Greys Tongue got bad cut!

[casey7e]

Hi...Im new but have a problem.

My Grey cut the tip of her tongue last night bad. I had used a plastic zip tie to tie one of her toys on her cage that lost the metal clip. BAD IDEA! She bit through the plastic and nearly cut the tip of her tongue off. IT has stopped bleeding but Im not sure if I should put her through the ordeal of having it stitched. My vet said most birds will pull out the stitches with there beak any how.. Any ideas as to if this will hinder her speech or any info on injured tongues. Im taking her to the vet this morning to make sure there is not infection.

Thanks for any feedback.

Has anyone had a cut tongue on there bird before??

Casey

[danmcq]

Not an expert on this. But I would suspect your Grey's tongue will be just fine and heal itself. Only your vet will be able to determine that with certainty.

 

Please let us know the outcome. :-)

[casey7e]

Thank you

Yes I do think it will heal itself. As this is the second time it has happened I want everyone to be aware of the danger of letting them chew on anything plastic that can be bite into. ITs like letting them chew on a knife thats how bad this is. Hard thick plastic that they cant bite through is way safer!!

[LindaMary]

Okay, this is really species-jumping, and I don't know if it has any relevance at all in birds. But when my daghter was a toddler, she fell, knocked a tooth out on a low table edge and somehow managed to bite through the end of her tongue in the process - sideways! She literally had a 1"-long fork in the end of her tongue. My eyes were spinning. The doc told me to just give her soft foods, ice chips, etc., keep an aye out for any sign of onfection, and that I'd probably be surprised by how fast it would heal itself. No kidding: within a week the tongue had zipped itself right back togetehr and the scar was even disappearing. It was astonishing.

 

As I've said, I have no idea whether parrot tongues have the same magical properties, but if your vet is advising a wait-and-see, that's what I'd do!

[casey7e]

HI

I talked with the vet and because he has already seen her once for this he said as long as the bleeding has stopped and it doesnt look pussy then it will just heal itself. He said dont let her drink or eat for 24 hrs and keep her with not toys or anything she can chew on. SO she is just sitting on my railing in the living room.

I just checked her again. It does seem to look like it is healing already. Turned grey again and there is no moisture or blood so I think she will be good. Just no more plastic for her

Thanks!

Casey

[judygram]

Boy this is so scarey, never thought about plastic cutting their tongue, glad to know it is healing already. Never would have thought the vet would say no drink for 24 hours, I can understand the food but no water! Casey can you tell us if the vet said why you had to withhold drink?:huh:

[casey7e]

Just because he wanted the tonque to stay as dry as possible so it would start to close. He said she will be fine for that amount of time.

Do you all disagree?

[judygram]

If your vet said for you to do this then he knows better than I do but I just thought it was odd:S

[BMustee]

I would think as long as she doesn't get hot or over worked not having a drink would be ok...just keep an eye on the poop to be sure he isn't getting dehidrated.

 

I have seen a few parrots bite their tongues while getting their nails/wings clipped. As long as the bleeding stops they are fine.

[casey7e]

She is not going to be over worked thats for sure. She is just sitting on a empty perch bored. But I can tell she is still in pain. She hasnt said more than hello when the phone rang. Other than that she is very very quiet and she is usually talking most of the time.

Thank you

[judygram]

I would think that having a little water would be fine, I know as far as us humans go we can do without food longer than we can water, in fact I would suppose any animal would be the same and for a small animal to begin with, dehydration would happen sooner.:blink:

[judygram]

Casey, why don't youintroduce yourself in the welcome room and tell us a little more about you and this grey.

[Lyric]

Casey, so sorry to hear about your grey hurting her tongue! I hope she is feeling better fast. Sounds like you did the right thing taking her to the vet to check it out- now you'll both just have to wait for it to heal itself.

[alfie2008]

hi sorry to hear bout your grey i agree with judy i think giving water would be ok and just like humans the tongue and mouth area is a quick healer its due to the saliva the mouth produces best healing power of all hope your grey gets better soon

[casey7e]

HI

thank you all

I will go the the Welcome room as soon as I get some time. I want to add photos too. I just discovered this site yesterday when looking for help. It looks great and I cant wait to chat more.

Thanks for all the info. I did just give her a bit of water because her tonque looked really dry. I cant believe how fast they heal!! She took a good few sips and it also cleaned off some of the debris left behind. Im sure she is going to be fine. Still no talking but Im sure she is doing what she knows best to rest.

Thank to all and I look foward to talking soon.

I need to down size most of my photos of her to upload.

[judygram]

Poor thing, her tongue probably bothers her some and a few sips of water can't harm her but yes she will be fine and I look forward to seeing some photos when you get the chance.

[bbrew5]

Hi and Welcome Casey. I'm so sorry about your bird, hopefully she will mend quickly.

[casey7e]

She is....IM trying to post photos now in the Welcome section.

[Jane08]

Oh poor thing and the tongue must hurt real bad as well. Our male got his tongue stuck in a toy and the toy was just hanging off his tongue and he was freaking out. I had to grab him and pull the toy off his tongue and he just sat there with his tongue hanging out.

 

I did the only thing I could think of and got the ice out and put ice on his tongue. He seemed to think that was a good idea and licked the ice for awhile. It helped with the swelling and the next day he was back to normal.

[danmcq]

Casey, it's great to hear the tongue bite incident is oing to heal just fine on it's own.

 

You mentioned that this has occured previously. Out of curiosity, is the upper and lower beak aligned straight and true or is it possible offset a little which could be causing the tongue injury? Some Parrots do have mis-alignment, some more than others.

[Talon]

WOW! I never would have thought about the plastic. Thanks for the warning. I am glad she is healing well, I imagine she must be pretty sore, and they use their tongue for everything. I wouldn't worry about her not talking, she will when it is less sore.

[casey7e]

Thanks...Yes I swear you would never think plastic would do that much damage. Plus almost all bird toys have plasic in them. But with the larger parrots I would not get the plastic that can be bit. The first time she did it she bit one side of the toy and then the other so it formed a sharp triangle then when she bit that part the triangle point stabbed right through the tongue. IT took 2 days to stop bleeding totally.

I even bought that toy from a special grey site that made toys just for them. I have learned my lesson twice about plastic...no more!

[she]

Poor bird. I suspect the vet wants to make sure the wound clotts which is why he recomended no water for a while. Keep us informed how the heeling goes. I suspect a tongue will heel very quick.

[casey7e]

Yes that is why he didnt want it moist at all.

She is doing great. Its a bit scarred but mostly back to normal.

Thanks!