Bleeding scratches on cheek

[ckpk]

Hi all, I'm a first time budgie owner who bought a pair of budgies around 5 months ago, Hum and Whistle.

For the most part they seem happy and healthy so far, but one concern is that a few times over that period Whistle has had dried blood on his right cheek from what looks like a small cut (unfortunately I don't have any photos of this).

It's around the area that Whistle scratches when he's itching his head with his foot, so I think it comes from him scratching his cheek with a talon when vigorously itching his cheek. His nails look OK to me and not in need of clipping.

It's also possible they could come from something in the cage, but I don't think I have much in there that could do this, although I often have twigs and small branches from a eucalyptus tree.

Either way, what are your opinions of these kind of scratches? Does this happen sometimes as part of normal budgie behaviour?
Whistle doesn't seem to behave differently when he's had these cuts so I don't think it bothers him, but I'm concerned that it's hurting him, or it could be a sign of something else unhealthy with him.

Thanks very much!

[clt80]

It's hard to guess, but I have had the odd budgie peck at a branch, find a sharp bit then run their head on it and cause a tiny bleed.

There are definitely no sharp bits on his nail? If the cut is where he scratches with his foot I'd of thought the nail would be the offending article.

Does he have pin feather? Maybe he is scratching/rubbing his head too hard to ease the itch from them.

[Marianne Marlow]

My guess (without photos) would be that he had a pink pinfeather (one that is not quite ready for the feather to come through) and it bled when he scratched it.

[ckpk]

Thanks for the replies, pin feathers sound possible as he’s definitely had pin feathers coming through recently and once or twice before that.

If that’s the case, should I be concerned about Whistle potentially giving himself a nastier injury? Ive seen the advice pages that mention what happens if a blood feather is damaged, and it sounds like it could be worse than the small scabs he’s had so far.

[Hezz]

No, don't worry so much. Just be prepared and know what you need to do if it happens. Considering the amount of feathers moulted out each year and the number of broken blood feathers that happen, the chances are good that you will not have to worry about this.

[ckpk]

Phew, that's good to know, thank you

[ckpk]

Whistle's just had another, particularly nasty cut on his cheek, and I've got some photos this time.

He hasn't had any scratches for a little while (at least none very noticeable), which seemed to coincide with having no pin feathers on his head, but then I took the cover off this morning and he had this nasty scratch.

Again, he isn't behaving differently other than trying a bit harder to clean his feathers, so he doesn't seem too affected by it.
However I'm still not sure how exactly he gets these cuts.

Could it be that he scratched at a pin feather when it was coming through at one point in the past, and he's been repeatedly picking at a scab since then?
To my eye he doesn't look like he has pin feathers at the moment.

I'm going to take him to a vet this weekend so they can check him, but my concern is I'm not sure what to do to stop these cuts from happening, particularly as it usually seems to happen when they have the cover over the cage at night.

[Hezz]

That doesn't look nice, at all. You can help him clean up with a little lukewarm water and put a bit of Savlon on it if you can. Check out everything in the cage, run your hands over everything to make sure there is not something you have missed that he might be rubbing his head on. If you can't pin it down to a particular toy or part of the cage, perches etc, then the only other thing in the cage is Hum. You might need to spend a few months with them sleeping in separate cages and note whether it happens again or not. I guess you don't hear any squabbling going on during the night that might explain the scratches??

[ckpk]

Feb 1, 2018 19:46:01 GMT Hezz said:

That doesn't look nice, at all. You can help him clean up with a little lukewarm water and put a bit of Savlon on it if you can. Check out everything in the cage, run your hands over everything to make sure there is not something you have missed that he might be rubbing his head on. If you can't pin it down to a particular toy or part of the cage, perches etc, then the only other thing in the cage is Hum. You might need to spend a few months with them sleeping in separate cages and note whether it happens again or not. I guess you don't hear any squabbling going on during the night that might explain the scratches??

