A Frosty Start To 2018 For Billy!
Animal Achievement Award
May 2018
Winner: Billy the Rainbow lorikeet
Nominated by: Phillipa Dobbs, Veterinary Associate at Twycross Zoo
For: Patience whilst healing his frost bite injury
A Frosty Start To 2018 For Billy The Rainbow Lorikeet
Billy is an adult male Rainbow lorikeet that lives in Lorikeet Landing with the rest of his group.
Back in December 2017 when the weather was really cold, Billie appeared to have frost bite on his wing. He was immediately warmed up and given first aid treatment.
In the following days he was kept in a warm off show aviary and treated daily. This involved Billy sitting on a perch in his enclosure whilst his wing was flushed with warm fluid, dried and a protective spray applied.
The following week Billy was anaesthetised to allow full assessment of his wing. Radiographs were taken which showed no bone damage and his wound was fully assessed. We did notice that a few of his feathers on his wing were damaged and needed to be removed to allow new feathers to grow. New feathers take many weeks to grow in birds so this meant Billy was unable to fly during his treatment.
Two months later Billy’s wound had healed really well so his daily treatment was stopped. A further examination under anaesthesia in March 2018 revealed that the regrowth of his feathers was going well.
He was released back into Lorikeet Landing a few days later and can now be seen with all the other birds. He feathers still need to grow a little but more, but he is otherwise back to full health.
More Info
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