Budgie hurt foot need advice

[somethingigottause]

Today is day five since he's been injured. I'm still waiting it out and I was rereading some comments again and I'm glad one said that if he is able to put his foot down its not broken. As for improvement I'm not sure. Some times I look at it and it looks like it's getting better (for instance if he's just sitting still he'll have his bad foot slightly rested on the perch) but then other times I'll look at it in different lighting or just throughout the day and it'll look awful. Well I guess that's an exaggeration since my worry messes with my perception. But it's so awful just waiting around and if I could've I would just take him to the vet already (would've took him there day 1 if it was possible.) But one relief is that he can still put his leg down sometimes. 

[budgiebudgie]

somethingigottause, I can understand your anxiety. The not knowing is the worst bit. By day five, my budgie (who injured her toe) was not holding her foot up quite as awkwardly as at the beginning. There had been clear improvement since day one. BUT, she was still obviously uncomfortable putting her full weight down on the foot and hence she wasn't putting her full weight on the foot at day five. It took about a fortnight for her to be pretty-much back to normal. If she had broken the leg she'd be unable to move around - for example, she'd be unable to get to her seed, etc, so it does sound as though a sprain or bruise. I can't add much more because I've only got my own experience to go on. I hope he continues to improve. See how he is by the weekend. Meanwhile, make sure he's warm as it's going to be cold overnight. Wishing you both well.

[Deleted]

I agree that if he is moving his leg the chances of having a broken leg is fairly slim.
Because the bird can not be properly examined, the actual damage will never really be known without a vets report.
Even with humans a bruise can take several weeks to fully heal, if it is a strain or bruising in the thigh/leg muscles etc the recovery can take a little longer, so please be patient.

He is eating, drinking etc which are good signs, don't expect chirping etc until he feels a bit better
Keep us all informed on his progress.

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2016 19:19:32 GMT @shewbert said:

I agree that if he is moving his leg the chances of having a broken leg is fairly slim.
Because the bird can not be properly examined, the actual damage will never really be known without a vets report.
Even with humans a bruise can take several weeks to fully heal, if it is a strain or bruising in the thigh/leg muscles etc the recovery can take a little longer, so please be patient.

He is eating, drinking etc which are good signs, don't expect chirping etc until he feels a bit better
Keep us all informed on his progress.

Sorry budgiebudgie we were typing the same advice at the same time

[somethingigottause]

Oh he's been chirping since day 1! Ahah, but that's probably cause I would check on him a ton and talk to him a lot more. (Although he didnt chirp in the morning on day 1.) He hops to move around if you're wondering. (I mean there are times when he shimmies a bit with his bad foot but not too much) I would mark today down as an improvement because he's been resting his bad foot very close to the perch. (I think I mentioned in one of my replies that it's kinda like he's hovering it over the perch, which he did do a day or two ago but today he'd do it more frequently when sitting) And thanks your budgie story is nice to know since his foot-holding-up position has been slightly changing! I've been trying to keep the room warm ever since I read that they have a hard time keeping themselves warm when they're injured. I will add an update tomorrow for day six! 

[Hezz]

The more active he is during the day, the more you are going to notice him favouring the foot; it will get tired and sore, just like trying to use a sprained ankle or bruised foot - you can do a little on it and then it starts to hurt again. Try keeping him relatively quiet so that the foot or leg has time to heal.

[somethingigottause]

Today is day six and he's improved! He's not even holding his foot up much anymore, he rests it slightly on the perch. Sometimes he'll even have it curled around the perch a bit but he rests it on there more than having it fully curled around. He still preferres to hop around than walk though. Will update tomorrow for day seven and I feel like that'll be the last day for an update but we shall see. Thanks for the help along the way.

[Marianne Marlow]

I'm glad he's improved, are you going to stick with us though?

[budgiebudgie]

in stickness and in health?

[somethingigottause]

Stick with this forum site? Yes probably. It comes in handy for times like these. Unless you meant something else? 

