Please help! Burned Tail!

VioletGrey

New member
Jun 10, 2017
2
0
Last night my new IRN got somewhere he shouldn't and burned his tail feathers. All of them, about halfway up. Now he has a "stumpy" tail. I don't think he was at all hurt, and thankfully his tail was the only part of him which touched the lamp, but I am so worried I have been up all night crying for his pretty long tail!

It is now about the length of a "normal" birds tail.

Let me stress, however, I do not care what my bird looks like as long as he is happy and healthy! But he is my first parrot and my whole world and I am so sad.

I can't find any information about this online and no avian vets are open until much later today.

Is this okay? Will he be able to live a fine normal life until he grows them back? He is about 3 months only. :( I dont think he is due for a molt for another few months.

I also dont know how molting works- will he grow all new feathers, or will only some fall out and regrow? Like I said I just want him to be a happy normal birdy! :blue2:
 

plumsmum2005

New member
Nov 18, 2015
5,330
94
England, UK
Parrots
Lou, Ruby, and Sonu.
Fly free Plum, my gorgeous boy.
Firstly would like to know how he was burned?
Is it just the tail or him also, you know feet etc?
Please take to see your AV ASAP as IMO this counts as an emergency appointment to check there is nothing you have missed.

I am sorry but life becomes very boring when you have birds because everything is off limits. So please no more naked lamps/flames.
 
Last edited:
OP
V

VioletGrey

New member
Jun 10, 2017
2
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
He crawled up the wall (must have used a weird combination of a curtain and bookshelf because he is flightless) and sat on a wall sconce! :eek: He didn't even move until I smelled something weird and turned around to see him all the way up on the wall and his tail feathers on the floor!

I've checked his feet thoroughly and thank god no burns there. He must have just accidentally had his tail resting on the bulb. I switched it to an energy saving bulb that does not get very hot.
 

plumsmum2005

New member
Nov 18, 2015
5,330
94
England, UK
Parrots
Lou, Ruby, and Sonu.
Fly free Plum, my gorgeous boy.
Perhaps also pull those climbing props away to make it harder for it to happen again.

The AV can look and tell the effects of the tail damage to you. Hoping your boy will not want to repeat this. They are clever little boogers and you really have to think of everything and have eyes in the back of your head. As adventurous as he is make sure he is never left alone IMO. :)

Take care if he attempts flight as not sure what effect his stumpy tail will have OK?

PS Oh one more thing, do you have a playstand/frame for him? If they have something that is theirs it makes life a little easier, with some toys on and where they can view you? Also if they stray somewhere they shouldn't be you can return him to it and they do learn.
 
Last edited:

Kentuckienne

Supporting Vendor
Oct 9, 2016
2,742
1,631
Middle of nowhere (kentuckianna)
Parrots
Roommates include Gus, Blue and gold macaw rescue and Coco, secondhand amazon
Feathers are keratin, like fingernails, and like fingernails don't have nerves. So it isn't painful to cut a feather and there is most likely no remaining pain from the feather part of the burn. I would worry that the body could have been burned near the tail or elsewhere, depending on what he touched...check his entire body for redness or any kind of different- looking thing. If he won't let you do this you might need to towel him - there are good posts here and elsewhere along with videos on the correct way to do this.

Assuming no burns found, he might have poor balance until the tail grows back in, but it will grow back in. Ensuring a high quality diet with enough protein will help his body to decide it's ok to spend energy making feathers. And if it were me I wouldn't have a halogen bulb anywhere exposed. LED bulbs are safest for parrots. The fluorescent bulbs are cool, but have hollow tubes that can break leaving glass/toxic powder around.

Thank your lucky stars if the only damage is short feathers. What a good wake up call! It could have been so much worse. Many people have lost their birds during the process of learning to care for them, when they don't know what they don't know. There are good posts here about bird proofing the house, checking the washing machine, dangers in the kitchen, danger from household items, etc. A little bit of research might prevent a world of hurt. And thanks for going online to ask advice - it shows you care.
 

Scott

Supporting Member
Aug 21, 2010
32,673
9,789
San Diego, California USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Parrots
Goffins: Gabby, Abby, Squeaky, Peanut, Popcorn / Citron: Alice / Eclectus: Angel /Timneh Grey: ET / Blue Fronted Amazon: Gonzo /

RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
I'm glad your IRN appears unscathed other than feather damage, but visiting a certified avian vet for a closer look is advisable. The feathers will be replaced in time, and the damaged ones will naturally fall out.

Our homes are full of obvious and subtle hazards! Some of the less apparent are the deadly fumes released by overheated Teflon (or most non-stick) pots/pans and assorted gadgets, specific foods such as chocolate and avocado, and chewable fabrics.

Some helpful links for more info:

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/12857-top-10-hazards-companion-birds.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/4430-parrot-safe-products.html
 

LadyE

New member
Jan 6, 2017
32
0
Parrots
Indian Ringneck-Kico
2 Budgies-Kiki&Lora
Recently there was a thread on another forum about IRN who got inside gas heater or whatever it's called in english who got much worse burns but he's good now, recovered fast except for burned feathers so yours should be even better. And regarding molting he will lose feather more intensively in that period but it won't look like he's naked if that's what you're asking lol mine went through molting recently, actually he's still molting but less intensively than he was before.If you took pictures of him through all this time you wouldn't even notice anything was happening.Biggest thing possible to notice was loss of longest 2 tail feathers which are all grown out now too and probably even longer than they were before. He lost his tail feathers one by one, not multiple of them at same time
 

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Top