Canary advice. Urgent please.?

Question

Hello,

The other day i noticed that my canary seemed to have an infected claw. It was caked in a sort of black goo, i bathed it a few times and managed to get most of the black off but now the claw seems very decomposed and i think it will fall off soon. The only way i can describe it is that it looks like a tiny thin twig, its black all over and is much thinner to the other claws.

The bird itself is now standing on his claw but every now and again he is holding it up. He doesn't seem in pain but he does seem uncomfortable.

The only cause of this i can think of is that recently i added a few apple tree branches into the cage as i was told these are very good for canaries.

I was considering taking him to the vet but i do not want to cause him any more stress.

If anyone has experianced a similar case to this any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Sorry to tell you but you are too late the claw will fall off !!

All yo can do now is make sure that your bird has a bath to prevent this happening again .

To help this put 3-4 drops of T.C.P. 1/2.pnt.warm water you can either spray your birds foot or let it bathe in the water.

The cause of what has happened to your bird is quite simple there has been an accumulation of it's droppings and dirt on your birds foot,this has then become infected,hence the damage it has caused.(there may have been a bug on the twigs so wash them in a solution of the above before you give them to your birds,)

I would not bother taken it to a vet as the above treatment should clear your problem,I have kept birds for 40+years and have applied this treatment with every success.

It may loose a claw but will not loose it's life.

Answer 2

my bird had similar thing on one toe,but i took him to the vets he got antibiotics,and is getting better now,,,take to the vet befor it gets infected

Answer 3

i'm no expert on birs so i would say take him 2 a vet i won't cause him any stress nd deres no point tryin 2 attempt any thing urself if u don't no wa ur doin

Answer 4

Take him to an avian vet.  Sure, it'll be stressful, but that's only temporary, and if his toe stays like that, he will stay stressed because it's definitely not comfortable (likely more painful than he's letting you know; birds hide feelings of unwellness), and this might be an infection that could take his foot and even his life if allowed to progress far enough.