Bumps on 10 year old Blue and Gold macaws face

[worriedmacawmommy]

I have a blue and gold macaw that is 10 years old. About 3 days ago I noticed a small bump was coming up on her face. Now there are several bumbs and the original bump is getting larger. I was wondering i anybody could tell me what it might be? I have never seen this in any of my birds before.

 

[MacawGuy]

I would take her to vet ASAP. Idk what it is I never seen it someone may know but go to the vet

 

[Adinafloyd]

I agree, I would say go to the vet as soon as possible, I dont know what they are bit they are close to the eye and brain. Good luck

 

[worriedmacawmommy]

She isn't showing any signs that she isn't feeling well. Her appetite is still very good and she is still very active. I did see her scratching it earlier. They came up the same day that my husband gave her a chip from a mexican resteraunt. I don't know if that is related to the bumps or not.

 

[DebsFlock]

I third the suggestion to contact your vet. I suppose it could be an allergic reaction, but I'd personally want to get it checked out. By the time a bird acts sick, it's likely very, very sick indeed, so IMO better to be proactive.

 

[Spiritbird]

Birds like to hide illnesses or any signs of same as they are the prey not the predator.
Please keep us posted on what the vet said about this.

 

[MacawGuy]

yea indeed. let us know. that needs a vet check

 

[plax]

Hi,

I can't say for sure either what the bumps are. But my hunch is that since they developed to the size they are in just 3 or 4 days, and because there are several of them, it seems reasonable that they may be a reaction to some substance which she hasn't encountered before.

But as others have recommended, I would get her in to an avian vet very soon to have her properly assessed/tested. It might be that the lumps will peak in size and then begin to diminish. If so, their reduction in size may take considerably longer than it took them to grow. But, again, their rapid growth in conjunction with their multiplicity is what makes me think they could be a reaction rather than symptomatic of a disease.

Get her to a vet though! And please post back when you have some news.

Best of luck

 

[wolf0994]

Agree with all previous posters, vet check is best bet. Our avian vet echoed alot of the responses here that birds do not show illness routinely until it may be too late.

 

[paulhanlon]

I'm no expert on this but I'm guessing she has come into contact with something that has caused the reaction I would take her to the avian to have it checked out and I hope she is ok

 

[worriedmacawmommy]

Sorry for the late update it has been hectic. Her vet finally had an opening on thursday of last week. He examined her and I explained that I could not afford the 600.00 in testing to see if it was a tumor. Luckily, he looked it over and said there was no need for further testing because he could tell by the look and feel of the bumps and how many there were that it was just an allergic reaction. He said it should heal up in a few days. Luckily, we know what caused the reaction and it will not happen again. Today the bumps are nearly gone and she is still her normal grump self lol. Thanks guys for all of the input.

 

[plax]

Sorry for the late update it has been hectic. Her vet finally had an opening on thursday of last week. He examined her and I explained that I could not afford the 600.00 in testing to see if it was a tumor. Luckily, he looked it over and said there was no need for further testing because he could tell by the look and feel of the bumps and how many there were that it was just an allergic reaction. He said it should heal up in a few days. Luckily, we know what caused the reaction and it will not happen again. Today the bumps are nearly gone and she is still her normal grump self lol. Thanks guys for all of the input.

Thanks for reporting back. I'm quite happy to hear the great news! So then it's what I suspected and mentioned in my previous post. The number of lumps and how fast they appeared and grew was quite indicative that they were a reaction and not a disease. But it's still such a relief! I'm glad you took her to the vet and it's nice that you were able to avoid the costs of running tests, and it's especially great that her lumps are diminishing

 

[MacawGuy]

Yes great news. Thank for the input

 

[Merlee]

I sincerely appreciate this thread because my macaw currently has a bump like this. I have a vet appointment made for next Monday. I am hoping this will either will go away or improve before then. I am going to take out all the new toys and go back to his regular food without any supplements and see what happens.