Tell Me About Your Previously Neglected Birds

[TikkiTembo]

I'm sure most of you have read about the birds taken from a hoarder in Michigan this week. My husband and I are approved to meet some birds, and it sounds like the rescue is leaning towards a rainbow Lorikeet for us, depending on how we mesh together.
The birds lived in a trailer with no people living there. The cages were filthy, and there were multiple birds with injuries. I don't know the specifics on the Lorikeet yet, but I'm going to assume he's been fed dirty seed like the rest of them.
What was your previously abused or neglected bird like when they came home? What have you seen as the long term ramifications of being neglected?

 

[Yoshi&Raphi]

I haven’t had to deal with a bird like this but I came to wish you good luck . I bet the journey to helping this bird will be long and difficult but I know you guys will get through it!

 

[TikkiTembo]

@Yoshi&Raphi thank you!! Having a few hundred friends on the internet really does help! I feel like there's not much we can't handle!

 

[JLcribber]

Lorikeets need a highly specialized diet to be healthy. I doubt any of that was given. So depending on how old this bird is and what it was fed there is a probably a lot of deficiencies that will need to be addressed. A full blood workup at minimum to get a baseline and direction to proceed. I wish you luck.

 

[TikkiTembo]

@JLcribber Thank you! Apparently the vet who saw the hoarded birds estimated them all to be very young, which gives me hope for his long term health. I am really looking forward to learning about the best nectars, mixes, etc for him. I even got a food processor yesterday to assist in chop making... It's been okay to hand chop veggies for two birds that eat a little, but it sounds like little Lorikeet will need much more fruit than I normally prepare, so it was time to bring out the big guns!

 

[Hankmacaw]

There are a number of us on this forum who have acquired birds that were terribly neglected and horribly physically abused. @Danita @JLcribber @Macawnutz @Karen @Mizzely @MiniMacaw pierces design and myself are just some that I can think of off the top of my head. There are many disgusting, horrifying experiences out there, but there are just as many wonderful and inspiring stories too.

Don't tell me that ALL of humanity is evil - the people mentioned above prove that it isn't true.

 

[CeciliaZ]

I adopted a tiel from our local humane society last October. She also came from a hoarding situation where over 500 birds were taken from someone's home. I don't know her exact age - but she is an adult. I read somewhere here about different colors of leg bands. Her band is blue and if the breeder followed that - I think she is three years old. She was very fearful when I brought her home. I separated her from the rest of my flock and put her in a large cage. She thrashed so much in that cage - I took her out and placed her in a smaller cage - she calmed down but was clinging to the cage bars. I had to leave to get to work - just hoped that she would remain calm and Ok.

She has adjusted so well - I know tiels are very resilient. She steps up, loves her scritches, flies to me. She loves her shredding toys. Getting her to eat veggies - still working on that.

Good Luck!

 

[Clueless]

My amazons had a rough period before I got them.

Good food, clean cages, and a regular routine....

Love does wonders also.

 

[TikkiTembo]

I just spoke with the rescue founder. She said he needs a CBC, but has had all of the other work done. She said he is less than a year old, and was living in a cage with an inch of maggots and poop.

 

[Zara]

@sunnysmom and @Hawk12237 have fostered many birds and may have more to add.
@Nikomania s son rescued Sydney who was neglected.
@webchirp may also have something to add.

 

[Hawk12237]

@sunnysmom and @Hawk12237 have fostered many birds and may have more to add.
@Nikomania s son rescued Sydney who was neglected.
@webchirp may also have something to add.

Yes I have, that will require a lot of typing. And stirring up some Awful memories of the day I got some of them, and the horrid conditions some were in, and the road to recovery, which in some cases was a long one, other cases permanently disabled and special needs.

 

[Danita]

All of my recent rescues pretty much cried through the night for the first few months off and on. They were afraid.
Some soak up the love and food, while others are petrified. You need to go at their pace, they tell you what they want from you.

 

[Mizzely]

@webchirp rescued my Hahns, Gizmo. From what I recall she was in a very small cage with a single perch.

In my home she was terrified of anything stick like (including natural perches), hands, and even toys. It sometimes took her months to accept a new toy and everything had to go at a snail's pace for quite a while. When she first came here, she actually had to have most of her cage covered with only a corner to peek out of or she would constantly alarm call. We slowly got to move the blanket back farther and farther until she no longer needed that extra security. She had arthritis at the age of 10 because of her previous housing and she had to recover from elevated liver values due to diet. She adored me but was so afraid of hands I was never allowed to touch her. She would snuggle under my chin and let me pet her with my nose, but hands were always off limits. Getting her to eat new foods was hard because even some foods she was afraid of! Sadly, she died due to a toy accident. She grew leaps and bounds in my care and I always wonder about how she would be today if she had lived.



Ripley came to me from a Craigslist ad. He was in a small cage with 2 dowels, a ladder, and some rusty bells. He at least was allowed to come out of his cage and be on it. He was fed an all seed diet for his entire 19 years before living with me, and as a result came underweight and malnourished. Respiratory heart issues, over grown beak, loss of balance and grip due to nutritional deficiencies. He was so weak that even though he had full wings, he dropped like a rock because he just didn't have the muscle available to fly. He's been with me a year this month and he is a totally different bird! He has always been super friendly and affectionate, but now he spends a lot of his day foraging, playing, and loving life. His beak that I was told would need regular maintenance is just now maybe at a point where he needs it dremeled again because his diet has improved and so have his chances to wear it down himself. The click in his breathing is gone, and he can now fly from his cage to my bedroom (if he gets spooked...lol....he still doesn't realize flying can be a voluntary action!)



