GW crushed her breeder band

[Gristleboy]

We woke up this morning & noticed our GW favoring her leg. On closer inspection we discovered she had crushed her band closed around her leg & her foot was badly swollen due to loss of circulation. We were able to restrain her & remove the band although she was not happy about the whole experience. Her foot is quite swollen but she is using it.

Has anyone else had this happen? IMO it could easily have cost her a foot had we caught it much later.

 

[JJones1719]

No, I wonder how this happened. Was the band not strong enough. My GW has a really thick band and he chews on it a lot but it has never bent and he sure has had his fills on falling off of his perch and the band has always held up. I'm thinking the Breeder who banded him did not use a strong enough band. Best of luck and glad you got the band off of them. I'm sure your macaw was ticked. Thanks for sharing Joe

 

[Gristleboy]

She definitely crushed it with her beak, although she has always chewed on it. I looks to be a split aluminum band so just a heads up to other Mac people.

 

[willist]

My Greenwing does not have a band, but he once crushed my ring, while i was wearing it so I know how your bird must have felt. I had to run to my tool box and cut the ring off.

 

[Gristleboy]

willist, you have no idea how many times that has happened to us & damn it hurts! We eventually got titanium wedding bands.
Octavio is doing just fine, btw.

 

[osnyder]

That is really scary! I'm glad all is well now.

 

[MikeyTN]

I don't like leg bands anyway....I always suggest people to have them removed!!! A bird of mine lost her foot because of it....I didn't catch it early enough cause she was free flight in the aviary....

 

[TeakwoodBirdHouse]

This seems like a perfect place to mention MICROCHIPPING for the bigger birds. Bands can be lost, or removed, microchips are there forever. Then if your bird gets lost, or stolen, you have a better chance of getting it back. Ask your vet about it.

 

[mtdoramike]

WOW, your so lucky to have caught that in time. But I think a vet visit would still be in order, especially since it was swollen. Neither of my birds (Senegal and Eclectus) have leg bands and I'm glad they don't.

 

[Gristleboy]

Unfortunately the vets here know nothing about birds (nearest avian vet is 500 miles away). She is doing just fine, though. The swelling cleared up quickly & she's her normal, fiesty self.

 

[Kawaii]

That is scary… I never knew that birds could actually crush the bands (I knew it was possible, but I didn't know that there was such weak material made for leg bands).

I'm so happy you caught the crushed legband before it was too late though!!!

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

We (myself and my breeder friends) don't use bands anymore. The 3 avian vets I work with will even yell if the see you band a baby. I just had Moe's band cut off (we did it and it took three people) because it was the cheaper aluminum band and was WAY too big. I'm very glad you caught it and that your bird seems to be fine now. I highly recomend having ALL bands removed from pet birds. We get a lot of legless birds through here due to band related accidents.

 

[Amber]

This seems like a perfect place to mention MICROCHIPPING for the bigger birds. Bands can be lost, or removed, microchips are there forever. Then if your bird gets lost, or stolen, you have a better chance of getting it back. Ask your vet about it.

And for smaller birds! My jenday is chipped, and I had plans to get a custom band with my phone number, but now I'm a little put off that.

Glad to hear your bird is ok!