my cockatoo has damage to his tonuge

Jan 02, 2012

my cockatoo has damage to his tonuge
by: Linda

If you have one of the water bottles with the stainless steel mouth pieces with ball, then this may be how he damaged his tongue. The stainless steel drinkers with balls can actually cut off a bird's tongue.

(There are water bottles that have a little "stick" they move to the side to get water. )

You will need to take him to an Avian Vet only in your driving area and have him examined to see extent of damage. Infection or metal poisoning can result from an injury like this, so I highly recommend you get an appointment and take him in immediately.

Once Avian Vet has examined him, they will be able to tell you more about the injury plus give you some antibiotics to make sure infection does not result from the injury. As for future prognosis, ask the Avian Vet about it. I do know your bird is in pain if his tongue has been hurt, so please don't delay getting him to a licensed and trained Avian Vet. No home remedies or over the counter meds as these can kill your bird.

Make sure that whatever caused this injury is found so that this does not happen again. Inappropriately sized toys can do it. Chain that has sharp edges can do this, and those will need to be discarded.

Always buy smooth chain with links large enough so a toe can be easily pulled in and out. The same with the tongue. Also make sure no sharp edges are on any toy parts or water bottle mouth pieces. The water bottles with the stainless steel mouthpiece has cut off more bird's tongues than I'd like to think about. It may keep water cleaner, but they are a hazard for the bird's tongues as larger parrots have a tendency to shove their tongues up into the mouthpiece, and the edges on the bottom are sharp which is enough to cut tongue some or a lot.

Let us know what Avian Vet has to say. Parrots are creatures where if anything can go wrong, they will certainly find out how and hurt themselves. That's the first and foremost "Law of Having Parrots in the Home". Do not allow your bird outside cage playing or flying without constant supervision. If your bird has his own room, put on a hardware cloth screen door that can be closed when he is outside cage and make sure room has already been "bird proofed". Cages sometimes have "sharps" on them from powder coat running and drying into a point. These are found by running your fingers over every square inch of cage. They have to be sanded down where they are no longer sharp. Sometimes wire-welds are also left sharp, and believe me the Chinese cages ALL have to be checked and double checked for sharps. Even after I did this, one of my birds found one I missed and cut her feet all up on it. Never just accept that a cage is safe because it's new as this is very far from accurate. Birds have a way of finding these areas and sometimes hurting themselves very badly.

Linda

my cockatoo has damage to his tonuge

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my cockatoo has damage to his tonuge

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