Birds in these situations need the things they haven't had before - they need good food, patience, and freedom to become the bird they have not been allowed or had the opportunity to be.

 

[sunnysmom]

Thank you for helping this bird. As mentioned, lories need a specialized diet. So that's probably the first thing to work on. (That and they have projectile poops- so you might want to get plastic for around the cage.) None of my fosters have come from actual hoarding situations although my first foster, a lovebird, was kept in a homemade cage with like 7 other birds, including a goffin! All of them were fairly cage territorial, understandably, since I think they needed to feel secure and have their own space. All of them but Elvis were definitely hands off initially. None of them liked being left alone. I start out using night lights with all of them at bedtime and covering them with a gap in the cover. From there, I gage whether they like it or not. It seems to work best for all of them. (Except Elvis- he's always the exception. LOL.) I think just like with any bird, each is going to react differently and you just have to try to follow the birds lead. I don't know if lories are nippy or not but I would be prepared for some bites along the way. Time and patience.

 

[Ripshod]

@TikkiTembo Tau's backstory:
http://forums.avianavenue.com/index.php?threads/closer-to-home.219380/
Two New Challenges | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[TikkiTembo]

@sunnysmom They apparently are very nippy when over excited, plus they are known for some crazy hormones around age two! I will be stocking up on Band-Aids! Lol What really gives me hope is that they're notoriously naughty and hilarious little clowns, so I hope I can give him the space and peace he needs to heal so he can enjoy himself again!

 

[sunnysmom]

@sunnysmom They apparently are very nippy when over excited, plus they are known for some crazy hormones around age two! I will be stocking up on Band-Aids! Lol What really gives me hope is that they're notoriously naughty and hilarious little clowns, so I hope I can give him the space and peace he needs to heal so he can enjoy himself again!

They are adorable birds. The Aviary in Pittsburgh has a lorikeet room where you can go in and feed them. They sip nectar from little cups. That's been my only interaction with lorikeets, and these although kept in a large room, are obviously very used to people. I've never met one kept as a "pet", but they do seem like little clowns.

 

[TikkiTembo]

The rescue just posted a video of him, she says he's not handleable, which is expected! He will probably appreciate his own out of cage time, just once a day maybe to start, and we'll just plan to be home the rest of the day in case he's a pain to get back in the cage.

 

[Hawk12237]

@webchirp rescued my Hahns, Gizmo. From what I recall she was in a very small cage with a single perch.

In my home she was terrified of anything stick like (including natural perches), hands, and even toys. It sometimes took her months to accept a new toy and everything had to go at a snail's pace for quite a while. When she first came here, she actually had to have most of her cage covered with only a corner to peek out of or she would constantly alarm call. We slowly got to move the blanket back farther and farther until she no longer needed that extra security. She had arthritis at the age of 10 because of her previous housing and she had to recover from elevated liver values due to diet. She adored me but was so afraid of hands I was never allowed to touch her. She would snuggle under my chin and let me pet her with my nose, but hands were always off limits. Getting her to eat new foods was hard because even some foods she was afraid of! Sadly, she died due to a toy accident. She grew leaps and bounds in my care and I always wonder about how she would be today if she had lived.

View attachment 312894

Ripley came to me from a Craigslist ad. He was in a small cage with 2 dowels, a ladder, and some rusty bells. He at least was allowed to come out of his cage and be on it. He was fed an all seed diet for his entire 19 years before living with me, and as a result came underweight and malnourished. Respiratory heart issues, over grown beak, loss of balance and grip due to nutritional deficiencies. He was so weak that even though he had full wings, he dropped like a rock because he just didn't have the muscle available to fly. He's been with me a year this month and he is a totally different bird! He has always been super friendly and affectionate, but now he spends a lot of his day foraging, playing, and loving life. His beak that I was told would need regular maintenance is just now maybe at a point where he needs it dremeled again because his diet has improved and so have his chances to wear it down himself. The click in his breathing is gone, and he can now fly from his cage to my bedroom (if he gets spooked...lol....he still doesn't realize flying can be a voluntary action!)

View attachment 312895

Birds in these situations need the things they haven't had before - they need good food, patience, and freedom to become the bird they have not been allowed or had the opportunity to be.

What a nice story! I enjoyed that.

 

[MiniMacaw]

When I first brought Bowser home he was terrified of everything. He ate mash on the first night home and the look of comfort on his face broke my heart. It was like the first time he had known warmth and safety. I followed that look for the next months as he slowly learned that not all touches caused pain and that toys are FUN. (I may have rolled around on the carpet using foot toys before he would touch them lol.) He also had to go through many months of physical therapy to help strengthen his injured foot. I tried to make everything about fun. But as Danita said, they tell you what they need. Bowser is a blue and gold hybrid and they're generally known to be clowns and into dancing, funny singing etc. Not Bowser. He hates loud noises and fast movements to this day. He loves softly sung songs only (danny boy being his favorite and he'll fall asleep to it and calm down instantly if he's worried about something, like he saw a scary bug). We came up with routines that helped him feel secure in the beginning that we still do. He has a chamomile tea at night with me (we each have our own teacups). And he learned how to have fun quickly. His favorite thing now is hanging upside from literally anything. An o ring, curtains (as seen in my pic), rings, etc. He'll swing upside down and make the happiest sounds for hours .

Long term effects of his trauma are evident, however, who of us isn't a little scarred from something? It's just how he is. He may never be ok with fast movements or strangers getting too near. And that's ok because he's literally the best Bowser he can be. But birds are so resilient. Who could say a bird that had been picked up by his neck, neglected horribly emotionally and phyically and raised in a dog kennel with no perch or toys would one day be sipping tea every night from his own teacup and laughing to himself while swinging around his aviary from o ring to o ring...all upside down.