Meet Crash~the feral!

You may have read about "Crash" on my other thread if not here is a little info on him:

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, Jim called and asked if I could watch a rescue he had... some of you may have read about him on PT. Jim thought the bird had been cat attacked and so a PT member was kind enough to send him meds for the bird.

He dropped the bird off few days before Thanksgiving. He has canker and POX. I've treated the canker with Spartrix for 5 days..and it is getting MUCH better...no visiable signs of it anymore. The pox will run it's course. He was in horrible shape, poor guy. Covered in grease and blood... had mites...is way under weight...and his feathers (as you can see in the pictures, the one of the tumor areaon his chest) were stuck in the "shaft" (forgive me I don't know the correct term ) I've been preening him to remove the shaft part...in hopes that his feathers will fill out.

He has gotten many Dawn bubble baths... his feet are covered in scabs are finally healing and he gets a slathered neosporin foot rub 2x's a day. After getting through some of the muck and grease .. I can only find one injury and that is in his chest area that has a scab that is getting ready to fall off. After talking to Charis last night she told me that POX can cause temoprary tumors...which is what we believe this one is. There is a photo of the tumor when it fell off below. The Skin under the scab looks good and healthy. I hand feed him 3x's a day...along with Arnica pelet for the residual inflamation. His upper beak was loose after all the crusty blood and gunk came off and almost seems to be re-growing underneath/inside his palate...See picture of inside beak, below.


He reminds me daily that he is getting better and has the WING- POP to go along with his attutide!. :WHAT?: .. It's good to see that he hates me so much.. makes me happy, because he will need to be afraid when he is released. I've asked Jim to keep him until he is able to be soft released. So until he goes... we've named him Crash!

Here are pictures of Poor~Poor~ Crash:

I believe you when you say Crash is looking better than he was when he came to you. Poor liitle thing still looks like he must hurt. It will be interesting to see how he looks in another week.

Yeah- I can't wait to see how his recovery goes.... I'm just really worried about his beak... I hope eventually he will be able to close it, more than it is now.

When he got here... His whole beak was 100% covered with dried blood as was the top of his head...it was so hard, he felt like he had no feathers up there... His nostrils were closed completely and he was mouth bretahing... took awhile.. but they are clear now. He will get another bubble bath this afternoon to try and get some more of the grease off... He's a pistal when you bathe him...

Crash is one big lucky pij to be under the care of AZJourney!!! Luv this place here. All beautiful people taking care of pij in need.

I have never had a bird with pox. Poor little guy.

Can he eat okay with his beak like that?

Poor baby I'm so glad he's with you and getting better.

Will his beak ever grow back to normal?

I don't know... if his beak will ever be normal...which makes me sad for him.

Right now I am hand feeding him 3x's a day...I leave seed in his carrier for him to pick at... which I know he does because it gets all scattered around. He is as feral as they come, and petrified of humans :eek: ...so for his sake I am really hoping he can be released when he is in tip top shape. If not I will need to place him with someone who has an avairy.

Oh my gosh, poor little soul. I too hope he continues to improve.

Janet

Poor Crash... I fed him his afternoon feeding and we noticed that his lower beak... where it is brown in the pictures...seems to be loose as well... <<<sigh>>>

Can Pox cause the beak to become so distorted like his?

and can POX cause the beak to become loose??? I know the lesions created swelling along his beak which has since subsided quite a bit and I am wondering if because of that the beak is loose?

AZJourney wrote:

Poor Crash... I fed him his afternoon feeding and we noticed that his lower beak... where it is brown in the pictures...seems to be loose as well... <<<sigh>>>

Can Pox cause the beak to become so distorted like his?

and can POX cause the beak to become loose??? I know the lesions created swelling along his beak which has since subsided quite a bit and I am wondering if because of that the beak is loose?

Jenn I think I read that pox can do that to the beak and those pigeons have had to be handfed with a feeding tube for the rest of their lives. But if that does happen he might be able to be tamed.

Poor guy

I decided to go back to syringe feeding Crash tonight.

With his beak being loose on top and bottom... popping peas seems to put too much pressure on his lower beak...I can see the beak flex every time I open it... it's hard to pop peas when you have no fulcrum to press against to open the beak.

I need to find a tube that is more flexable to put on the tip. I have to go to the Pharmacy this weekend and I'll ask them if they have a small more flexable piece to attach to the end of the syringe tip.

Any and all positive thoughts/advice and prayers are welcome!

AZJourney wrote:

I decided to go back to syringe feeding Crash tonight.

