Urgent Advice for injured zebra finch leg (warning, images)

[Nissili]

I got to work yesterday, and was alerted almost immediately by a coworker that she'd just found one of the zebra finches, Jenny, in a bit of a mess. Her leg had gotten caught in the woven basket nest (which, I threw away to ensure whatever she got stuck on will never get another bird stuck) and in the process of her flailing from trying to get unstuck as she was hanging from it, she broke a blood feather on her wing and had lost a decent amount of blood.

Good news, she has a vet appointment, and last I saw her last night (and I'd have been alerted by the same coworker that found her if she'd gotten worse at all) she was perking up, drinking, and eating on her own, so as for the blood loss, she seemed to be recovering. I managed to get her as cleaned up as I could, including having to trim some blood matted feathers off the body where the wing had gotten tucked (I softened them all up with warm water until they were totally malleable first - they were trimmed for her comfort and hygiene, it was a big clump) and we gave her an unflavored pedialyte solution, as well as set up in a hospital tank. The foot and hip however, were not looking much better.
Bad news: the vet appointment isn't until tomorrow, as the avian vet that was called first to set up an emergency appointment wouldn't even pick up. The other vet (who's also a specialist) didn't have any openings until tomorrow.

Images below, please be warned that they are of what I think are a dislocated hip, and a foot that has no bloodflow.

(Hip is out of place, I don't think she can move it much.)

(feathers look extra messy because they were still a little wet, I got her dried off as best I could after the pictures and she seemed to groom a tiny bit)

(Her head is not covered, this was just the best we could do to compare the functioning leg with the other. Still pale compared to the bright orange the other zebra's have.)

(The band isn't appearing to pinch it, it slid up without any resistance. Just the clearest shot we could get of the foot.)

My question is: what can we do for her in the meantime, ie today, to make her as comfortable as possible and reduce risk of any further issue until the vet can see her tomorrow? I have until about 1 hour as of posting this before I have to go to work, but I'll be closing all night and thus able to periodically check on her, but will not have access to internet. We mulled over trying to remove the band, but we lack the tools (and I lack the experience/comfort) to do so safely, without risk of damaging her leg even more.
I'm very worried about her, and we're hoping the vet can do something to help her, even if we do not have high hopes for her foot. She has a lot of fight in her, she can still use her wings, she was beeping away earlier and is a little more tolerant of my fussing than initially, though I'd still like to minimize handling to reduce stress.

 

[Jas]

Keep her warm, soft Bedding (cotton sheets that she can't get her toes caught on), water and food in front of her, dimly lit and keep her calm.

Fingers crossed she'll be okay!


@Hankmacaw @finchly might be able to help

 

[iamwhoiam]

Move her into a smaller cage or even a carrier. Make sure that the bottom is padded with non stringy towels, non pilling fleece or layers of paper towels. Put food and water on the bottom for easy access. You can wrap perches with vet wrap or non pilling fleece to make those more comfortable for her. You may want to add a small bowl that she can get easily in and out of for a place to rest. Pad the bowl with layers of paper towels. I would cover the cage on 3 sides to keep her calm and make sure she is as free from stress as possible. I hope all will be well with her. Definitely don't try to remove the band. Best to leave that to the vet.

 

[Nissili]

Keep her warm, soft Bedding (cotton sheets that she can't get her toes caught on), water and food in front of her, dimly lit and keep her calm.

Fingers crossed she'll be okay!

I don't think we have any cotton there, but we do have paper towel lining (I rolled up a few to make some makeshift perches) and we had a little bit of carefresh paper bedding usually used for the mammals that I made a small pile of, in case she needed something else to lean on.

Move her into a smaller cage or even a carrier. Make sure that the bottom is padded with non stringy towels, non pilling fleece or layers of paper towels. Put food and water on the bottom for easy access. You can wrap perches with vet wrap or non pilling fleece to make those more comfortable for her. You may want to add a small bowl that she can get easily in and out of for a place to rest. Pad the bowl with layers of paper towels. I would cover the cage on 3 sides to keep her calm and make sure she is as free from stress as possible. I hope all will be well with her. Definitely don't try to remove the band. Best to leave that to the vet.

