# Pink spot near eye



## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

I've already sent an email to her vet but they are closed now so I won't hear back until tomorrow. I'm honestly hoping it goes away on it's own but I think my cockatiel's eye is irritated. She got something in it (either a feather or some other foreign object) and she was rubbing her eye on her wing for a while afterwards to get rid of it. I didn't think much of it and checked her face afterwards to see nothing there. A few hours later I noticed she had a small pink sore looking spot on the skin in front of her eye. It's very slightly inflamed (not majorly so) and it doesn't seem to be bothering her. I don't know for sure if it was because she got something on her eye or if she scratched it later or something but it is the eye she was rubbing on her wing so I am assuming it is the rubbing that caused it. She has rubbed her eye before but usually just the skin on the edge of her lids gets a little pink, I don't usually see this. There is no discharge and she doesn't have any symptoms of anything else like a respiratory infection or anything like that and she is acting completely normal. I should also mention that I very gently stroked the area when scratching her head and cheeks and she didn't react at all so I know it isn't hurting her (or she would have bit the crud out of my hand ha ha) and it was soft and easy to move around just like the rest of her eyelid skin/all the other skin in that area. I feel like it's probably just irritated but it's still kind of pink right now too which worries me just a tad. I'm looking for anyone who may have had an experience just like this. The only thing I can find online is conjunctivitis but from all the pictures it looks nothing like what is going on with her...but who knows. Hopefully it will look better in the morning and I'll have heard back from the vet by then, but has anyone on here seen this exact thing with their feather baby? Thanks!


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## Barbara* (Oct 28, 2016)

Oh dear! I have never seen such a problem with my birds. Hope it all goes well.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

*Update*

It looks better today. I'm just keeping an eye on it over the weekend to see if it improves further on it's own or if I need to take her in to get eye drops or something. Hopefully it will keep healing on it's own. Her vet is out of office until Tuesday but another Avian vet is there today so they have all the pictures and the office assistant said she'd have the other Avian vet look them over today when she gets a moment. If it doesn't improve over the weekend I'll bring her in to get it checked out. I really don't know if it is/was a foreign object that got trapped in her eye or if she did something else to it when I wasn't looking. She is such a trouble maker sometimes.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Poor girl! Please keep us updated about how she's doing and I hope she keeps improving. Be sure to let us know how it goes at the vet's if you do end up taking her in for a check up.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

*Update #2*

She is doing great. The pink/yellow color is almost completely gone now and the spot is not puffy at all so I probably won't be bringing her in which is a relief considering the vet stresses her out (and she just had to go through blood work and medications for an infection just a couple of months ago) and I hate putting her through that. 

My best guess is that she either got something trapped in her eye for a little bit and it just got super irritated but then worked it's way out (so it could start to heal) or it never got trapped in her eye in the first pace and her consistently rubbing her eye on her wing to get it off her eye/eyelid irritated the skin there and that's what I was seeing. Who knows what it actually was but I'm just glad it's getting better on it's own. At this rate it should be completely back to normal in a day or two. I'll obviously keep an eye on it still, just to be safe, but I think it was likely a simple eye or skin irritation issue that got me a bit spooked ha ha. Birds are so good at that...spooking us. :wf cinnamon: 

I am so glad I didn't have to get eye drops or something for her...that would have been a NIGHTMARE to administer. It would definitely take two people to do that with her because it's hard enough for one person to give her medication in her mouth let alone in her eyeball (which would be much harder to keep open). If anything changes and we do have to go to the vet I'll be sure to update again but lets hope that won't be the case.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It looks to me like the problem wasn't with the eye itself. Instead it was a swollen spot on the skin next to the eye. She may have injured herself somehow, or even been bitten by an insect. But the eye itself looked fine. It wasn't watering and didn't have any kind of goop oozing out of it, and the eyelids looked normal.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

tielfan said:


> It looks to me like the problem wasn't with the eye itself. Instead it was a swollen spot on the skin next to the eye. She may have injured herself somehow, or even been bitten by an insect. But the eye itself looked fine. It wasn't watering and didn't have any kind of goop oozing out of it, and the eyelids looked normal.


Yes, that's another possibility I considered. I don't know if she did something to her face when I wasn't looking or if she just rubbed it a bunch when she got the hair or feather on her eye (she was rubbing it for quite a bit) and irritated her pores or something to make it get red and swollen. I'm glad it's about back to normal now but I wish I knew for sure what she had done.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

That's great news! She is such a gorgeous girl.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

Vickitiel said:


> That's great news! She is such a gorgeous girl.


I know, I'm so relieved. It looks pretty much back to normal now. I can barely see anything on the skin now. 

