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Hi I am in australia and have rescued a baby magpie. It has a sore/lump pinkish red in colur at the very top middle of the beak, does not seem to be in any pain, he sometimes knocks it and bleeds slightly, has a good appetite,any clues, I also have a pic if that helps :) Regards Vicki
Optional Information: Type of Animal: Baby magpieGender: ?Age: young Already Tried: Been observing.
Send the picture, it may help. It may be from trauma, or possibly a viral or bacterial infection. You can clean it with a q-tip and dilute hydrogen peroxide (do not get it in the eyes!) and just keep an eye on it. If it spreads to the cornes of the beak and mouth, it may be pox virus, and all you can do is supportive care. If it is a parasitic infection, that will require diagnosis and treatment by a vet familiar with wild bird diseases.
Hi here is a pic, if it is not good enough I can get another in the morning (around 6 hours). The dark on it is a little dru blood.
Thanks for reply.
Is there discharge oozing from it? From this pic it looks like a fairly deep ulcer, and may have been from what ever caused her to be an orphan. Possibly trauma from othere birds. Try to keep it clean, and you can use dilute betadine (povidone-iodine solution) to clean it as well . If it worsens, you may have to take her in for an exam and prescription antibiotics. Send another picture. I'm on the other side of the world, but will check later on to see what you send.
Hi Yes I understand about you being on the other side of the world :)I thought it may of been an ulcer? No its not oozing he just scratches it occasionally when he cleans his beak on the wood logs in the cage. Alas sometimes it bleeds a little.I have cared for lots of birds but not come across this. He got this about 5 days after we rescued him. He seems pretty happy eats a lot and had got his magpie voice its lovely hearing him practice. Might have to take him to the Vet huh? We did actually run into the local vet about a week ago and Neville my partner mentioned it to the vet and he said to keep an eye on it as it could be anything unless he has a look. I appreciate you replying to me - ive never used this service before and not sure about using it. If I click accept I know you get the 9.00 but can I still correspond? Hope these pictures are better for you tried to get a few different angles for you to see?.
Many regards
From Down Under
Vicki and Neville
Got front view too
.
what happens when you scrub the lesion pretty hard? is there fluid in there? is it solid? If you squeeze gently, does anything extrude? My first thought was it might be a fly larva in there, or perhaps an abcess. I have seen pox look like that also.but that would need a hands-on look. We can continue to communicate, just don't hit accept just yet. Yes you may have to take him in, it can be a little dicey to remove larvae or clan an abcess.
Hi Ive not tried even touching it in case it hurts?
Can you point me in the right direction what do you wish for me to do ? Like try and squeeze with a tissue or something and see what happens?
Thanks so much for your reply.
Sounds like he is hungry :)
Regards
Vicki And Neville - oh and Maggie
Yes go ahead and scrub it pretty hard and give a little squeeze.
Ok I will attempt to do this by myself, with one of his feeds sometime today. If it is a bit difficult (he can be a lively little sprite) I will have to do this when my partner comes home from work this afternoon. It is presently 7.15am he returns around 4pm. Will get back to you if I am successful alone or later in the evening.
Appreciate your time.
Many Regards XXXXX XXXXX Under
Vicki N Nev, and Maggie :)
Hi I was lucky as I had a friend come around for a coffee, she held Maggie for me, he did not seem at all distressed the poor little thing (well he has grown quite a bit) I did not put a great deal of pressure on the lump as it seemed to bleeding in few places, but I took a napkin and did what you asked and applied a little pressure on it. It was like a thickish blood a deep red in colour. Now I have taken another pic for you. At the very base at the front where it was bleeding I sort of had a look and its like you could almost peel it off? well not the whole thing but almost like it was lifting slightly at the very base ? Maybe it will fall off itself? I have no idea hence the pic I don't know if you will see what I mean however but am trying to describe it as best I can.
Thanks
Vicki N Nev and Maggie
If this was not distressful, I would recommend the gentle debriding aneast a week and it may well fall off on its own. If no other lesions show up you are out of the woods. If this is a poz lesion, others may show at the corners of the mouth. Good luck. He is a lucky bird.
Experience: 25+ years working primarily or exclusively with birds
Do you mean I should squeeze it gently and clean it with peroxide, Detol ? and or betadine for the next week?
I think I am very lucky to have your advice and do value your time :)
I am presently unemployed and really cannot afford to take him to the vet so I really really appreciate your advice.
We were thinking of letting him go as he has grown or even clipping his wing and let him have a wonder about?
I would hate to let him go and not know he was ok.
It it our intention to release him, we do this quite a bit with injured birds. One time I had to give injections to a magpie.
My partner suggested we maybe gave it a small lance it like you would with a bood blister?????? we do have a sterile scalpel???
Hi I wanted to let you know, the lump has fallen off and we let him go :)
Vicki
Hurrah! Thanks for the update.
Thanks so much for your advice, was great to talk. You wouldn't have magpies over there ? It was a little sad to see her go, did hang around in a tree all day next to home - till roosting tome then took off - they are rather teritorial so could pop back, we will know her as she has a scar on the beak. We had one bird pop back every spring only had half a beak! Antway thanks again so much. I got satisfaction and hope you did aswell :)
Many regards XXXXX XXXXX under.
Just our own Magpies-different species.
Well she is back this morn - damn crow was attacking her - and real hungry -might clip the wing and let her hang around till she is a bit stronger.
And have a great xmas when it comes :)
Goodbye and thanks once again :)