Urgent Rat Attack

[Pippa]

The nails might have something to do with it but ever since she was a baby her feet never really uncurled. I was thinking of getting her a pedi-perch but since her left foot stays so far on it's side (it will only go semi normal if it's on a little twig which is too small for her feet to really touch the wood) I wouldn't want it to get blistered or raw. Is that a rational fear or would a rough perch be ok?
I'm working some on getting her to wait and then I'm going to move to try to get her to perch where I point but she doesn't want to leave my shoulder. I must seem so ungrateful I want her to lap a room to get some exercise, especially in winter. But unless that happens, I think I'll start some sort of diet that is lower fat and protein in winter, a lot of greens and spring and summer (with higher fat/protein) and then a slow decrease again in fall. Or should I just keep her on Roudybush year round? I might not want to follow the seasons since I don't want her in breeding mode. I don't want an egg bound bird.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Could be a congenital problem, damage in egg or genetic. Might be nerve damage, genetic, muscular??? My guy has two non functional legs and only one functional foot and can't perch although he does put his good foot around a perch which is on the bottom of the cage and also pulls himself upward with his good foot, at least as much as he can. Don't know if this was congenital or damage when he fell out of or was thrown out of the nest. I don't change his diet seasonally. If you continue to take her outside do take her out in a carrier or cage. Since you are keeping her as a pet and she has imprinted, it would be best that she doesn't fly away. I wouldn't recommend a pedi-perch. I used to take Spee to the vet to get his nails filed but that vet passed away and haven't taken him to our new avian vet yet. I sometimes lightly file his nails with a small nail file. He isn't very cooperative and gets angry but sometimes those nails just get too long.

Have you checked out the Starling Talk website I posted?

 

[Pippa]

Yes and no. I just got conformation so I'll be checking threads out today but I did poke around the site itself. I have an avian vet nearby so I'll call and see how much they charge. I also have a bird specialty store that does it but it's about 20 minutes one way so it's a drive and since we went Friday, we won't be going for a few weeks. It's such a fun store though. A bunch of birds and many are hand reared, and they are so well cared for, and absolutely gorgeous. Great prices on some things, some prices are jacked up though. What's your boy's name again? And how old is he?

 

[iamwhoiam]

My sparrow is Spee and we celebrated his 6th birthday in July. He was about one day old when I found him. Make sure the vet will just use a nail file and not a dremel tool.
How old is Pippa? Thanks for posting the photos and video. She is very cute.
Here's a photo of Spee in his bowl which he has had since the day I found him: http://forums.avianavenue.com/index...ng-from-his-new-platform.139453/#post-2010960 scroll up

 

[Pippa]

Found her day old sometime in June, I think Mid-Late. I go with her being 3 months. Does Spee's (adorable name) beak do that thing where it grows out a bit and then breaks off every few weeks? It looks like it's getting long in the photo. He's so pretty. Kinda like a Heck Finch. I think Pippa is a she but watching the ones outside it looks like it takes the black chest feathers longer to grow in than the rest of them so she might be a he. I want her to be a her because she's used to Pippa and a Pippa that's a he is hard to explain to people but at the same time, I don't want an egg bound bird. Been there, done that, don't wanna go back. Why are the pedi-perches bad? I don't doubt it just curious why? Does it matter like brand or material? Also I know sparrows go through a rebellious phase. How old was Spee when he hit it? And how long did it take to grow out of it. Please say he grew out of it!

 

[Bokkapooh]

Haha! House Sparrows were born rebellious and stubborn and strong willed! They never grow out of it! =D

 

[Pippa]

So they are like little terrors that just can't bite you that well/hard? Joy. I love my little faby anyway though. I'm already working on getting her to at least bite gently. I know like parrots they only bite if they are out of the comfort zone but she'll bite and when you repeat the same action 5 seconds later, she's fine with it. Crazy birds. I guess that's why people don't really keep sparrows now. :straightface: I love all of AA smilies!

Ooh and it is normal for her to eat some of her little down feathers? Sometimes if she finds one that's molting (off? out?) she'll gobble it down, cough a bit, and continue on her merry way. Same if she finds one in her cage. I did switch her to Roudybush so if it's something with diet it should clear up soon right?

 

[iamwhoiam]

Spee's beak is normal, not too long at all. He has never experienced part of his beak breaking off. He has a piece of cuttlebone which he does rub his beak against and chew on. I think the only time Spee rebelled was when I was transitioning him from his brooder terrarium to his cage. I really wanted to keep a close eye on him because I was concerned about him getting caught on the bars so he would only spend a few hours in the cage when I was home, then back to the terrarium. I became very busy and did not transfer him to his cage for 3 days and on the 3rd day I heard loud tapping on glass and loud sparrow "cackling" and that was the end of the terrarium. He was done with it and he let me know that. Other than this there has been no rebelliousness as far as I can tell. He does cackle when he's angry (for example, if he's sleeping and I wake him up) or frightened of something. As for pedi-perches it would be better to offer your sparrow natural wood perches/ branches which are safe for birds.

I know this isn't normal for sparrows but, if they are interested and so inclined, they can learn to talk. Spee has this ability and I'm not joking about this.
Here's a sparrow in Japan that also learned to talk:

 

[Pippa]

That's not supposed to be possible. I wouldn't put it past Pippa to learn to talk then. I talk to her all the time, full blow conversation although her side is just chirps, she loves it. She also learned that when Is say good night she should go to her favorite perch to roost. She taught herself that. And is doing very well with leaning how to
"kiss" my nose (just a light tap) and face. Although anywhere else on my face it's just her preening me and she loves to do it so while I say "kisses, thank you", not kiss, she'll only get a treat sometimes for that. She is very smart though. I hope she learns to talk.

