# please help, broken foot



## angelpink

hello all
i am new here, sorry that my first post is a call for help
but this xmass my man got me a cockateil, lovely little thing he is, so tame, loves me totally, sits on me leaning his head on my chin, doing the content grinding noise, kissing my face and gentrally following me around, but then, family arrived, all was good till one of the brother in laws kids desided to go into my bedroom, my bird was playing by the door, i am always on aleart around doors as i have a few birds, i heard my little guy cry and the girl ran out, i totally lost it with her, told her she was warned about going into other peoples room (might have gone on to strong, i did say sorry to her) then i chased my guy up the hall, his foot was bleeding, i stopped the bleeding quickly and noticed that he wasnt bending his foot, just holding it up, not weight bearing, so i stuffed my guy into a sock, took out strips and splints and used tissue to keep any bleeding starting, binded the foot with the splint, you see, im 6 miles up a mountain, im 20 miles from a city, my local vet doesnt do birds and im snowed in, so i cant get out, so anyway, its 2 days later, i watch my guy hobbling, using the foot for slight weight bearing, so i took of the binding and he hobbled about, but no foot locking, no grip, so i re binded the foot again and once again, hes sitting on my chest, preening, giving kisses and doing the grinding, 

so my question is this will he be ok?, the foot is still warm, but he doesnt move the toes, he seems quiet happy, just follows me around

(on a nice note, this bird was not a hand tame, but within 12 hours, he bonded so tightly with me, he calls for me, looks for me, kisses me, lets me pull gently on him and genrally make a tit of him)
so if anyone can give me advise, i would love it, 
thanks


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## birdlover4life

I was in a similar situation about a week ago. Finn hurt/broke his toe. It was bloody and he didnt use it, he wouldnt put weight on it for 2 days or so. Then he started putting weight on it more but still not bending it. Now he is even sleeping on his hurt foot and its like a week and a half later. I put some neosporin on a q-tip and put it on the scab. Vets cant do much for broken feet/toes unless they are dislocated or need to be amputated. With the neosporin, put it on if there is a scab, basically if its open dont put it on it. I also put warm water on a cloth the first day and it worked a bit. Since yours is a bit worse you may want to eventually get him to the vet but just keep it clena for now.


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## lperry82

Hello and welcome 
I found this BROKEN BONES

Look for shock symptoms (see Shock). Wings-cut toe out of appropriate size sock allowing bird room to expand chest while breathing. Place over bird with head through cut hole and cut opening for feet. BROKEN TOES-wrap gauze into ball. Put foot around ball. Wrap foot to gauze ball with gauze. from http://www.cockatiel.org/articles/firstaid.html
Avian vet http://www.avianweb.com/recommendedvets.htm#ireland
http://www.parrot-link.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45
Im sure if you give them a ring they would offer advice for you.
I would be the same if my son would of been careless around my pets which he has done, they cant defend for themselfs.
I think he is quite bonded with you really well, i would keep an eye on him, it could be bruised and not broken.
Hope he is alright and must see some pics of him


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## angelpink

*thanks*

well hes eating, sleeping and drinking, prenning and all the normal behaviour, when he is sore he comes to me for a cuddle, and once the owiee is gone, he continues to explore around, i am unsure if it is broken, dont know how to tell and i really dont want to go poking my poor baby after all hes been through, 
i do know no vet can do anything but a splint like i have done, so im hopng since hes acting normal, he should heal up well, but i worry he might not get full use back is all, the blood from the cut was a tiny amount, but i could see the cut was a bit deep, now its covered and safe from outseide germs, i check it every time i cuddle him


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## lperry82

He seems alright but just keep an eye on him though
i was going to ask have you got any pics of him but iv already asked lol
Lucky is my first ever cockatiel a female and cookie is my male and i love them to bits


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## angelpink

*pic of my baby*

here is my baby angel having his dinner a few mins ago, as you can see, hes in great form, seems the foot isnt bothering him


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## lperry82

Awwww he looks so adorable


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## angelpink

im almost sure hes a boy, lol, hard to tell, hes about 4 months old, love of my life, i have other birds but none like him, hes right now sitting on my making the grinding noise, whicch i think means hes not in pain and hes happy, which is why i think he should be ok


