Treating patients @Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital

Caesar the young barking owl broke his wing in his first attempt to fly as a fledgling.

With his fluffy feathers and unsteady wings, Caesar was still learning how to fly when he landed heavily on the ground. An x-ray at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital showed that the fall had broken his radius and ulna in his right wing, with both bones protruding from the skin. This is called a compound fracture and causes an increased risk of infection.

Dr. Rosie and her team took Caesar into surgery to realign the bones and insert a surgical pin to hold them in place, before providing Caesar with broad-spectrum antibiotics and calcium supplements, to help his bones heal. Unlike mammals, bird’s bones can heal quite quickly and in just three weeks firm calluses had formed on the fractures, giving Dr. Rosie the go head to surgically remove the pin in his wing. Less than one week later, Caesar was testing his new wings and was ready to begin his rehabilitation with a specialised wildlife carer. 

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