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Adopting a Bird with Special Needs ...help?

Inky

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Sarah Tidwell
Check this store out...(Oh Etsy, and all your creative people!) ...This shop have some very nice variety of platforms, intended for chinchillas, but I am thinking quite a few of them are ideal for birds: Platform Perches

This one also has a good amount of awesome Bird Platforms
 

tattoosiva

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Check this store out...(Oh Etsy, and all your creative people!) ...This shop have some very nice variety of platforms, intended for chinchillas, but I am thinking quite a few of them are ideal for birds: Platform Perches

This one also has a good amount of awesome Bird Platforms
I have a few perches from happy wings, excellent quality.
 

webchirp

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Well darn...I can't see. What I get for missing posts!
 

Inky

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Sarah Tidwell
My little guy is settling in nicely with my Chicago buddy who has been keeping up with the little booger until we return from our trip to Finland. He loves blueberries. He can fly *very* well, she says. They have a java tree perch, and while he is very skittish, he does return to the java perch after his little turn about the room...

Hopefully you guys have some tips for taming a bird who is very accustomed to being flighted? ...I don't think clipping his wings is an option here, because of his legs. But my house is very open, and it will be difficult to say the least to encourage him back into his cage should he decide to take a fly around. I don't want to chase him down. I will be taking it very slow with him, of course, to earn his trust and hopefully gain his confidence in me... but if he can jet off the moment he is out, I'm worried that I'll have no option but to be continually chasing him down to protect him from himself...

He has obviously built up great strength in his wing muscles...Is there a milder clipping option that will slow him down but perhaps not offer him full flight? Or should I not even consider it?

He was very underweight upon leaving his home...and I think I now know part of the reason why. Apart from living with a cage mate who possibly bullied him in addition to plucking him to pieces, he does not (cannot?) use his feet to hold food. I've seen these awesome platform perches with holes cut out for bowls to be placed in...and I think I'm going to have my husband help me build one. I think this will help him out with dropped food, and give him more stability while eating...

Lastly...I think I found the perfect cage. Why is it perfect? Because I'm going to build a gym station on top of it, and it'll sit right next to Dood's cage so they can climb on both. Its not too tall inside, so any falls or stumbles should be minor, and it's stand is pretty tall itself...Though I may make a taller stand in the end, too.

And now for some pics...


 

Monica

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If you have patience and he's willing to take food from you.... I see no reason to clip him.
















Food can also be used to teach him to go back to his cage.
 

tattoosiva

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My little guy is settling in nicely with my Chicago buddy who has been keeping up with the little booger until we return from our trip to Finland. He loves blueberries. He can fly *very* well, she says. They have a java tree perch, and while he is very skittish, he does return to the java perch after his little turn about the room...

Hopefully you guys have some tips for taming a bird who is very accustomed to being flighted? ...I don't think clipping his wings is an option here, because of his legs. But my house is very open, and it will be difficult to say the least to encourage him back into his cage should he decide to take a fly around. I don't want to chase him down. I will be taking it very slow with him, of course, to earn his trust and hopefully gain his confidence in me... but if he can jet off the moment he is out, I'm worried that I'll have no option but to be continually chasing him down to protect him from himself...

He has obviously built up great strength in his wing muscles...Is there a milder clipping option that will slow him down but perhaps not offer him full flight? Or should I not even consider it?

He was very underweight upon leaving his home...and I think I now know part of the reason why. Apart from living with a cage mate who possibly bullied him in addition to plucking him to pieces, he does not (cannot?) use his feet to hold food. I've seen these awesome platform perches with holes cut out for bowls to be placed in...and I think I'm going to have my husband help me build one. I think this will help him out with dropped food, and give him more stability while eating...

Lastly...I think I found the perfect cage. Why is it perfect? Because I'm going to build a gym station on top of it, and it'll sit right next to Dood's cage so they can climb on both. Its not too tall inside, so any falls or stumbles should be minor, and it's stand is pretty tall itself...Though I may make a taller stand in the end, too.

And now for some pics...


OMG! What a cutie!
 

JessandBrad

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I have a parrot with only one foot, but I have to imagine if it works for him it should work for you. He has an huge pen, but what I love (and he loves) about his pen is the huge playtop he has. Mostly because he can go anywhere he wants quickly by grabbing the bars with his beak and then hopping over! he has it set up with a food bowl, bath bowl, toys and some platform perches. Inside the pen barred platform perches are amazing, they allow him to move like he does on his playtop.
 