Thanks!  The vet techs are always complimenting her coloring when she comes in. They like to tell her what a pretty girl she is...even if she's not so happy to see them ha ha ha. I was originally thinking of getting a Lutino but when I saw her little baby picture I fell in love. She can be a real brat from time to time but I love her anyway. Most of the time she's super sweet and cuddly.

Here's a better picture of her.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

She sounds lovely. She's a stunning whiteface cinnamon pearl pied! What a mouthful of mutations. Truly gorgeous colouring.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

Vickitiel said:


> She sounds lovely. She's a stunning whiteface cinnamon pearl pied! What a mouthful of mutations. Truly gorgeous colouring.


Thanks.  It is definitely a mouth full ha ha ha. I usually just say wf cinnamon pearl but she does technically have the pied in her flight and tail feathers. I think it's called "pearl to pied" because the pearl kind of tapers off into pied but...that just adds more the the mouth full ha ha ha. Anyway, thanks. She's looking 100% better now and ready to get herself into more trouble. XD


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

That's awesome. 

I have a cinnamon pearl pied girl, Mabel (without the whiteface haha). Here is a pic of her.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

Vickitiel said:


> That's awesome.
> 
> I have a cinnamon pearl pied girl, Mabel (without the whiteface haha). Here is a pic of her.


Awww, she's a cutie. ied:


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## Janalee (Jul 25, 2012)

*pink spot*

Yes, she really is gorgeous! I am so glad the sore spot cleared up on its own. I hate taking my cockatiel to the vet! It is so stressful for them!


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

Janalee said:


> Yes, she really is gorgeous! I am so glad the sore spot cleared up on its own. I hate taking my cockatiel to the vet! It is so stressful for them!


Amen to that. She hates it because pretty much every time I have ever taken her in has included blood work...she HATES being handled so holding still for blood work is something she will probably never do.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

My vet always puts a cockatiel under anesthetic for blood work since it's such a delicate job.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

Vickitiel said:


> My vet always puts a cockatiel under anesthetic for blood work since it's such a delicate job.


They just cut her nail now to get the blood because she kicks every time they try to use the needle in her leg vein. I'd be terrified of putting her under. I hope she never needs x-rays for that very reason. I've mostly heard that anesthesia is always a risk, especially with small birds. Does your vet do a low dose so they're just slow and loopy or does he put them fully out every time? I'd be stressed the whole time that she wasn't going to wake up...but I'm also a tad paranoid ha ha.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

I've had 2 of my 'tiels put under anesthetic. Both times were absolutely necessary because of emergency situations. My vet warned me of the risk but I had no choice and I trust him a lot.

I watched him and his team put Honey under. He left a gap by her head in the gas mask to reduce the risk of giving her too much, and put her under very very gradually, not completely under, and then reduced it just as slowly. She wasn't under for long at all, a minute at the most. She had been attacked by one of her flock mates resulting in a badly severed leg. She was a minute away from bleeding to death by the time we got her to the vet after hours (the powder we had to stop bleeding didn't work as the wound was so bad), and he saved her life. He used silver nitrate to stop the bleeding and seal the wound which is another very delicate process. She woke up from the anesthetic within seconds. He kept her for a few days after the ordeal to monitor her super closely, and again warned me she may not make it as the odds weren't on our side, but she amazed everyone and lives to tell the tale, with a nasty scar to remind us. Because of nerve damage she lost the use of her littlest toe but it doesn't hinder her at all in her daily life.

Henry was put under anesthetic for blood work. He was very sick and underweight with chronic polyuria and diarrhea which he had had ever since I got him. I was worried about kidney or liver disease and a blood test was the only way to find out. Thankfully his blood work was normal and medication eventually put him right after 2 weeks in intensive care.

Now they are both happy and healthy and have just had their first clutch of chicks together!


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

Vickitiel said:


> I've had 2 of my 'tiels put under anesthetic. Both times were absolutely necessary because of emergency situations. My vet warned me of the risk but I had no choice and I trust him a lot.
> 
> I watched him and his team put Honey under. He left a gap by her head in the gas mask to reduce the risk of giving her too much, and put her under very very gradually, not completely under, and then reduced it just as slowly. She wasn't under for long at all, a minute at the most. She had been attacked by one of her flock mates resulting in a badly severed leg. She was a minute away from bleeding to death by the time we got her to the vet after hours (the powder we had to stop bleeding didn't work as the wound was so bad), and he saved her life. He used silver nitrate to stop the bleeding and seal the wound which is another very delicate process. She woke up from the anesthetic within seconds. He kept her for a few days after the ordeal to monitor her super closely, and again warned me she may not make it as the odds weren't on our side, but she amazed everyone and lives to tell the tale, with a nasty scar to remind us. Because of nerve damage she lost the use of her littlest toe but it doesn't hinder her at all in her daily life.
> 
> ...


