Don't touch the ouchie!
I noticed the other day that Kirby had a little bloody spot on the edge of his wing. He gets those every so often, so I didn't think anything of it. Then today I looked at him and the bloody spot was actually bleeding. It's at the part of his wing where his feathers come out. He's molting, so feathers are being shed at a decent pace. Every so often one must not come out of its own free will--sort of like a baby tooth that just won't fall out, so you give it a little tug. And like the baby tooth, sometimes when you yank the feather, there's a little blood. It's generally not a big deal. This time, however, Kirby keeps picking at the spot. I can tell because his beak and face have little specks of dried blood on them. And since he keeps picking, the wound won't scab, so he keeps bleeding. He's not very big. And while it's not like the blood is gushing out of him, I don't like the thought of him bleeding constantly. This has never happened before, either, so that worries me a little. Since he had blood all over him I put him back in the shower, by himself this time. I tried to give him a bath, but that just freaks him out, and I didn't want to get him riled when he's already having issues. The shower was just fine. And I think he does kind of enjoy it--he stood there for a while letting the warm spray hit him, like he was on a boat in the ocean. His little eyes were closed and everything. :) I kept an eye on him the whole time he was drying off, like an hour and a half. Every time he went to "preen himself" (i.e., bite the ouchie) on that wing I'd stop him. Anywhere else? Fine. Go to it. But I don't want him keeping the wound open. It seemed a little better after that. Of course, I've left him alone for the past hour, so who knows what he's done since them. I hope this heals and goes away in a few days.