With his beak being loose on top and bottom... popping peas seems to put too much pressure on his lower beak...I can see the beak flex every time I open it... it's hard to pop peas when you have no fulcrum to press against to open the beak.

I need to find a tube that is more flexable to put on the tip. I have to go to the Pharmacy this weekend and I'll ask them if they have a small more flexable piece to attach to the end of the syringe tip.

Any and all positive thoughts/advice and prayers are welcome!

You got it!!
Bless his heart. He is just adorable.

Your wings are glowing so brightly, Jenn, I bet they light up Tucson.
Bless you as well.

Poor little Crash...........I have seen pictures of birds with severly deformed and missing beaks caused by Pox. It is an absolutely horrific disease. There are people who have birds with missing upper and/or lower beaks and somehow in time they do learn how to feed by themselves. It takes alot time and patience for them to learn to eat, in the meantime the only way they are able to survive is by hand/syringe feeding. Seed must be placed in a deep dish, and the bird uses whatever they have left of their beaks as a scoop. But again, it takes alot of time for the bird to master this. Unfortunately these birds can never be released.

I think you are doing the right thing by going back to the syringe feeding. Time will only tell if his beak remains intact, but any unnecessary pressure on it now can not help it.

Jenn.......you are an absolute for saving this little one, he may act wild, but I am sure he knows you are saving his life.

Sending you a hug and postive thoughts for a speedy recovery and good outcome for little Crash.

Louise

I'm using soft silicone tubing to syringe feed my rescues. It is flexible and just slides down the throat with a bit olive oil help to grease it. Works even in bad cases of canker when there is a blockage in the throat.

Crash, I hope your situation improves very soon. You are in the best hands possible. My thoughts are with you.

Jenn...how is little Crash doing?

Well...after teetering on what puts less pressure on his beak... we are back to peas. Don and I have found a way that puts almost no pressure on the tips.... I am certain it is only a matter of time before his upper and lower beak tips fall off.. they are dead.... and you can tell that.

I have made a solution of GSE and Colloidal Silver to dab on the beak, which has reduced the swelling on the tip. He even eats some seeds on his own, just not enough...I placed a deep dish full of pigeon pellets and he tries...bless his little heart. and thats all I can ask of him. I think he has earned his black belt in Wing FU now. :Need some help his strength is fantastic... I put off another bath until this week... I'm sure he is sick of being bothered all the time.

Since he can not preene...every feeding I have a go of it ...for him. I FULLY give birds credit for keeping their feathers in tip top shape... It's tedious work!!..lol... NEVER will I complain about my bad hair days again! :For Shame: Is there anyway besides picking at it to remove the shaft off the feathers????

AZJourney wrote:

Well...after teetering on what puts less pressure on his beak... we are back to peas. Don and I have found a way that puts almost no pressure on the tips.... I am certain it is only a matter of time before his upper and lower beak tips fall off.. they are dead.... and you can tell that.

I was afraid of that.

NEVER will I complain about my bad hair days again!

I'll try to not complain aw well but it won't be easy.

Is there anyway besides picking at it to remove the shaft off the feathers????

Not that I can think of.

You are doing a great job of caring for Crash, Jenn.

Well it happened! His upper beak fell off last night.... But the GREAT news is... he ate his whole dish of seeds!!! YIPPIE... I am sure now that it's fallen off he will feel better. I am still giving him Arnica...and I put Colliodial Silver and Neosporin w/pain relief on his beak this morning.

Now we wait for the lower beak to do the same thing. Then He will be on his way to healing and learning to use his new smile!

I think he would do best in an avairy situation once he is totally healed.... he has a way to go yet, But I really need to place him once he is well... If anyone knows of A "GREAT" someone... please let me know.. he deserves to have a fantastic home.. and I want to help him get there,when the time is right!

The right place will open up...I just know it .

Jenn..............I am so very happy that Crash was able to eat his seeds

Hopefully he will be able to make the adjustment with the lower beak as well.........he his such a sweet little bird and has been through so much.....bless his little heart.

What a wonderful job you are doing with him.

Sending you postive healing thoughts and prayers for Crash's continued recovey.

Louise

But, is he going to grow a new beak?

Here's an interesting article about an eagle that was fitted with a prosthetic beak:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health_medicine/4274626.html

And here's one about a stork:

http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/308225/japanese_stork_gets_prosthetic_beak/index.html

Hopefully, Crash's beak will grow back, but of it doesn't, maybe there is some hope that we can find interested volunteers who might want to experiment with other options.

I think there is a clinic in San Francisco that does that. Jaye would know. I think they fit one for his little parrot.

Great articles, Jim.