. I am also going to carve the dowels a bit to give them shape then sand them down by hand (thank you so much for the links!) Also the birds got their new cage so I will post that on my cage thread okay .

This video does a good job showing how to make natural wood perches

Thanks so much for this Katherine, very cool. I don't have a drill punch though, but I'll see what I can do. Thanks again

 

[Hunterkat]

Thanks so much for this Katherine, very cool. I don't have a drill punch though, but I'll see what I can do. Thanks again [/QUOTE]
You really just need something to make a small hole so the screw can catch in the wood

 

[MidnightIris]

I tried to with one of my etching tools but it didn't work, i'll have to get back to it another time- definitely want to do it. thanks again Katherine.

I laid cardboard down with newspaper and a tea towel so Ollie can hopefully rest his feet a bit.

 

[JRS]

Well that looks a nice comfortable recovery cage for Ollie

Just be careful that he doesn't chew on the tea towel. It might be easier to put the tea towel under the newspaper; it would still give that bit of extra bounce but it would be out of sight for nibbling... and easier on the laundry .

 

[MidnightIris]

Lol I'm silly- smart- done- will just keep an eye on him so he doesn't nibble on the newspaper, now. Thanks

 

[ReneBC]

You could also use a couple of them for Swings if you have some safe string and beads to cover the string, or buy a couple of cheap swings and change the dowel on them to these natural wood ones