# Curled toes..



## maryco (Apr 1, 2002)

Hello everyone,

I have a feral pigeon that we caught this morning, if someone has any advice or had seen a similar situation perhaps you can give me some ideas..

This little female pigeon was caught last year and taken to the centre because her toes on one foot were curling inwards. 
I was afraid she could have some nerve damage in the foot or an injury to the toes so I sent her to the wildlife centre, they told me that they put her a shoe on to keep her toes straight but it didn't work for the first or second time, so they tried once more and finally it did work and they sent her back to me when she fully recovered so I can release her, I did release her and I watched her ever since, I think it was last winter when I caught her (can't really remember as I have so many birds coming and going and I don't keep track of the ones I caught previously (Althogh I should







) I have 5 birds at the centre now that I caught in the last month and on tuesday one came back for release after recovering from a bruised wing and some wounds in her back)

Anyway Softy, the curl toed pigeon is here again and I think she needs to have a shoe put on her right foot. Any ideas how to make this shoe? 

I've been reading on line about this problem and it seems that the cause is un-known.
Could this be a lack of certain vitamins or minerals, and is there anything she should get? Calcium..etc?

Any other tips or suggestions that might help her recover would be very welcome.. 


Thanks!

Mary


----------



## Guest (Dec 4, 2003)

Paratyphoid can cause this. I also remember another thing I was reading up on a few years ago. I believe it was a vitamin Deficiency (I want to say Vitamin A and Riboflavin). I gave this to a bird who had this and I think it was much better in two weeks. It can become permanent.

The red mite can burrow into the feet and cause a lot of pain in the foot to where the pigeon may curl it up due to pain. You can dip the foot/leg in any kind of oil (olive oil)..hold them in it for a few minutes to suffocate the mite. Give a vitamin supplement for the deficiency and see what happens. I did both with this one pigeon and she improved, but did not know which one actually helped the bird.

If the bird has a lot of diarrhea, then treat for paratyphoid.

[This message has been edited by dpowell (edited December 04, 2003).]


----------



## Guest (Dec 4, 2003)

Just found it...Riboflavin is a part of Vitamin B complex - so get a good supplement of this.

Bumblefoot is also common in feral pigeons. It's a staph infection that causes pain and distorted feet. I'm thinking a round of Baytril might be the one to try in case of Paratyphoid or bummble foot. With the Vitamins and the leg dipping.

May sound a bit much, but you want to cover the bases and I think this should work. If the poop is normal, then maybe just to the last two for now. Carefully examine the pad of the foot for swelling and redness. If that's the case, then I would do the round of Baytril.

See Kayzee's post about Bumblefoot to identify this problem and she was she did to correct it.

[This message has been edited by dpowell (edited December 04, 2003).]


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Brewers Yeast added to the seed, with a little lemon juice (to help it stick to the seed) will take care of the B Complex deficiency. Treesa


----------



## maryco (Apr 1, 2002)

Hello again and thanks for the replies..

This bird was taken last year to the centre and was checked over for everything, if she did have salmonella they would have treated her for it, at least I can rule that out.. 

As for the bumble foot, I've already seen this twice, but I don't believe this is bumble foot, again the centre would have put her on antibiotics and tried to clean out the area if this was the cause (I agree, in my last pigeon with bumble foot he did curl his toes abit because the base of his foot was like a swollen ball, he is at the centre now being treated)

I'll try the vitamins and brewers yeast, I'll also try a shoe and see what happens, if nothing works I believe she could still survive well as it's only in one foot and it doesn't happen all the time (it's an on and off thing)

Let's hope for the best, Thanks again!

Mary


----------