[somethingigottause]

Today is day 8. I didn't update yesterday for day 7 because I felt like I'd be repeating myself. I think he's improved but because of that he's become more reckless which is a bit scary cause his leg/foot still has its troubles. He rests it lightly on the perch without curling it around. This makes it not resemble his good foot which makes me think it's broken but he is still able to set it down. Which makes me think it could be an entirely different problem but alas I won't know for sure. Makes me wonder how bad his leg/foot pain is. (Sometimes I think he's just getting used to having a bad foot because an animal can probably adapt to it once they realize it's not a problem that can go away) I don't know. I was trying to get a new pic today but it's only morning. Maybe I'll try again later. His leg still looks weird to me. He still uses his good foot and beak to try to turn around on the perch. Maybe he has some problem where he can't curl his toes/feet around anything anymore? When he recklessly climbs the sides of the cage he relies on his good foot and uses his wings to get high up while his bad leg just kinda hangs like he can't really use it to his advantage anymore. I'm not an expert and I'm trying not to exaggerate how his foot looks because of my worry. I'll see if I can get good pics and will see if day 9 is worth an update.

[mintysowner]

I've read this thread and it sounds v similar to how my little Minty was, he had a bad leg and for the last few years of his life he would never be able to grip with it, just rest it on a perch. He hurt it somehow and it just never got better but he got by and still had a very happy life. There wasn't much that could be done for him apart from the natural bird company made special perches for him so he could have his foot flat at times or a curved perch so it would support his foot more, as he ended up having bumblefoot as well. I do think it would be wise to see an avian vet to make sure he isn't in pain though. Also some birds who sprain their foot do recover so it may be it just needs rest.
Feel free to PM if you'd like me to show you Minty's special perches

[somethingigottause]

Thanks for reading! I'm not sure how to PM/haven't explored this website long enough to know how to do most things. I know how to post since that's all I've been coming on here for so far. My budgie should be a little under a year or maybe a little over I'm not sure. Also before this forum when I was searching for anything related to a budgie hurting its foot I did come across bumblefoot. I examined his foot for anything like it and it doesn't look like it. Although I will not exclude it 100% since it could be possible. I wanna get him to a vet but the main problem would be money. (I know avian vets are usually far away but that doesn't seem to be the biggest concern unless it's something urgent.) Anyway the thing is it might take another week or two to be able to get him to the vet in the first place and another problem is that it's not entirely up to me. I feel like even if a week or two would pass and I could get him to the vet by that time someone might say it's no use (I'm talking about my family) because to them I feel like they wouldn't care/examine him enough because he can put his foot down now so to them it might look fine. Although I would hope in two weeks he improves. Thanks for mentioning your budgie because I'm glad to know he can be fine if something like this won't go away :-) Other things I've noticed today are: He does seem more relaxed with how to get around. And I've never mentioned this on here because it's hard to explain but he's done it a lot today: he'll leave his foot smushed up against the back of the perch/ dangling it but not holding it up , which looks uncomfortable but good footed budgies can curl their entire foot. What made me worried is that his bad foot doesn't look leveled the same (probably because he doesn't curl it.) Like his foot bone(the middle where all his feet connect i don't know what it's called) is more prominent and one of his back feet stick out more almost as if it's crooked. I would say it looks broken but he does use his foot occasionally. I don't know what to make of it. I tried to get a pic but I couldn't get any good ones. 

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Its a bad pic and the website cut it a bit. I'll try to get good ones tomorrow. I'll see if any things new tomorrow for an update (day 9.)

[somethingigottause]

Today is day 9.

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I would say he improved. The bad foot is on the left which is his right in the pictures. I hope you guys can see the difference in how he rests it compared to his good foot? 

[mintysowner]

Is he eating and drinking ok? I'm not saying he has bumblefoot by the way I just meant my Minty developed it because he was on plastic perches and had a bad foot so a lot of pressure went on the good foot, if that makes sense!

If I'm honest I think you should discuss this with your family as I feel it's unfair to leave a budgie suffering if you cannot afford to take it to the vets, it's a commitment when buying any animal really.. it would be unfair to leave him if he is in pain, or if anything else ever happened to your budgies in the future. The forum is only for advice and shouldn't be used instead of going to see a vet/avian vet.