Oh wow, that is SUPER scary. I live in fear of Totoro ever getting massively ill or injured. Hopefully that is never the case. 

She had to do blood work last year because her urates were yellow (I was so scared it was her liver) and it all came back normal except for her WBC which was high so they put her on antibiotics for an infection. Just over a year after that her poops were watery for several days straight and there was no end in sight (although she was acting and eating normally) so took her in and again her blood was good except for her WBC which was super low this time (which the vet said could indicate a chronic infection) so she was on antibiotics again. I'm really hoping it wasn't the same infection coming back. I would hate for her to be chronically ill for the rest of her life if we can't figure out what is causing it. XP 

I'm so glad things worked out for your babies when things looked so dire. I have been working on keeping mine from laying eggs because I'm also terrified of egg binding ha ha ha. I'm just a worried wreck a lot of the time. Hopefully I will never need to have her put under for x-rays or anything like that and she will stay healthy and happy and die of old age.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

It was super scary and to this day I'm amazed they both made it through those hard times. They are both around 7 - 8 years old (estimating as I don't know their true ages for sure), and I've had them both for 6 years now. Honey has had many recurring problems (mainly with blood feathers because her feathers were in such bad shape when I got her). That girl seems to have 100 lives.

I'm sure Totoro will live a long happy life with you since you take such good care of her and love her so much. It's best to act as soon as symptoms are noticed so you've definitely done the right thing with your gorgeous girl. You shouldn't need to worry about egg binding as long as she is eating a varied diet with plenty of calcium and vitamin D and gets plenty of exercise. Egg binding is most often caused by nutritional deficiencies, weak muscles from lack of exercise and in some cases poor genetics. Chronic egg layers are also very prone to egg-binding due to the constant laying causing depletion of calcium levels. One of my hens went through a chronic egg laying stage but it seems to be sorted now, thankfully.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

Vickitiel said:


> It was super scary and to this day I'm amazed they both made it through those hard times. They are both around 7 - 8 years old (estimating as I don't know their true ages for sure), and I've had them both for 6 years now. Honey has had many recurring problems (mainly with blood feathers because her feathers were in such bad shape when I got her). That girl seems to have 100 lives.
> 
> I'm sure Totoro will live a long happy life with you since you take such good care of her and love her so much. It's best to act as soon as symptoms are noticed so you've definitely done the right thing with your gorgeous girl. You shouldn't need to worry about egg binding as long as she is eating a varied diet with plenty of calcium and vitamin D and gets plenty of exercise. Egg binding is most often caused by nutritional deficiencies, weak muscles from lack of exercise and in some cases poor genetics. Chronic egg layers are also very prone to egg-binding due to the constant laying causing depletion of calcium levels. One of my hens went through a chronic egg laying stage but it seems to be sorted now, thankfully.


Yeah, that was my worry with her (the chronic egg laying) because she would definitely get there if I would let her. I had to start simulating spring time in her cage in the spring/summer and letting her have two clutches and then taking all of that "spring" stuff away and simulating winter for the rest of the year (longer nights, took her extra snack bowl away that she used as a nest, took her pink calcium perch away, etc). When she first started laying at almost 1 years old she would give up on the first clutch, I'd take it, and then a month later she'd lay the second one and that would be it but as of late she seems to lay her first clutch then 3ish weeks later (without leaving the first clutch) she would lay a second one right on top of the first which makes deciding when to take the eggs a pain and she will go for a 3rd clutch if I don't stop her. This year I decided to try and see how long I could make her wait to lay (so I never gave her "spring") and so far no eggs this year. :thumbu: She's only 5 years old so she's still young and healthy enough to lay eggs but the sooner I can nip her "egg hungry" habit in the bud the better. I'll attach a couple of pictures of her in her "nest" from a couple of years ago. It looks so uncomfortable to me but she seemed perfectly happy in that bowl ha ha. The second picture ended up being one of her instagram photos (but in black and white). 

She's gone through 3-4 waves of being hormonal (one of them right now) since the beginning of spring so it's been rough to deal with her screaming when she gets into a mood but I just keep plugging forward and discouraging her from looking for nesting spots outside of her cage (and inside her cage ha ha). I just hope she doesn't decide to lay eggs on her cage floor. I don't think she will as she has scouted it out many times and seems to decide against it every time (there's a grate on the bottom so it would be VERY uncomfortable) but it would undermine my previous method of using her extra "nest" bowl to control when she could and when she couldn't lay if she did ever find another spot to lay eggs in. Maybe I'll let her have a clutch next year just to keep that bit of control in place until it can be stopped entirely. We shall see.

