Creating a safe environment- It's just to dangerous for me to let him out

[taxidermynerd]

Hi all!

So as some of you might know, Chirp has hurt himself twice in the span of the last week. One was a broken blood feather from flying into a recliner, and the other was a small cut and extensive bruising sustained on his chest.

He's been stuck in his cage since we went to the emergency vet. Every time I open the door, he tries to fly out. He can't fly right, since he broke that blood feather. He's unbalanced and more often than not, he drops like a rock.

I've made a false bottom for his flight cage with blankets and towels for cushioning in case he falls. I made up a first aid kit containing pretty much everything I could need until I can get into a vet (whether it's the regular vet 10 minutes away, or the emergency vet and hour and a half away.) I have his travel/vet cage prepped at all times in case we need to get to the vet quickly.

I'm looking for more ways to make Chirp's whole environment safer. This covers his cage, the surrounding area, and my whole room. I'm open to about any suggestion.

So far, I think that when the weather isn't so icky (yesterday we had rain and then immediately after it got so cold that the rain froze all over everything) we're going to take him to get his wings clipped. I feel like with his current condition, and the penchant he seems to have for flying into things, I feel like it's for the best.

Other than that, I can't really think of anything. Maybe training, putting up nets on the wall to deter him? I can't have him living in his cage forever. It's just to dangerous for me to let him out.

Any ideas?

 

[taxidermynerd]

Can't edit this into the last post, so oh well.

I've been looking at the crawlers from Oliver's Garden. More specifically, the small mini crawler. I'm thinking of getting that and putting it in front of the door of his cage. That way, it provides at least a small deterrent.

 

[expressmailtome]

Can't edit this into the last post, so oh well.

What would you like it changed to?

 

[taxidermynerd]

What would you like it changed to?

If you could tack on what I put in the last post onto the end of the first post (but before the "Any Ideas?" bit) , that'd be fantastic!

 

[taxidermynerd]

So I have an update.

From watching Chirp, I've noticed he's highly favoring the wire platform perch. Also, he's been climbing on the cage bars a lot more, or hopping down to the bottom and then climbing to where he needs to go, rather than hopping from perch to perch. I'm thinking of getting some solid platform perches, which will be coming out of my bird toy budget for February. That's okay though, I have enough bird toy and toy making supplies to last me a couple months. The priority right now is adapting the cage to his needs. I know Tweety Pie's has some nice ones.

Also, we had a slightly scary incident last night. I set Chirp on top of his cage to check him out, and check on his chest and make sure the wound hadn't reopened. He went and tried to fly over to the window sill, about a foot and a half away from his cage. He got maybe 6 inches out before dropping like a rock. Luckily he landed on my computer chair that's next to his cage and the window. He's been in his cage since that happened.

So yeah, there's an update. I'm kind of hoping somebody has some ideas of ways I can make his cage more comfortable, and fit his needs better. Fingers crossed!

----------------

As I was typing that last line, I heard him flutter a bunch followed by the sound of him hitting the newspaper I have covering 2 blankets and a towel on the false bottom of his cage. I'm guessing he tried to jump to a perch and didn't make it. He's okay though, I checked on him and all is well.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Glad little Chirp didn't hurt himself again. Boy, he sure is klutzy! I forgot, how old is he? The platform perches, along with some others for variety, sound good, along with plenty of things to climb on out of his cage.

 

[taxidermynerd]

Glad little Chirp didn't hurt himself again. Boy, he sure is klutzy! I forgot, how old is he? The platform perches, along with some others for variety, sound good, along with plenty of things to climb on out of his cage.

I'm not sure exactly how old he is, I'm guessing maybe a little bit over a year? His bars are fading, and if you look really closely you can see a defined iris and pupil (his eyes are dark brown, so it just blends right in with the pupil).

