# Night fright and hurt wing



## paoputrees (Mar 27, 2014)

Hi, so I was out with some friends tonight while my mom was home, when i got called that the birds had a night fright out of nowhere and wouldnt calm down after turning on the light until 40 seconds later...

Pat had blood taken today so hopefully the jugular vein is fine (dont want to spook them now by trying to check), and he looks fine

but Matty has a little bit of dried blood on the edge of her wing, and under her cere it looks like the beak is torn a little, if that makes sense. I cant take a picture right now, but she seems fine and all bleeding appears to have stopped. We think maybe the skin on her wing was cut a little and bled, and the beak is like that from being hit too.

Tomorrow is saturday and the emergency vet here sucks tbh based on previous experience. What should I do tomorrow about this? Should I leave them in their cage all day or risk taking them out to check their untame selves for injuries? Are signs of concussion the same as humans? Is there anything I can do to disinfect the wounds tomorrow, or would spraying them with a liquid or water open the wounds? What about her biting or cleaning the area when she preens?

My other cockatiel never got physical injuries so I'm worried/wondering about what to do with these babies <3


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## JoJo's Mom (Oct 20, 2012)

If it were me I think I would just keep an eye on them and see how it goes. Maybe a photo when you can would help. Are they eating and playing normally now? JoJo's first and only night fright was awful, and there was blood all over. It was only a blood feather and a couple of other feathers came out, but he bumped his cere too and it scared me to death. But I just kept an eye on him and he was fine. I think you will be able to tell if they really needs to go in right away. Do you keep a night light by them when they are covered so they can see a bit? It really keeps the night frights away. Hope they are both OK


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

It's very common for birds to bang up their wing tips and cere areas during night frights. The only thing I'd do tomorrow is check to see if the blood on the wing is coming from a broken blood feather, which would have more risk of starting to bleed again. If it's not, I'd just leave both areas alone. Generally birds heal very well and very quickly on their own, and adding anything to the area may just make them more inclined to mess with it.

Concussion symptoms include lethargy, nausea, and lack of balance. Your birds may be somewhat more tired tomorrow because they were disturbed by a night fright, but if they were to become slow to respond to you or appear weak (unable to perch, fluffed up on the bottom of the cage, etc.), just let them be. 

Generally night frights don't cause serious injury unless the bird gets caught in something inside the cage, or if nobody is home to turn a light on when they get spooked. In 21 years of owning birds, I've only once had a serious injury from a night fright and even that pretty much just required time to heal.


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