Scary incident with my bird...

[VIcky Chai Tea]

Oh my god, this morning was the worst morning of my liiiiiife. I woke up late, then lounged around in bed for a bit. The birds are in our room and covered at night. Well I was in bed when I heard Avenger (my parrotlet) yell and fluff around. It was definitely a pained noise and it scared me so I jumped up and pulled the cover off. He was in a corner of his cage and puffed up and holding his wing funny. I took him out and looked at him and he was bleeding from his wing. I started freaking out and ran into the kitchen to get something to clot the blood with, but I panicked and forgot what I should use so I ran back into the room crying my eyes out to my boyfriend. We quickly went to the closest pet store (my workplace, actually. Less then 5 minutes away, thank God) and bought some quick blood stop stuff (gel form). We rushed home and I saw him on the bottom of his cage, still poofed up and shaking. He still had energy which was good, so I took him out and held him while my boyfriend put the quick stop on, though the blood had mostly clotted by the time we got it on.

He's fine now, thank GOD. He drank a lot which is to be expected. He ate, and has all of his energy but I am keeping an eye on him like a hawk. I cried the entiiiiiiire morning, non stooooop. It was awful, I was so upset! I haven't cried that much in a long time.

*sigh* So I have so questions. I know there are a million ways he could have hurt himself, but which one is the most likely? Did he pluck a blood feather? It was the very 1st flight feather that was bleeding. Yes, he is clipped and the feather was barely there. Did he catch it in something?

I'm just so shaken by the entire thing, it broke my heart into a million pieces to see him hurt.

[Jinx n Noodle]

That is a scary thing! If it was a blood feather, then the feather should be completely removed or it may bleed later on. You can usually tell a blood feather from the others, because the shaft of the feather is darker (full of blood), whereas when fully mature, they're white and hollow.

Otherwise, my tiel does it a lot where she catches her wings on something or a noise freaks her out and bangs her wing on the side of the cage... there's always a bit of blood, but usually stops when I apply some direct pressure. One time I freaked out, because it wasn't stopping like normal and I took her to the vet; but the time I got there, it had already stopped. She's usually quiet for a day or so after, but is back to her normal self... though she will cry when she's preening the sore area.

I hope Avenger feels better soon!

[VIcky Chai Tea]

Removed? How would I do that?

Thanks for the info.

[enborgle]

Oh dear! I am so sorry to hear that Avenger was hurting. How scary for you.
I think the best course of action is to get him to a vet - you don't want to attempt to pull a blood feather on your own without first being shown how, or there could be some structural damage to the wing. Let us know how you make out!

[kiwismom]

Oh no, poor Avenger. I'm glad she's better now with your care.

[Honeybird]

Awww poor guy! I have never heard of birds plucking blood feathers on their own. I think normally they just break off by accident. Also, I believe flour can be used to stop bleeding if there is no quickstop available.

[Bodie]

OMG things like that are so scary. So far Bodie has never done that. Maybe he got it caught on something and injured it trying to get loose. Glad to hear he is feeling better.

[VIcky Chai Tea]

I was considering taking him to a vet just to make sure he's ok... He's doing fine today and you'd have no idea what happened yesterday if you looked at him. I took him out and he was fine but I know how fast they can go downhill.

[Jinx n Noodle]

Wouldn't hurt to have him looked at, especially if you don't know how to pull a blood feather or whether or not a blood feather is affected. It would at least give you peace of mind.

I'm glad to hear that he's doing better :)

[BirdMa]

Poor little Avenger. Glad he is doing better. <<<<scritches>>>> to him.