Hi All,
Last night I noticed Frankie was only perching on his right foot and holding his left foot up, but not in a "fist" like he usually does when he is content. His foot was spread out and looked rigid. When I looked closer I saw what appeared to be a sort of a 'blood blister' on his inside right toe near the nail.
Frankie is able to step up, and put some pressure on this foot, but he cannot move it enough to grab the cage bar, or a smaller perch.
We are going to the vet this evening to have it looked like. Has anyone else ever experienced something similar to this? If so, what was the cause of the affliction and how was it managed?
Thanks in advance for any help anyone is able to provide!

Hi,

I hope frankie is doing ok. prayers are with you both.

I am glad you are taking frankie to the vet. I have only seen on incident in a bird (it wasnt mine it was a shelter bird) where he did actually have what appeared to be a blister on his foot and I held him as the vet drained it and she noticed there was a foreign object that needed to be removed that was like a splinter (I think it was a small piece of wood that had came off one of his toys) once that was done it took a few days for the bird to heal and then he was back to normal. Keep us posted on what the vet says about frankie.

Poor lil guy....let us know what the vet says....i sure hope it's nothing too bad and he'll heal up quickly!

Thanks for the good thoughts ... I hope he heals quickly, too. His appetite is good, and he wanted his morning bath, so hopefully those are good signs.

I'll let everyone know the diagnosis in the morning.

Could he have possibly got it caught on his cage someway?
In any case, it sounds like he's doing good..Looking for a good report from your vet...

Rebecca

Otis has a small red mark on his foot. He had it when I got him. It's a very reliable pet store, and they said they had a vet examine it and it's no big deal. He can move it fully, and it doesn't hurt or impair him in the slightest bit. I figure if he ever gets lost, I can use that to help I.D. him.

Click to view attachment

Well here is the deal with Mr. Frankie's foot ...

The vet said that it is too swollen to tell if it is broken without doing xrays right now. She recommended we wrap the foot (in a "cold" bandage made of pig intestines, covered with vet wrap and tape) and give him an anti-inflamatory orally, a pain killer which is liquid in a syringe, and an antibiotic orally to treat the topical injury on the top of his foot (he had missing scales and a slight abrasion).

We are to go back Monday morning to have the wrap removed and see if the swelling has gone down and then have the xrays taken if needed, and the chronic reduction done if the foot is broken.

So far he is doing quite well with the bandage and not chewing on it, and he is as active as ever, though he is needing to be a bit more creative on how to climb around.

Here is a pic of my little guy all bandaged up

awww he still looks adorable with the wrap on. What a good little patient he is. Wishing frankie a rapid healing.
hugs
IMPy

What a little trooper!!!!!! is it hard to get him to take the meds? i'm glad he's going to be ok! what a cutie!!!!

So far it hasn't been difficult to get him to take the meds. The antibiotic goes in his water, so i dissolved it in a bowl last night, and gave him half this morning, and will give him the other half tonight (Frankie tends to relieve himself in his water dish). The oral meds are easy to mix with a treat (this morning it was peanut butter) and the one in the syringe tastes good to him, so he gobbles it up. I really couldn't ask for a better patient!!

Tonight I am treating him to his favorite ... mashed potatoes and gravy! He will never know the meds are in there!

Pig intestines, huh? Interesting bandage..LOL!!! poor pig...

I hope he will be fine..When Joy's foot was broken, they put it in a splint that looked like a large paper clip...we took all the perches out and put towels on the grate bottom, so she could get around without getting the splint caught in the grates...

Rebecca

I am glad that Frankie is doing better. I have to ask the same question as Rebecca....Pig!! Poor Pig! Just kidding.......

I have heard that if you have sand or cement perches that you need to make sure that they are NOT the ones they mostly perch on. Just something to think about.......

That's a good point, Sandi, and I had heard that before too. We do not have any sand perches, but Frankie does have two cement perches in his cage along with his flagstone slab rock perch, and wooden perches. He spends most of the time on the flatstone, and both of the cement perches are in areas that he just "travels" by ... not main areas where he perches to access his toys and treats.

I actually read that in "Parrots for Dummies", but it didn't offer a thorough explanation as to why. I just assumed it was the texture that may cause calluses or blisters ...

Can anyone offer more insight to this?