Urgent Trauma to cockatiel head

[Soar]

Hey everyone,

Earlier today my cockatiel got spooked from something and ended up flying frantically until she ended up crashing and I guess hit her head. There is now a tiny bald spot around one eye and a little bit of blood is visible, and there's also a small red spot between her nostrils. Both are shown in the pictures below.

I've already scheduled an appointment with the vet, but some other opinions would be appreciated.

Has anyone had an experience with this before? The bald spot and blood has me worried, and it seems likely to be become of the flying accident. I'm curious to know the likelihood of it being her losing the feathers from a bump, and that it's likely nothing something else like mites or an infection considering I only noticed it after her accident.

Thanks for taking the time to help!

 

[janicedyh]

Not mites. How is she acting? Seems to look pretty alert in the picture.

 

[pawfectly]

If she is eating and acting alert, she may be OK. Is she clipped?

I ask because Ahmed was clipped severely when he came to me and cannot fly. He also tries to fly when spooked and always crashes into things.

A vet visit would be a good precaution.

 

[Soar]

Not mites. How is she acting? Seems to look pretty alert in the picture.

That's good to hear. She slept afterwards but came to no surprise considering she had a good bath earlier, and all that flying and stress must have tuckered her out. Afterwards she was acting normal; eating, playing, asking for scritches.

 

[Soar]

If she is eating and acting alert, she may be OK. Is she clipped?

I ask because Ahmed was clipped severely when he came to me and cannot fly. He also tries to fly when spooked and always crashes into things.

A vet visit would be a good precaution.

She's eating and acting alert. Overall acting normal. She's not clipped, and I personally have no intention of that changing.

The lack of feathers around her eye just has me spooked, as it's something that I've never seen before with any of my birds.

 

[janicedyh]

How long have you had your bird? If recently, have you had him to the vet yet?

 

[Soar]

How long have you had your bird? If recently, have you had him to the vet yet?

I've had her for about a year. I've taken her to the vet twice, one for a general checkup last year and another in January for a checkup and blood tests. Everything turned out great.

 

[simon777]

Any head trauma can cause concussion. After Simon crashed into a window I picked him up and spoke softly to him while closing the curtains, then we sat quietly while I carefully looked at his pupils for signs of opening/closing over and over. I kept him calm for the rest of the day. The next day we went to the avian vet to check if he was okay. I told her what I had done after the accident. The avian vet said I had done the correct thing.

 

[sunnysmom]

If she doesn't seem dazed or confused, she's probably fine but seeing a vet of course is always safest. My cockatiel had a couple nasty crashes when he was relearning how to fly but was fine. It's definitely scary when it happens.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

My cockatiel, Cappuccino, flies like a champ, but still occasionally freaks out and once in a while crashes because she starts going so fast. She’s a maniac lol. She has nicked her face before, and her feathers grew back. It’s so scary when they do that, but I think your little one will be fine, just keep an eye on her.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Hope all will be well with your 'tiel. I assume you have been monitoring her. Watch for changes in behavior, changes in balance and head position, lethargy and decreased eating and drinking. Let us know how she is doing.