What should be in a bird's first aid kit?

Question

lately in my area there's been some "natural disasters". they aren't bad enough to evacuate or anything, but i just want to be ready. what should be in an avian first-aid kit?

Answer 1

Since you never know when an accident will happen, keeping a pet emergency kit at your home is a good idea. You can put a first aid kit together yourself and buy the items separately, or buy one ready-made. If you make one yourself, use a small plastic tub with a tight fitting lid to store the following items:

Important Phone Numbers

• Veterinary clinic phone number and directions to the clinic

• Emergency clinic phone number and directions

• Poison control center phone numbers

Equipment and Supplies

• Magnifying glass

• Scissors

• Tweezers

• Nail clippers and metal nail file

• Styptic powder or sticks, Kwik Stop, or cornstarch

• Penlight

• Scalpel blades and handles

• Turkey baster

• Eye dropper

• Syringes of various sizes

• Feeding tubes of various sizes (if you are trained in how to use them)

• Lubricant such as mineral oil or KY Jelly (without spermicide)

• Cotton swabs

• Clean cloths and/or paper toweling

• Disposable gloves

• Stethoscope

• Gram scale

• Needle-nose pliers or hemostats

• Wire cutters

• Net

• Towels for restraint and/or to cover cage

• Pet carrier

• Heating pad or heat lamp to use at home

• Home thermometer to measure temperature of bird's environment

• Heat pack or hot water bottle (to keep the bird warm during transport; wrap the pack in a towel - do not apply directly to your bird, or burns may result)

Bandaging Materials

• Square gauze of various sizes - some sterile

• Non-stick pads

• First aid tape - both paper (easily comes off of skin and feathers, or use masking tape) and adhesive types

• Bandage rolls - gauze and Vetwrap

• Wooden sticks of various sizes for splints - tongue depressors, Popsicle sticks, toothpicks

• Stockinette

• Gel foam - stops bleeding from wounds (ask your avian veterinarian)

• Band-Aids (for humans)

Nutritional Support

• Rehydrating solution such as Gatorade or Pedialyte

Medicines*

• Wound disinfectant such as Betadine or Nolvasan

• Triple antibiotic ointment for skin

• Antibiotic ophthalmic ointment for eyes, e.g., Terramycin

• Eye wash solution

• Sterile saline

*Watch the expiration dates on any medication, and replace as needed.

Answer 2

Here's some great advice on this with lists;

http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/firsta...

http://www.busybeaks.com/Avian1stAidKit....

http://www.bizrate.com/birdsupplies/bird...

And another good resource to ask this is http://www.happybirdy.com

Answer 3

Blessed be!  Good thinking.

I suggest some food and water, Kwik Stop, treats, a couple toys, a flashlight and a cage cover.

Answer 4

Here is an article with a bird first aid kit listed:

http://www.quakerparrots.com/health/firs...

The powder (first thing on the list) is very important but you can use corn starch instead. That is the only thing on the list that I have had to use.

Answer 5

Quote from Starling Talk ......

""    *  A card which has written on it the phone numbers & addresses of our avian vets and a 24-hour emergency vet - (always given to Grandma when she babysits.)

    * Several old clean soft towels, small & large sizes, and paper towels

    * Cotton, q-tips, gauze pads, rolled gauze, bandage tape, and vet wrap (except for the vet wrap, same items found in our human first aid kit.)

    * Scissors

    * Very tiny flashlight (mostly used to look inside mouths/throats of starlings who swallowed something they shouldn't have.)

    * 2 syringes for administering antibiotics from our vet (or for squirting the antibiotics onto the wall when the bird receiving them didn't cooperate.)

    * Small bottle of saline solution - (only used so far for rinsing out human eyes that have had antibiotics slung in them by an irate bird)

    * Povidone iodine - Betadine (makes beautiful designs when splattered on my shirt, face and arm by an injured bird who doesn't want it on him.)

    * Neosporin (seldom used but makes me feel good having it anyway.)

    * Big container of cornstarch --Great for stopping bleeding! (and for making the vet laugh when I walk in with it smeared all over both me and an angry bird.)

    * DMSO - Verrry good for inflammation (but don't use it without gloves, or you'll begin to smell like it!)

    * Cheap plastic gloves for handling DMSO

    * A&D ointment (used with the DMSO for Stormy's legs)

    * 1 bottle of Pedialyte, unflavored

    * Needle nose pliers, hemostat & tweezers - (choices for when we must deal with cockatiel or budgie blood feathers.)

    * Magnifying glass (& magnifying reading glasses for Ralph who can never find his glasses when he has to pull a blood feather)

    * Band-aids - (for whomever Taco, Buster or Tabby decides to bite when we're pulling one of their blood feathers.)

    * Bird nail clippers, scissor type

    * Box of Kleenex - (for the birdie mom here who usually has a good cry after dealing with a bird emergency.)

Not in the box, but on shelf nearby ---

    * Hot water bottle (for keeping a sick bird warm on the way to the vet)

    * Heating pad (an old one used only for our birds)

    * Small cage we refer to as our "sick bird" cage. (It makes it easier for us to care for an ailing bird in this cage instead of in a flight cage.)

    * 2 carriers with a clean towel in each, ready to go (we've had to take more than one bird to the vet at once.)

Lastly, I keep several aloe vera plants growing to use for minor skin irritations on birds. And I keep chocolate on hand to calm birdie mom down after her good cry following emergencies.""""

>>baytril, """masking tape and a stapler, (used to stabilize fractures)"""