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Blind Puffin HELP Needed!

Danita

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I was contacted through Lucky and Coco's FB page for help.

Posting the question here so you guys can help her

Here it is!

Hey guys, I was wondering if you had any experience with blind birds? three weeks ago we rescued an injured puffin suffering head trauma in mid Reykjavík, Iceland. Nursed him back to health and he's doing so much better but seems to be blind.. whether that is a cause or affect of the accident remains unknown. He's non-responsive to any movement around his head and eyes and walks into things and, if we're not careful, off of things. Amazingly tame for a wild animal though, which could also be due to his loss of sight. If he's permanently blind a release is out of the question so I was wondering if you had any suggestions as to some kind of enrichment for a blind sea bird?
 

Clueless

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rocky'smom

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he needs to see a vet JMHO
 

Mizzely

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Are you a wildlife rehabber or in contact with one? A zoo nearby maybe?
 

Birdbabe

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I have no experience with blind sea birds, but I suppose he could get along ok as long as his enclosed area never changes, once he learns it. He definitely will need to be hand fed, since he can't see. OMG,,,ummm, and being a sea bird, he will want to experience the water,,, WOW, I'm at a loss here..A rehabilitation center may be best, but, be prepared, coz they may put him to sleep since he is blind, can't hunt, play in the water, ect. Puffins are so beautiful, I hope his blindnesses is temporary and I hope you find a place for him.
 

WendyN

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Maybe contact Saeheimar Aquarium or some organization like that.
 

Poofypuffin

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Thanks everyone for your responses and thanks for Danita for posting this here.

Just to get everyone in the loop the puffin was found three weeks ago by one of the main roads running along the seafront in Reykjavik city center. Which is a very unusual place to find a puffin, specially this time of year. It's estimated that this is a young bird 1-2 years old that got lost on its way back from the winter stay in the Atlantic ocean.

It’s not known what caused the injuries but it’s likely that he flew head first into a moving vehicle. Suffering head trauma and a cracked beak and is believed to be blind. As stated above it is not known whether the blindness is a cause or affect of the accident.

He's been taken to two vets, one of which asked if we were sure it's a puffin and said that all she could do was PTS. But we weren't ready to give up on him as wings, legs and body seemed a-okay.

The other gave us some anti bacterial cream for his eyes which we were to put in three times a day for six days. That went amazingly well and the swelling went down but the problem with the eyesight seems to persist.

We've also contacted other vets but they all claim to know nothing about puffins.

Then we've been in contact with Sæheimar Aquarium and they've given us some great advice. I've also been in contact with a sea bird specialist who told us which vitamins it might need etc. We've mainly been feeding it shrimp but he's also tasted monkfish and he loved it. Also he is also very fond of bath time.

We would be all set for release except for the fact that he'll never make it in the wild without his vision and thus far he remains non-responsive to any movement around his head or in-front of his eyes. He also walks into things and off of things if we're not careful. He's mainly hand fed but we always leave a bowl of shrimp in the same place and he's been able to locate it and digs in.

I really hope that there is just some swelling that needs to go down in order for his eyesight to return but as it's already been three weeks without change I'm starting to fear that it won't return. In the mean time we are making him as comfortable as possible, I'm even thinking about getting some assistance to build an outdoor puffinarium of sorts for him in the yard.

I've been around animals all my life and had a few parrots but never a sea bird so this is new territory. But I've been doing all that I can to help him. Iceland is pretty limited when it comes to wildlife rescue (or animal rescue in general, for example there are no dog shelters or anything of the kind) and as someone mentioned above he'll likely be put to sleep in a zoo setting as a blind animal might not be feasible, even if it is a puffin - plus the only zoo in Reykjavík is literally called "domesticated animal yard" don't think they'll have many options for him.

I'm more than happy giving my time and energy to this little guy, I've grown quite fond of him and have given him the name Mundi lundi, which would sound like Muffin the puffin in English.

Mundi when he was found:
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=5399ade0ebd3508176ec71e2b6c988d0&oe=59AA78C6

Day two:
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=c5a96143ea7441fbb5aadcdf67d89dc6&oe=59BA487A

Week one:
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=87595a33e9cf1f0723b64bd8f8f6c8ca&oe=59B81262

Bathtime:
Mundi Lundi - Mundi the Puffin
 

Hankmacaw

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Oh my goodness, he is a cutie. His eyesight may come back, at least to some extent when the swelling is completely gone - and maybe not.

I've had a bird that was blind in one eye from cataracts and partially blind in the other for the same reason. He got around fine and most of the changes were on my part. I would never ever come up to him on his blind side and I always spoke to him before approaching him.

Several members have blind birds and it seems that they say to keep things in exactly the same place all of the time and provide the bird with flat perches. That's about the extent of my knowledge.

 

janicedyh

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Really precious little one.
 

Rolanda

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The Aquarium wouldn't take him in and care for him? When you say Aquarium I am thinking like our Sea World. Which does wild animal rescues and cares for injured animals and those that cannot be released into the wild. I live in San Diego, CA. We have one locally.
 

Newbie GCC

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He is adorable! Thank you for helping him!
 

Poofypuffin

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The Aquarium wouldn't take him in and care for him? When you say Aquarium I am thinking like our Sea World. Which does wild animal rescues and cares for injured animals and those that cannot be released into the wild. I live in San Diego, CA. We have one locally.
It's nowhere near the size of Sea World, it's very small, located in the Westman Islands (which is far away) and has a population of about 4000 people. They already have one puffin living there who is healthy and have not shown any interest in taking this one on.

I was actually very surprised that everyone I contacted just wished me the best of luck with it, no one offering to take it or suggesting someplace that could.
 

Begone

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Thank you for helping! ♥
And you are from what I know our first member from Iceland.
I hope that you will stay and update us on how it goes with Mundi Lundi. :)
 

zoo mom

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He/she is precious. Thank you for caring for him. I like the idea of an outdoor Pufferarium, provided you can provide heat during the winter. I can picture a nice kiddie size pool mostly buried surrounded by a pebble beach so he knows when he is near it.
 

Poofypuffin

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Thank you for helping! ♥
And you are from what I know our first member from Iceland.
I hope that you will stay and update us on how it goes with Mundi Lundi. :)
Thanks for the warm welcome

I'll try to remember to keep you guys updated, I've also started a FB page for him as there were so many interested in following his progress.

Mundi Lundi - Mundi the Puffin - Home | Facebook

He/she is precious. Thank you for caring for him. I like the idea of an outdoor Pufferarium, provided you can provide heat during the winter. I can picture a nice kiddie size pool mostly buried surrounded by a pebble beach so he knows when he is near it.
Oooh a pebble beach is a great idea!
I've been wrecking my brain around how to map out a possible area for him so he can get around easy and know where he is. I'm going to try and convince my brother-in-law to work on this project with me as he is a carpenter so hopefully we'll be able to make something nice. I also want it to be something that can be semi easily moved so we could take it inside the garage during the coldest winter months.
 

CeciliaZ

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Thank you for caring for him - he is adorable - loved the bath video.
 

Shyra

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You might also consider a muscial toy that has buttons he/she can press to hang on the inside of his cage/enclosure. I've read posts from several people who have blind birds (not all are parrots) that seem to love that type of toy.
 
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