Help please! Cockatiel has a huge red bump on his neck-shoulder area

[JoTran]

My cockatiels are outside and i went to go clean their cage and i noticed that one of my cockatiel had ripped a patch of feather and a closer look it was a huge bump. He still runs around the cage singing and acting happy but I know birds are good with hiding illness. I fear that it may be a tumor. Planning on taking him to the vet on Monday.

 

[antoinette]

Welcome to our wonderful forum
You are wise to take your bird to the vet a.s.a.p.
Praying it is nothing serious

Please keep us updated

 

[henpecked]

Being an outside bird ,i think injury /infection is more of a possibility. If that's the case , then it needs antibiotics asap. I would consider this an emergency . Does your vet have that option ? Can you bring it inside , have a brooder? I'd be keeping a close eye on that. Where do you live? Are insects a problem?

 

[JoTran]

We live in South Florida. I see ants here and there but I make sure to clean it out and give them fresh water and food daily. I must admit, my family and I been quite neglectful with the cockatiels.

 

[MonicaMc]

Without seeing it, my guess might be one of the air sacs.

To give you an idea...
Birds--General: Baby Pigeon, little pigeon, air sac
http://www.parrotforums.com/budgies...ding-my-4-weeks-old-cockatiel.html#post253103
Photo Gallery - birds of Bay Area Bird Hospital (first amazon/bird on left - scroll over)


Or it could be the crop...


Or, as you say, even a tumor.





When in doubt, contact an avian vet!

 

[mtdoramike]

henpecked I'm sure is familiar with our ant problems here in Florida. We clean our birds cages each evening before they are put to bed. But even then, my wife noticed ants running around inside our Senegal's cage the other morning. We also noticed that she had pulled out some feathers so whether that had anything to do with the ants or not, I don't know.

We wheeled her cage outside and gave it a thorough cleaning and even blew it off with my leaf blower and then sealed off the exterior door and sprayed outside with ant/roach spray. That should take care of the pesky varmints for a while.

 

[BoomBoom]

Sorry to hear about your cockatiel. I just wanted to add, a good, safe way to deter the ants is to use vinegar. If your cage has legs, put a bowl under all 4 legs and fill with water-vinegar solution. Full strength vinegar not required, also could be bad for the bird to be smelling something so strong 24-7. No other part of the cage must touch the wall though as the ants would go that route.

Hope you find out what's wrong with the bird. Good luck!

 

[JoTran]

Hi guys! Just wanted to inform you that my cockatiel is doing a lot better. We applied some antibiotics on the lump and the swelling went down, so I assume it was an infection rather then a tumor.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thanks so much for the update. I LOVE hearing good news like this.

 

[henpecked]

Thank you for taking the time to let us know. So often we never hear back about sick fids. Glad it was an infection that can be treated. Maybe it was just a "bug" bite. I too live in Fla with many birds in an outside aviary, "bugs" have been driving me (and them) crazy this year. We put up "20x20" screen on the outside of the aviary and it has helped, but now we've had to add fans because of the lack of a "breeze". It's always something,LOL.

 

[JoTran]

Thank you for taking the time to let us know. So often we never hear back about sick fids. Glad it was an infection that can be treated. Maybe it was just a "bug" bite. I too live in Fla with many birds in an outside aviary, "bugs" have been driving me (and them) crazy this year. We put up "20x20" screen on the outside of the aviary and it has helped, but now we've had to add fans because of the lack of a "breeze". It's always something,LOL.

The bugs & the humidity in Florida are the only downside. But thank you guys so much for the advices, I greatly appreciate it!