Sadieladie1994

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I have a parrot with only one foot, but I have to imagine if it works for him it should work for you. He has an huge pen, but what I love (and he loves) about his pen is the huge playtop he has. Mostly because he can go anywhere he wants quickly by grabbing the bars with his beak and then hopping over! he has it set up with a food bowl, bath bowl, toys and some platform perches. Inside the pen barred platform perches are amazing, they allow him to move like he does on his playtop.

I would love to see your set up. If your bird is happy that is what counts!
 

Crazy4parrots

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This might help you @Inky Splayed legs | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum THanks for adopting a splayed leg bird :) They are soo special and unique.. Kiwi is not mentally disable so he acts like nothing is wrong with him. :) Your birdie is cute!
The new pictures wont load :(
 
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Crazy4parrots

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My little guy is settling in nicely with my Chicago buddy who has been keeping up with the little booger until we return from our trip to Finland. He loves blueberries. He can fly *very* well, she says. They have a java tree perch, and while he is very skittish, he does return to the java perch after his little turn about the room...

Hopefully you guys have some tips for taming a bird who is very accustomed to being flighted? ...I don't think clipping his wings is an option here, because of his legs. But my house is very open, and it will be difficult to say the least to encourage him back into his cage should he decide to take a fly around. I don't want to chase him down. I will be taking it very slow with him, of course, to earn his trust and hopefully gain his confidence in me... but if he can jet off the moment he is out, I'm worried that I'll have no option but to be continually chasing him down to protect him from himself...

He has obviously built up great strength in his wing muscles...Is there a milder clipping option that will slow him down but perhaps not offer him full flight? Or should I not even consider it?

He was very underweight upon leaving his home...and I think I now know part of the reason why. Apart from living with a cage mate who possibly bullied him in addition to plucking him to pieces, he does not (cannot?) use his feet to hold food. I've seen these awesome platform perches with holes cut out for bowls to be placed in...and I think I'm going to have my husband help me build one. I think this will help him out with dropped food, and give him more stability while eating...

Lastly...I think I found the perfect cage. Why is it perfect? Because I'm going to build a gym station on top of it, and it'll sit right next to Dood's cage so they can climb on both. Its not too tall inside, so any falls or stumbles should be minor, and it's stand is pretty tall itself...Though I may make a taller stand in the end, too.

And now for some pics...


I keep Kiwi clipped but despite of that he flies pretty well! but to avoid accidents since he is splayed and doesnt land properly so i prefer that he is clipped to avoid accidents. He have problems landing with his feets, specially his right feet that turned towards his body.
 
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Beanurita

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My love bird, Pickles has splayed legs and she live in an HQ flight cage with platforms, perches and boings getting around with no problems. I made fleece covers for the wire platforms for her! She has plenty of flying room as well! Plus she comes out daily for some flying and adventures! Nothing stops her!!

Pickles cage is on the right.....I change her set up inside from time to time
IMG_4148.2014-09-07_025942.jpg

Here she is when she figured out how to hide from me! She climbed inside of the platform cover I made her on the bottom side of it! She was jumping out of it here because she knew she got caught! Needless to say, I had to sew it up tighter so she couldn't get in again!
IMG_4081.2014-09-02_233157.jpg
 

Crazy4parrots

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Kiwi had a happy hut but he begun making holes to the fleece LOL so out it went pilus it made him be laying down more hours and vet said NO NO to the happy hut make him move!
 

Beanurita

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Pickles stays out of her tent unless it's bedtime ;) she isn't in a happy hut in the 2nd pic. That is a wire platform that I made a fleece sleeve for so it was easier for her to be on it and rest her legs a bit :)
 

Inky

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I may choose a partial clip, then, to slow him down a bit and make him less certain about flying off. It's mainly because our room that houses the cage(s) is big, and connected to a room with a vaulted ceiling... So I can just imagine the worst, trying to get to him upstairs and downstairs and upstairs etc...lol. (The upstairs bedroom is open to that room as well.) The cage room also opens to the kitchen, which has a giant sliding glass door I would hate for him to hit full-on. There are not doors between any of these rooms, though I may be able to persuade my husband to hang a large curtain between two of them, blocking off the kitchen cannot be done.

I'm looking forward to getting the little guy home. I bought some platform perches and sent them to my friend in Chicago... He is a fan! I got him one fleece-wrapped perch as well that he likes, so I may be sewing more...

image.jpg
 

Novembergypsy

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What a little heartbreaker! I'm so glad he's going home to such a good mummy!
 

slinky-kitty

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Just beautiful! I hope all is going well. He is lucky to have found his way to you!
 
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