We went with the tank to avoid her being able to try and climb anything with her one good foot. It's currently a 10 gallon (with a mesh lid, like for a reptile) and we used a shallow reptile dish for food, and a small shallow ceramic dish with a small, brand new clean sponge piece to hold water without leaving depth she can drown in (as one of the first things she did was fall in the water dish)
I can definitely cover 3 sides when I get to work soon. We debated putting a small reptile heater on the side of the tank, but opted to not to avoid overheating her, as the room is already a pretty warm temperature (last i checked, around 74? maybe a little warmer)

 

[Birdbabe]

Oh crap! Just keep her warm, and quiet, your doing everything you can. Dont worry about the heater, shes ok with the temp, cooler is better now, her body is working hot anyways since shes injured. Hope shes gonna be ok.

 

[iamwhoiam]

I don't think we have any cotton there, but we do have paper towel lining (I rolled up a few to make some makeshift perches) and we had a little bit of carefresh paper bedding usually used for the mammals that I made a small pile of, in case she needed something else to lean on.



We went with the tank to avoid her being able to try and climb anything with her one good foot. It's currently a 10 gallon (with a mesh lid, like for a reptile) and we used a shallow reptile dish for food, and a small shallow ceramic dish with a small, brand new clean sponge piece to hold water without leaving depth she can drown in (as one of the first things she did was fall in the water dish)
I can definitely cover 3 sides when I get to work soon. We debated putting a small reptile heater on the side of the tank, but opted to not to avoid overheating her, as the room is already a pretty warm temperature (last i checked, around 74? maybe a little warmer)

The tank/terrariums can work out well but make sure she doesn't try to fly at the glass. May want to put some stickers on a few areas. Spee was in a 5 gallon terrarium for the first few mos. of his life. Worked out until he started flying at the glass and tapping on it with his beak and then doing his angry cackling sound. I had been slowly transitioning him from the terrarium to a cage and, due to being very busy, did not do that for 3 days and on the third day he was ANGRY. I knew that it was time to fully transition him to the cage. Flying at the glass was scary and that is why I am suggesting the stickers but it depends on what you observe with her. She may not do that.

 

[Nissili]

The tank/terrariums can work out well but make sure she doesn't try to fly at the glass. May want to put some stickers on a few areas. Spee was in a 5 gallon terrarium for the first few mos. of his life. Worked out until he started flying at the glass and tapping on it with his beak and then doing his angry cackling sound. I had been slowly transitioning him from the terrarium to a cage and, due to being very busy, did not do that for 3 days and on the third day he was ANGRY. I knew that it was time to fully transition him to the cage. Flying at the glass was scary and that is why I am suggesting the stickers but it depends on what you observe with her. She may not do that.

yes - I used my dry erase marker on the outside of the glass to both leave a note about the water depth for other coworkers, and to help make it more visible to her that there's a barrier.
I've got a lot of stickers in my backpack (dollar store had some stars and rainbows, okay) so I can use some of those.

 

[Hankmacaw]

About the only other thing you can do, if you have anything, is give her something for pain and swelling. Metacam would be best, because it is a very good anti-inflammatory. I personally would not give her any perches that she may be able to fall off and twist that leg any more.

 

[finchly]

No perches . Line the bottom of the cage with anything soft you can fine. Used a very small cage and possibly make a little “nest “out of the paper toweling to hold her in place. Clip the wings if you have to

 

[finchly]

Temp needs to be 80° or more

 

[Nissili]

Update: The vet called back, and she was brought in on an emergency appointment. So far, they said she's looking better, they amputated the leg and gave her a cast, and set her up in incubation - they're keeping her for observation to ensure she's stable and not going to bleed anymore before they send her back our way (most likely with something for pain, if not I can ask the in-house vet about metacam, which I know they have as it's been prescribed for a hamster before who had a similar leg issue.) and so far, she looks otherwise pretty healthy and alert, so I have high hopes for her. I'll make sure when I get back in tomorrow that they've set up a thermometer and a small heater of some sort, but I'll alert the general group now to make sure someone gets the memo so hopefully it's done before I get there in the afternoon.

Thank you all for the advice - I'm so glad to say her future is hopefully a very positive one. I'll be personally looking into setups for birds/finches missing a foot, and informing all my coworkers, so when it comes time to adopt her out, we can ensure whoever does take her knows how to make an appropriate setup that will be safe for her and give her the best life providable.

 

[finchly]

That is wonderful news. Thanks for the update.

You will be surprised at how well she adapts. Several members here have birds with one foot or leg. @Garet is one...

 

[iamwhoiam]

Thank you for the update and hoping all will be well. My house sparrow, Spee, is not missing any legs but his legs don't function. He has been this way his entire life. Hope all will be well with your finch! Great that you were able to get her in quickly.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I’m glad she will be okay, and your doing such a great job taking care of her!