But yeah, platform perches are going to happen. I'm gonna get some from Tweety Pie's. They're a little bit more expensive, but I've heard that all of their products are really high quality. Right now he has 2 grapewood perches, 2 manzanita perches, 1 huge java wood perch (it has like 6 or 7 branches), a pedi perch (one of the nice concrete ones), a wire platform perch and a rope perch higher up on the cage.

I'm also looking into orbiters, boings, climbing nets, and basically anything that Chirp can climb around on. I've had my eye on some stuff from Oliver's Garden, but I might wait for the next sidewalk sale to get some stuff there. Until then, I'll probably be spending next month's bird toy budget on more stuff to improve his environment. That's fine though, I have enough toys made and enough supplies to last me for probably 3 months.

I'll get the platform perches, and once I get those and put them in Chirp's cage, I'll update and let everyone know how he's getting on.

 

[taxidermynerd]

Update.

I just checked in on Chirp and he seemed cold. I held him close my body for a minute or two and I just put my heat pad on the false bottom under a towel and a piece of newspaper. It's on the lowest setting. It's one of the ones that turns off automatically, but I guess it'll have to do.

Edit: Forgot to say that right now the heat in the house is set to get to 69 degrees, but I think it's more like 65-ish. He's also covered in a blanket that's made of two layers of polar fleece.

Edit 2: Update! It feels a little bit warmer in there, but Chirp doesn't look cold anymore (not fluffed and shivering). If lay my hand on the spot over the heat pad, I can barely feel any heat. But hey, it's working for him!

 

[Bokkapooh]

Does he hAve a really bad clip? Poor guy sounds like all his flight feathers are missing.

 

[taxidermynerd]

Does he hAve a really bad clip? Poor guy sounds like all his flight feathers are missing.

I don't know. Last time (about 3 months ago) we took him to get clipped, the woman who clipped him last time said it was a bad clip and asked who did it, but she was the one that did it! She denied it, I guess maybe she was embarrassed?

He only lost the one blood feather, but I've never seen him with a full set of flight feathers. The longer feathers (towards the outsides of the wings) are the ones he always drops, he loses them almost at the drop of a hat! He's managed to keep them for a while though, so good for him! I'll see if I can get a picture.

Edit: Here we are! I've got a picture of him sitting normally, and a picture of each wing stretched out. I had to towel him to get him to stop trying to bite my hand, but rest assured that I don't towel him often

 

[taxidermynerd]

I just ordered 3 platform perches from Tweety Pie's. Will update when I've gotten them!

 

[jerseybella]

I just ordered 3 platform perches from Tweety Pie's. Will update when I've gotten them!

Thank you
Ill ship them out tomorrow for you

 

[taxidermynerd]

Thank you
Ill ship them out tomorrow for you

Thank you so much!

 

[camelotshadow]

The clip does not look that bad & he has the end flight feathers. You said he was flying though as he flew into the wall & recliner. Now he drops?
Being able to fly if you don;t fly into walls is best as there are also dangers to clipped birds who drop like rocks & land on the keel bone.
Sort of the same a flying into a wall...either case can injure.

If he can only do 6 inches now just pad the area around the cage or keep his cage near a rung or something softer so if he falls to the ground he's not hitting hard tile or floor.

I hope he enjoys the platform perches. Rio has one & its his fav spot.

You will just have to be careful when he's out. I'm guessing he won;t like to be in the cage for a few months but you do need to see he does not injure himself again.

 

[taxidermynerd]

The clip does not look that bad & he has the end flight feathers. You said he was flying though as he flew into the wall & recliner. Now he drops?
Being able to fly if you don;t fly into walls is best as there are also dangers to clipped birds who drop like rocks & land on the keel bone.
Sort of the same a flying into a wall...either case can injure.

If he can only do 6 inches now just pad the area around the cage or keep his cage near a rung or something softer so if he falls to the ground he's not hitting hard tile or floor.

I hope he enjoys the platform perches. Rio has one & its his fav spot.