P.S. This may have been more like 3 years ago as I've removed all the cloth perches from her cage now. She kept chewing on them (as you can see in the pictures) and I was worried about it so I took them all away and replaced them with different natural wood perches. She still gets a comfy perch on her tree stand where she is supervised but no more unsupervised access to them in her cage ha ha.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

That's no good  but good news that Totoro hasn't laid this year. I wouldn't "let" her lay if you can, as this can start the chronic laying process all over again and can be extremely difficult to put an end to. You want to keep her hormones as low as possible.

With my chronic egg layer, Cheeky, I had to completely take away "spring/summer" to get her to stop. A couple of years back she would lay constantly, the eggs would just land on the bottom of the cage and break and she had no interest in them but kept laying nonetheless. She would shovel all the food out of the bowls and sit in them but would never lay in them. I thought it was quite strange. I had to remove _all_ stainless steel bowls and put plastic non-round dishes in (I hate using plastic but in my country I can't find any metal bowls that aren't a round shape, which she views as a nest site just like Totoro), did a complete rearrange of the cage, new shreddable toys to keep her busy, gave long nights, took out any soft perches that she liked to rub her back end on (the rope perches are dangerous anyway if they ingest any of the material) and put in natural eucalyptus branches. Any natural safe wood branches/perches are great for them to chew on and better for their feet too.

Egg laying can make them sexually frustrated, and being sexually frustrated can cause egg laying (does Totoro pleasure herself?) and that made Cheeky really depressed as well as exhausted from the laying, because she didn't have a mate, she was with her sister Squeaky for a long time, they were originally my partner's 'tiels but we've combined flocks.

It's spring in my country now and Cheeky has buddied up with my 1 year old male Shelby. So Cheeky will be watched very closely, as she gets very aggressive when her hormone levels rise and it's gotten to the point in the past where I had to separate her into her own cage for a few days as she was literally out to kill her flockmates. That aside, having other cockatiel company has been good for her (she's currently in with 3 others: Shelby, Squeaky and Mabel, in an XL cage. The cage is taller than me! Haha). It's really brought her out of her shell and she's learnt to trust me and bond to me a bit as well, and I think that's helped stop the laying, too.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

Vickitiel said:


> That's no good  but good news that Totoro hasn't laid this year. I wouldn't "let" her lay if you can, as this can start the chronic laying process all over again and can be extremely difficult to put an end to. You want to keep her hormones as low as possible.
> 
> With my chronic egg layer, Cheeky, I had to completely take away "spring/summer" to get her to stop. A couple of years back she would lay constantly, the eggs would just land on the bottom of the cage and break and she had no interest in them but kept laying nonetheless. She would shovel all the food out of the bowls and sit in them but would never lay in them. I thought it was quite strange. I had to remove _all_ stainless steel bowls and put plastic non-round dishes in (I hate using plastic but in my country I can't find any metal bowls that aren't a round shape, which she views as a nest site just like Totoro), did a complete rearrange of the cage, new shreddable toys to keep her busy, gave long nights, took out any soft perches that she liked to rub her back end on (the rope perches are dangerous anyway if they ingest any of the material) and put in natural eucalyptus branches. Any natural safe wood branches/perches are great for them to chew on and better for their feet too.
> 
> ...


Luckily she doesn't really pleasure herself but she will "flirt" with a toy or me every once in a while. I ignore it or discourage it. Her vet would like her to stop laying all together too so she's happy she hasn't laid yet this year but she was also on board with the "letting her have a clutch or two" because it was the best way to control her at the time. Now that it looks like I might be able to keep her from laying at all (the fear before is that she would decide to lay eggs anyway even without "spring" or her "nest" bowl) then I'm more willing to try just keeping it winter all the time. 

Luckily she still mostly sees her food bowl as a food bowl and not a nest. Any time she starts to try to climb in it I chase her out and tell her no. This usually works but if she keeps trying I just take it away for a while and make sure she gets food throughout the day until her hormones calm down and then I give it back in a week or two. It works pretty well. I'm hoping that her not laying any eggs this year is a good indication that it can be controlled by keeping "winter" 24/7. I'm just hoping some day she won't be as hormonal so she doesn't have to have such long nights and short days her entire life ha ha ha.

Still have to deal with those hormones though. She's squawking loudly directly in my ear right now because I'm on the computer and not paying attention to her. The battle is mostly constantly discouraging her from nesting anywhere until those hormones settle. I wish I knew how to make them settle faster for my sanity as well as hers ha ha ha.


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