1.    Obtain and restrain bird by casting in a castwrap or large towel.

• Do not wrap bird so tightly that it cannot breathe (it will kill the bird).
• Carefully monitor bird’s breathing throughout procedure, to see that it is not undergoing undue stress.
• If bird appears to be overheating, or it has been casted for more than 30 minutes, unwrap it for a short break.

• Use extreme caution when working with or around raptor feet, their feet are capable of seriously injuring you.
• Never reach or lean over feet, always be aware of where your hands are in relation to the talons.
• Be especially careful with Great Horned Owls, remember that they have 500 pounds of pressure per square inch in their feet.

2.    Restrain the foot you are not working with, so that it cannot grab you.

• Ball the foot up
• Wrap an ace bandage around it, until you run out of bandage (raptors have great grasping strength in their feet, but not much strength to open their feet).

• Fully extend the leg.
• Grasp the ankle at the base of the foot.
• Crank back the second digit by putting your thumb at the base of the talon and pulling back and down, until the talon is resting on your other hand.  There may be some resistance and popping noises, but do not worry, that is normal.

5.    Scrub the foot thoroughly with Betadine soaked gauze pads, concentrating on any
        open sores.

6.    Flush thoroughly with dilute Nolvasan, using either the syringe or the spray bottle.

7.    Pat foot dry with clean gauze pads and remove the wet towel.

8.    Apply CEH cream liberally to foot sores.

• Cover small gauze pads with CEH cream and wrap around toe(s).
• Cover small gauze pads with CEH cream and put on pad of foot.

9.    With rolled gauze begin wrapping foot.

• Wrap around ankle at base of foot a couple times.
• Pull gauze up and begin wrapping single toe, be sure to cover completely.
• Wrap around ankle, and begin wrapping another toe.
• Repeat until all toes are covered.
• To cover foot pad, pull gauze up between toes and across pad.
• Repeat until entire foot is covered.

10.    Using the same method as used with the gauze, wrap foot in VetWrap.

• Make sure the foot is not wrapped too tight, it could cut off the circulation and cause loss of one or more toes.
• If the toes feel cold to the touch, it is too tight, unwrap and do steps 9 and 10 over.

11.    Use surgical tape to cover loose ends of VetWrap, do not cover the foot in tape.

12.    If treating both feet, proceed with other foot, repeating steps two through eleven.
 

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