Budgie's broken blood feather won't stop bleeding

[Emma O'Donnell]

Hello,
My budgie, snowflake, has been cage bound for three weeks under veterinarian's orders. He had a fractured wing that needed to heal. Today was the day that he was allowed to come out of the cage and play, but yesterday he managed to escape his cage. I let him stay out and play for a little while, then put him back in the cage and taped the entrances so he wouldn't escape. I left the room for a while and when I came back, he had a broken blood feather on the same wing that had just healed from a fracture! .
So I found the blood feather and removed it with tweezers, then put cornstarch on his wing and I was able to get the bleeding to stop. However, I don't think I got the entire blood feather out! I fear I made things worse this morning I let him come out of the cage while I monitered him closely, and he started to bleed again!! I put more corn starch on his wing and now he is in the cage. I wanted to take him to the vet but my parents won't take him since he just went three weeks ago. I'm only 16 and I don't even have my license yet so I can't take him myself.
Does anyone have any tips on how I can keep him from bleeding again? Did I pull out the wrong feather maybe?
I'm scared that pulling it made things worse, but everywhere I look online websites either say to ALWAYS pull it or to NEVER pull it! In the past I've always pulled them and then he's okay. But this time it's bad I have to work tonight and I won't be able to moniter for about four hours since I'll be at work. I'm afraid he might start bleeding again while I'm gone!
How do you guys deal with blood feathers? Have you ever had any that continue bleeding for this long? It started last night and stopped but then started bleeding again this morning.
Thank you so much! Also please don't leave any hate if I made things worse by pulling it, I feel so horrible now, I was just trying to help him BUT if that did make things worse then please tell me so I don't do it again!!

 

[finchly]

You have to really PACK the cornstarch. He's probably moving around and messing it up.

Please tell your parents this is truly an emergency. He can die (very quickly) if you don't get him to the vet. Birds don't have very much blood in their teeny bodies. Also tell them they need to get you some Kwik stop or other product to stop bleeding better.

I have never been brave enough to pull one! You are brave!

 

[Emma O'Donnell]

Will do!!

 

[tka]

I agree with @finchly. Please stress to your parents that you've done all you can and that he needs to see a vet now.

You really have tried your best. Please don't beat yourself up about this!

 

[Zara]

Just for future reference, or anyone browsing the forum, when a blood feather breaks, before pulling it, it is best to try the cornstarch.

Like Tanya said, really pack on the cornstarch and gently hold it on the bleeding area.

You tried your best to fix this at home, but if it isn´t working then the bird will need the vet. I´m sure your parents will understand.

Nobody will leave you hate. Broken blood feathers can happen to any of our birds.

Good luck

 

[taxidermynerd]

He needs to see the vet ASAP. Budgies are tiny and don't have much blood to lose- They can bleed out very quickly. Please stress to your parents that if he does not see the vet now, he WILL die. Any time my budgie busts a blood feather, it's a trip to the vet, no questions asked. Most of the time they won't charge if it's just to pull a blood feather, at least with the vet I see (as well as the ER).

It is better to have an alive bird and slightly less money than to have the same amount of money and a dead bird.

I know you are doing the best you can right now and I hope your parents come around to see things properly.

 

[iamwhoiam]

If you can't get the bleeding to stop then you do need to get him to the vet. If he is picking on the area and opening it up again so it bleeds something will need to be done to prevent him from picking there and a vet can take care of that.
To stop bleeding you need to pack with cornstarch or Kwik Stop and then apply some pressure. However, to reiterate, if it keeps opening up and bleeding then you need to get your budgie to the vet.

 

[Emma O'Donnell]

Thank you everyone for the replies so far he hasn't been bleeding for about four hours. He's in a mini cage right now to keep him from flapping his wings too much, if he starts to bleed again I will insist to get him to the vet

 

[Emma O'Donnell]

UPDATE: Snowy started to bleed again, so my parents took him to an animal hospital (the avian vet was closed). They wanted to give him anestisia to remove the blood feather and charge 400-600 dollars! Goodness But, for no cost, they made us a little "cone" to keep him from picking at his wing. Luckily, though, my mom might let me take him in the avian vet; we're confident he would be able to help, and at a more reasonable cost.

 

[Zara]

charge 400-600 dollars!

For removing a blood feather?! Holy cow

Hopefully you can get him to the avian vet tomorrow.
The cone should help ´til then, but remember he can still bang or catch the feather on his cage etc.

Snowy

What an adorable name

 

[taxidermynerd]

There should be no need for anesthesia to remove a blood feather, every time I have taken Chirp to have one removed they did it without. There is also no way it should cost 500 dollars or anything near that. If anything it should just be the cost of the visit. It sounds to me like this vet was trying to pull something on you.

I hope you can get to the avian vet and get this settled.

 

[iamwhoiam]

I hope the cone helps. Strange that they wanted to anesthetize him. No need for that.
Was this an ER/after hours visit. They generally charge more for procedures and exams but still no anesthetic is necessary for pulling blood feathers. I've pulled those multiple times and last time I had to rush my bird to vet to get one pulled because he wouldn't stop bleeding and I couldn't locate the source, vet didn't use any anesthesia.

 

[Fergus Mom]

@Emma O'Donnell How is he doing now? I hope the bleeding has stopped completely!

 

[Emma O'Donnell]

I am so sorry for forgetting about this thread! An update: He is okay and he hasn't bled for over a week, so I think the blood feather gone or has healed! He's preened his wing so it looks much cleaner and the dried blood is gone. My boy is alright!

 

[Zara]

Glad to hear Snowflake is doing well

 

[Fergus Mom]

I am so sorry for forgetting about this thread! An update: He is okay and he hasn't bled for over a week, so I think the blood feather gone or has healed! He's preened his wing so it looks much cleaner and the dried blood is gone. My boy is alright!

That's GREAT Emma. So glad to hear this.

 

[oddyssea]

Blood feather breakages sure can be scary, I’m glad Snowflake is doing better