Thanks I'll check whats in the cage more, I think everything should be OK but its possible Im missing some sharp edges on natural wood perches.

One notable thing is these scratches on his cheek always seem to be in roughly the same place, and have always been on his right cheek (there may have been smaller cuts on his left cheek, but the very noticeable ones like this have always been the right).

Could this indicate that Hum isn't causing the scratches? They do squabble sometimes so I definitely can't rule it out! But it also seems to be a very particular spot, which to me seems more likely to be from Whistle either scratching at the same place with his foot, or rubbing the same place on a perch.

[helenmat]

Poor little thing, I hope you or the vet work out what’s going on, it looks sore.

[Hezz]

Feb 1, 2018 20:17:39 GMT ckpk said:

Feb 1, 2018 19:46:01 GMT Hezz said:

That doesn't look nice, at all. You can help him clean up with a little lukewarm water and put a bit of Savlon on it if you can. Check out everything in the cage, run your hands over everything to make sure there is not something you have missed that he might be rubbing his head on. If you can't pin it down to a particular toy or part of the cage, perches etc, then the only other thing in the cage is Hum. You might need to spend a few months with them sleeping in separate cages and note whether it happens again or not. I guess you don't hear any squabbling going on during the night that might explain the scratches??

Thanks I'll check whats in the cage more, I think everything should be OK but its possible Im missing some sharp edges on natural wood perches.

One notable thing is these scratches on his cheek always seem to be in roughly the same place, and have always been on his right cheek (there may have been smaller cuts on his left cheek, but the very noticeable ones like this have always been the right).

Could this indicate that Hum isn't causing the scratches? They do squabble sometimes so I definitely can't rule it out! But it also seems to be a very particular spot, which to me seems more likely to be from Whistle either scratching at the same place with his foot, or rubbing the same place on a perch.

I'm inclined to agree that it is doubtful the scratches are coming from the other bird. Most birds scream like a banshee if anyone even looks like being aggressive; they are not known for their stealth in those circumstances. I really think you would hear the commotion.

Always on the same side .... check his claws on that side as well. Does he have a claw growing oddly or that might have split? Does he have a favourite spot to sleep? Have certain toys been changed over when this happens?

The thing is that usually sharp edges are not an issue - branches break all the time in the wild, perches get chewed with sharp pointy bits that could take an eye out, but they rarely do. I had a budgie break his leg while in the cage and never was able to figure out for sure how that happened. But this is not a one-off and you want to fix the problem, understandably. I don't think I have any more suggestions to offer.

[ckpk]

Thanks very much for the suggestions I’ll see what the vet says tomorrow and otherwise thoroughly check the cage and his talons.

Theres a bamboo perch in the cage, so I’m wondering now if hes scratching his head in the same place on that and catching his cheek on a sharp point.

Thanks again!

[Marianne Marlow]

How is he and what did the vet say?
I hope you were able to figure out what is going on.

[ckpk]

Whistle's doing well, no more bleeding and his usual active self! Thanks for checking

The vet had a close look at it doesn't look like whistle has any cuts or scratches; instead it looks like he has scaly irritated skin on his cheek, not far below the eye.

The vets suggestion was that the skin irritation could be coming from mites, particularly because the bleeding has always been in the same place.

I haven't been able to look at Whistle's cheek closely myself, but his feathers do look ruffled and possibly a bit thinned out around the area we saw bleeding from, so this sounds possible.
There's no sign of mites on the beak area or elsewhere, however I think it fits with the fact we've only seen this sort of bleeding after we take the cover off the cage in the morning, never during the day.

As such, Whistle is now having a 6 week treatment for mites, as well as some anti-biotics in the water just in case of infections.
Our other budgie hum is also getting the mite treatment; she doesn't show any symptoms like Whistle, but we're treating her just to be sure!

[OP]

As soon as I looked at your first picture I thought of mites, but it seemed odd they were in such one small patch. I'm glad that both your little friends are being treated. Good luck clearing tis up.