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## lperry82

Looking at the picture he is male as the yellow is coming through the face, bright yellow. 
Grinding noise means he is very relaxed and happy
Here is the avian behaviour guide which i found very useful when i first got lucky
http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/birdinformation/behavior.php


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## angelpink

thanks for the link, its great, from reading that i see my baby is happy, feels safe and likes me and the tv, lol, im not so worried now as if he was feeling bad about his sore foot he would show me, now when i touch the foot, he gives a little squeak, just to let me know its tender, but he does walk on it a bit


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## lperry82

Your welcome
My son was amazed on Christmas day as they were watching shrek when he had it on lol


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## angelpink

well i think after watching angel groom under his injured foot, lifting it high up, then switching feet, and leaning on his sore foot, well i think he will be ok, im not going to take the strap off for a week, just to give it a chance incase it is broken, but hes doing everything a normal bird does, although he spends most his time snuggling, or eating or preening or sleeping, but i think thats coz hes young and new to the house, i remeber my last cockateils, ,they used to just wander around, play a little but loved to sit and watch tv,lol


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## tielfan

When one of my chicks broke his toe, the vet taped it to the adjacent toe for a week using vet wrap - no splints or anything. If I remember right it was sort of a figure-8 wrap that went around his ankle as well as the toes.

It was the smaller toe that broke, and this technique might not have worked if it had been the bigger toe that was broken. The taping has to be done skillfully of course, if it's too tight it will cause serious problems. But taping the toes together helps the broken toe heal in a natural position.


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## angelpink

well, let me see if i can explain the full details of his injury, its just below the ankle across the top, where the leg meets the foot, just a little down from there, umm, like, above where the front pointing toes are, the side out toe and back toe didnt get the hit, so i put a tiny piece of cardboard under the two toes and strapped them together gently, not to tight, i put a piece of tissue on top of the cut too, the fact that he is putting a bit of weight on it gives me hope, im a worrier to be honest, the weather is so bad one of my ferrets died of hypothermia, i kept him going for 6 days, feedings every hour, so i would be gutted if this little guy died, i love him so much, but i hear as long as no infection sets in he should be fine, and i am checking it and no sign of infection, wound is closed and sealed and not to warm


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## angelpink

*just one more question*

just another question, just to ease my mind, 
angel is sitting on me, all relaxed, hes alert and resting, but as his foot is sore hes lying down on me, resting his body on me, his eyes closed and enjoying cuddles so much he nearly falls over, lol,
so my question, is it on that hes lying on me like this, is it just to rest his foot
the foot is warm, not cold, the colour is good, not all yucky, he has his eys closed, but when i move he reacts quickly and looks at me, so should i be worried or just relax and let him rest


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## angelpink

well with me being so worried, i am going to go to my vet tomorrow, even though hes not good with birds, at least he can give him some antibiotics and some painkillers
i will post info tomorrow on progress
i just cant bear the thought of anything happening to him, so better to e safe than sorry, might take a while to get to vet, but hopefully there will be more of a thaw tonight


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## tielfan

There aren't any obvious signs of illness so maybe he's just enjoying himself.

It's good that you're going to the vet. Even though he's not a bird expert he might be able to tell you whether the bones were set properly. You wouldn't want it to heal wrong and leave your bird with a permanent disability.


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## angelpink

so its normal for teils to lie down on ya and doze?


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## birdlover4life

Finn leans when he gets really comfy after scritches. So yes it's normal and he probably fine but a vet visit would not hurt


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## angelpink

i will be bringing him tomorrow, just gave him a little bath, which he liked, a tiny shower, haha, he ate food, drank water and is now relaxing again, so i think he will be ok for the night, i will def bring him to vets, just incase, im sure he wont hate me for it, i hope not, as hes young i know he will still love me, and also, being new in the house, and new to being handled, i understand that he will be extra clingy as im the one he bonded with


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## tielmom

I hope everything is okay with your tiel...keep us posted.


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## angelpink

*doing great*

angel is doing great, vet gave me some antibiotics and said i didnt need to re do the splint as its fine the way i did it, in 3 weeks it comes off and he said angel will be just fine, right now hes trying to eat my **** keyboard, little bugger, lol


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