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Bent head

Lady Jane

Ripping up the road
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You can put the powdered pellets i the birdie bread. My budgies adored it. Suggest you try it once and see what happens. I would put a baked sweet potato in the mix and grated carrot. Plus you get enough to freeze some of it to offer for other times.
 

Gribouille

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Update: nothing helps, Merlin won't eat anything new/ strange, while Nova is getting fatter because she eats the extra good bites.. In addition, she has decided that Merlin is done for, so she is actively plaguing him, biting his feet as soon as she gets the opportunity :grumpy:. I separate them during the day so he can relax and it helps see what he actually eats. When I get home he is allowed to leave his cage, spend some time out on their branch and in their open cage; despite the bullying that's where he wants to be. Not sure how long he can live on that low weight and twisted head, so far he seems to do well despite many falls a day he keeps exploring and singing :heart:.
It's so sad to see how Nova is treating him though. He was himself such a good friend when Tikki got sick and blind years ago. Tikki had seizures and would fall to the bottom of the cage, Merlin used to go and guide him up again, or show him the way to water and food. Now that he is the sick one he has to fend for himself. :(
 

Lady Jane

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It is hard to watch your little guy decline. I would keep him separate day ans night so the others stop picking on him. They seem to know when there is a weak flock member and chase that one away.
 

Gribouille

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It is hard to watch your little guy decline. I would keep him separate day ans night so the others stop picking on him. They seem to know when there is a weak flock member and chase that one away.
I've been thinking about that, but being out and together with Nova is part of what makes his life interesting, so I let him out under supervision. If these are his last days, he'd better take all the fun he can, I'll just keep an eye on his so he won't get bullied too much.
 

Gribouille

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SEPTEMBER UPDATE:
Merlin is still alive and well! After an awful down to 32g in July, he has taken on some weigh, so good to not feel his keel bone anymore! He is back to 38g today!! :bliss:
He has learned all the tricks to move around with one eye, with more energy and speed. If it wasn't for the handicap he would fly again, I can see he really wants to when he flaps his wings while sitting on a perch, just to get the feeling and keep the muscles going.
He is about tame now, accepting our help if he falls down or if it's time to go back to his own cage. He'll climb on our finger and sit there until he reaches destination, which he never did before since he didn't allow us to approach him. So things have improved really well and I hope we'll enjoy his company for a long time still :heart:
 

Fergus Mom

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SEPTEMBER UPDATE:
Merlin is still alive and well! After an awful down to 32g in July, he has taken on some weigh, so good to not feel his keel bone anymore! He is back to 38g today!! :bliss:
He has learned all the tricks to move around with one eye, with more energy and speed. If it wasn't for the handicap he would fly again, I can see he really wants to when he flaps his wings while sitting on a perch, just to get the feeling and keep the muscles going.
He is about tame now, accepting our help if he falls down or if it's time to go back to his own cage. He'll climb on our finger and sit there until he reaches destination, which he never did before since he didn't allow us to approach him. So things have improved really well and I hope we'll enjoy his company for a long time still :heart:
I was SO glad to read this update! After reading the entire thread for the first time today, I was afraid to read page 2!!!
:heart:
He is such a happy sweet little character. I am surprised that Nova hasn't much compassion for him being handicapped... the little bugger! Females can be so snippy sometimes!
That is truly ironic that this condition has made him so tame enough to sit on your finger for transport! Fergus still won't allow that without the millet bribe, and it has to happen at the entry to their cage, not anywhere else! I hope Merlin will be fine now that he's gained a bit of weight! I wonder if there is a way to encourage him to flap more often, but I doubt it. Keep taking such excellent care of our little friend! :hug8:
 

Gribouille

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OCTOBER UPDATE:
Merlin is still around but he has been falling very often these last days, when I came home on Thursday he was under my bed, I put him back up on the cage and went to hang my jacket up, he fell in the meantime. Put him back up, he fell again... So I just had to check, and I think his other eye is gone too, he didn't react at all to my hand coming close on any side of his head. His second eye is probably still catching the light but he doesn't seem to see forms anymore. His head is still bent though, so that's due to his neck and not to being blind in one eye like the vet said.
I just think he's been falling so many times that he has multiple concussions now, poor boy :( And despite all the protections under the cage, he has many times managed to fall beside them...

So these two last days have been spent pondering and trying solutions to prevent him from falling, and also making sure that if he should fall he'll land on the protections instead of on the hard floor. I've been sewing walls around the top of his cage so he won't fall on the backside when he climbs. He also has a ramp to climb up to Nova's cage (which was his too before, so he loves to be there) and his cage is side by side with hers instead of face to face. It doesn't matter so much anymore if he can see her or not, does it?... He gets more sun light and warmth from the new position and there is a small heater behind the cage so he can keep warm when he sleeps at the back. He is not allowed to climb up their tree over Nova's cage anymore though, this is too high and too risky so I've prevented his access there. He has had a towel stretched over the bottom of his cage since he moved for himself in June, and this is just wonderful, like a trampoline, doesn't matter if he falls, there is nothing hard under and it makes his cage very safe. :heart:

Despite all that, him being completely blind doesn't make it easy. He has to learn new routes and new places for things around when he was used to the former agencement. I had to rebuild his ramp when he started to climb ON the protections instead of them keeping him safe on the ramp. He is a quick learner though, and felt only once today. Of course, I'm home today, helping him to learn his new environment and I could pick him up when he moved to the wrong place. Hopefully he'll improve tomorrow again and be fine on his own on Monday!

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