So, background; we are the thrid owners of Basil and we have had him since 2011. He is almost 20.
He started life with a male owner then a GF entered and she insisted he was banished to the utility which was were he stayed with little interaction except the washer dryer and no natural light.
His right wing was clipped, dont ask me how but it was very bad.
Those owners swapped him for a puppy.
the new owners had him only a few days until he started biting and they bought him to us. Totally unexpected and with no background information.
At that time he had very little feathers and looked like a samll plucked chicken.
We have given him a bigger cage, the one he was in was too small for him to spread his wings, freedom he is allowed out when we get up and isnt locked in until bedtime.
He has always been a bit funny about that right wing but his behaviour and feathers improved over the years, then last year we moved and he plucked, hes done this before in stress times such as when his favourite dog died. But this time he started biting himself under the wing and onto his chest drawing blood, the first vet said leave him it will pass , second vet took action with pain meds, antibiotics and a collar.
He healed, she took the collar off and within a week he did it again, so an xray which shows arthritus in that shoulder joint. Collar back on, more pain meds and changes to include more omega 3 and other vitamins and minerals in his diet.
He has never eten pellets only seed so weve always done our best to enrich that as much as possible , he has a full spectrum uv lamp.
The vet is now saying if this has become a behavioural issue more than a pain related one then we need to seriously think about his long term future, ie if he has one.
He is only 20 so we dont even want to think along those lines so Im asking please if anyone has faced similar issues and found anything that helps please share with us.
Avian vets in my area are rare as gold dust and cost about as much so finding another one wouldnt be easy. But we dont want to give up if there is anything else we can resonabley do.
He started life with a male owner then a GF entered and she insisted he was banished to the utility which was were he stayed with little interaction except the washer dryer and no natural light.
His right wing was clipped, dont ask me how but it was very bad.
Those owners swapped him for a puppy.
the new owners had him only a few days until he started biting and they bought him to us. Totally unexpected and with no background information.
At that time he had very little feathers and looked like a samll plucked chicken.
We have given him a bigger cage, the one he was in was too small for him to spread his wings, freedom he is allowed out when we get up and isnt locked in until bedtime.
He has always been a bit funny about that right wing but his behaviour and feathers improved over the years, then last year we moved and he plucked, hes done this before in stress times such as when his favourite dog died. But this time he started biting himself under the wing and onto his chest drawing blood, the first vet said leave him it will pass , second vet took action with pain meds, antibiotics and a collar.
He healed, she took the collar off and within a week he did it again, so an xray which shows arthritus in that shoulder joint. Collar back on, more pain meds and changes to include more omega 3 and other vitamins and minerals in his diet.
He has never eten pellets only seed so weve always done our best to enrich that as much as possible , he has a full spectrum uv lamp.
The vet is now saying if this has become a behavioural issue more than a pain related one then we need to seriously think about his long term future, ie if he has one.
He is only 20 so we dont even want to think along those lines so Im asking please if anyone has faced similar issues and found anything that helps please share with us.
Avian vets in my area are rare as gold dust and cost about as much so finding another one wouldnt be easy. But we dont want to give up if there is anything else we can resonabley do.