And where do you buy gram scales? It doesn't have to be for birds since she'll just stand on it anyway. Very good little birdie.

 

[Bokkapooh]

Sapphire never learned to talk but I dont think female sparrows normally do.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Not possible....I'll tell Spee that. Some days he doesn't say anything and some days he goes on for hours. I talk to him a lot and he also hears the other birds talking.
As for gram scales, do a search online and see if you can find a kitchen or postal gram scale. You can get these from Staples, Wal-mart, etc. I will check later and see which brand I have. If Pippa won't stay on the scale you can use a small container, put it on the scale, zero out the weight and then put her in the container.

 

[Pippa]

I found a scale but it's just a little manual scale, not digital. I'll save up and get a digital one soon. Pippa weighs about 20 grams even. Maybe 21. Just a little spit of a thing. I hope Pippa learns to talk. She responds to me talking very well. But it's just little chirps and chirrups, what all does Spee say, and how clear is it? Do you happen to have a video?

 

[iamwhoiam]

Spee is a very small sparrow and weighs less than an ounce. I haven't weighed him recently, though. I have a recording of him talking but no video. Couldn't post a video anyway because you have to join youtube and I'm not into signing up. What does he say? his name, one of the dog's names, my dusky conure's name, "sleep", a few things that I haven't figured out yet and his favorite word which I need to censor but will say that it starts with an "s" and leave it at that. He's the only bird I have that says that. He combines words together such as "Spee sleep", or "Spee censored word", "Jaw-e" (for Geordie my dog) censored word". The digital scales aren't that expensive. The brand I have is Pelouze. It's several years old and I don't see it available anymore but now there is Dymo by Pelouze.

 

[Pippa]

Does he know any tricks? And what's his cage setup like? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to make Pippa's life the best I can. She won't be able to move into the living room, at least not anytime soon but I do want to get her a bigger cage that's better furnished. She's just now learning that toys won't kill her. Does Spee like toys? I'm assuming he doesn't like the big parrot chew toys though right?

 

[iamwhoiam]

Spee doesn't show an interest in toys. I made a few small ones for him and he hid from them. He likes to watch TV every now and then and enjoys music. His cage is set up for a bird with handicaps since he can not perch. The bottom of the cage is lined with several layers of paper towels. He has a bowl lined with paper towels that he can rest/sit in and his food and water dishes are placed adjacent to the bowl so he can easily reach into them, although he frequently eats and drinks when out of the bowl and just raises himself up or pulls himself up a bit with his good foot. There is a manzanita perch on the bottom of the cage as well as an inverted rectangular dish which is covered with a paper towel. He can pull himself up on the side of the dish and once I actually found him on top of it. I bought him a basswood platform with an angled side, placed it on the bottom of the cage but he is afraid of it. I even covered part of it with paper towels but it didn't help so I have removed it for now. He has another perch which is placed very low on the bars and will sometimes put his good foot on it.
As for tricks, he will lie on his back in the palm of my hand and let me "tickle" him. He will also sometimes give kisses.

 

[Pippa]

That's so cute! Pippa is learning toys, she got a new one today that's very big for a little bird. She isn't scared of it but I don't think she grasps the whole "play" aspect of it. I change her perches out fairly often and then do an entire remodel of the perches once every 3-4 weeks. All of her perches are natural wood minus one swing she has that has a dowel on it but I don't think she uses it. One of her favorite things is a little shallow tupperware that I get fresh grass with dirt in for her to eat and play in. She loves sheep sorrel but too much is bad for the liver. Right now it's some plain grass, some dandelion, and a little bit of moss with some rocks because I'm trying to teach her to forage more for food and the moss will let her see it but still have to get it from near the grass. Rocks are her favorite toy and if you put a small pile in the tupperware, 1/4 of them end up scattered all along the cage. Never see her playing with them but they end up under her favorite perch or next to the water bowl. How she moves a rock as big as her head up and out and the across the cage, IDK. Just my faby. She love love loves TV. New Girl is her favorite show but I prefer crime/comedies. She also likes music but not as much. Although she heard Fireproof by One Direction today ad got very happy and started making one of her contact calls (not the "OMG where did you go! I'm going to die!" screams but the "Hello, yes I'm here, are you there?" calls that come before the screams. Very cute.

The little stinker learned today that if we go outside in the back to fly, she can fly down to the dust bath all by herself. So now I have to let her have a bath before and after and sometimes in between flights. I like smart birds but soon she'll be too smart for her own good

 

[Bokkapooh]

Sapphire only liked to beat up her toys.

 

[iamwhoiam]

I know you and Pippa are having fun with her flying outside but, once again, be extremely careful with this. I wouldn't want her to fly away or find out that some other animal went after her. Maybe you can release her in a bird safe room (door closed) and work with her in there.

These little guys are stronger than we think. Spee has moved his dishes around and I've also found his millet spray placed on the opposite side of his manzanita perch from where I placed it. I have no idea how he did that one, not that the millet spray is heavy but it's about 4 times longer than him. Guess he just pushed it around.

Pippa sounds like a real character and it's great that you and she have found one another.

 

[Pippa]

I'm working on a harness so I think she won't be going out (or at least not much) but it takes quite a bit to get her to fly indoors, she'd much rather sit on a head. She is getting a bit better with it though, and learning to explore some. I got her some little stone bird decorations to play with. She attacked one and got very mad about it so now they're just sitting in the living room.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Does she cackle when she is mad or frightened at something?