You will just have to be careful when he's out. I'm guessing he won;t like to be in the cage for a few months but you do need to see he does not injure himself again.

Yeah, he was kind of flying, more like gliding. He pretty much drops now, maybe with some fluttering envolved. I've been very conflicted over the whole wing-clipping issue, specifically in this scenario. Chirp has been getting slightly better, he hasn't been flying out of/off of his cage and into danger as of the past day or two, although I have been blocking the door with my body when I have it open (replacing the papers, fluffing up the blankets, getting food, etc).

I'll have to grab some more blankets and stuff to put around his cage. I might see about getting an area rug to go over there, just for some extra padding (also I much prefer the feel of carpet to the hardwood floor in my room). He still isn't a big fan of coming out of his cage, he never has been. He prefers to sit in the doorway of his cage and preen and stare at me. But I've got his PVC playstand, and some extra rope perches I can put on the outside of his cage. I'm just gonna have to try and work with him.

His cut on his chest seems to be healing quite nicely, although there is still quite a bit of bruising. He's been using the cage bars to get around, a lot more that usual. I'm guessing it's just more convenient for him. I'm hoping that he likes the platform perches, I'm probably going to break out the millet for a little bit of bribery.

He's been eating like a champ, and playing with toys and things. I mean, who else is gonna shred the balsa around here? Today is gonna be time to make up a new batch of chop, so I've got all kinds of good stuff. Carrots and broccoli, red bell pepper (which I cannot stand the smell of) some herbs, nuts, and some all natural whole grain oats (don't worry, they aren't quick oats, I checked ) I want to make sure that he's getting plenty of nutrition! I also got some millet from Bob's Red Mill that I'm gonna try sprouting with I'm hoping since it looks like millet, he won't realize he's actually being healthy!

Edit: At this rate I'm gonna need another couple of SS bowls. It's gonna be like a birdie buffet! All you can eat veggies, sprouts, pellet mash with seeds and veggies, and plain pellet mash!

 

[taxidermynerd]

I just checked in on Chirp. I looked at his dropping and many of them are a greyish-green color. Some of them look like they were loose. This paper has been in since roughly 10 am yesterday. Here's a few pictures. Sorry they're so blurry, but my camera was being dumb and not focusing. Hopefully you can draw some information out of this.

I think I'm gonna have dad call the vet when they open at 8. I know what Chirp's droppings look like, and this is not normal. I'm trying to think of any dietary changes that could've caused it, and I'm not coming up with anything.

Here's the various food he eats:

• Carrots (washed and peeled, chopped into teeny bits)
• Broccoli (washed, and just the tops (the green bits that look like seeds))
• Zupreem Natural pellets
• Zupreem Smart Select seed mix for parakeets
• Occasionally a tiny bit of almond

He always has fresh water available, which gets replaced every day and if/when it gets anything in it. Also, and foods with veggies are taken out 4 hours after they get put in (I saw a thread on here saying that's how long to leave them in for at most, but I can't recall what thread). Then the bowl gets washed, thoroughly rinsed, dried and then refilled.

Buddy, why do you have to be sick again? Come on kiddo.

Edit:

I just got him to poop on a piece of kleenex for me to get a good look at. This is from maybe 2 minutes ago at the time I publish this update. Again, the pictures are kind of blurry, but we'll just have to make do.

It seems a little bit better! It's more greenish, like a normal dropping.

I also looked at some of the droppings on the newspaper a little bit more. Some were a normal greenish or brownish color. Some were black, some were grey. Most that were grey looked kind of watery, some were fully formed. Some looked a solid grey all over, and a few of them looked a milky grey.

Still gonna call the vet when they open up. I hope that either Dr. Parr or preferably Dr. Hernandez is in today.

 

[camelotshadow]

Can see one pic n it does not look like normal budgie poop but food can change poop esp fruits veggies which my budgie only ate romaine so I dont know. I would watch it n him n ask vet.

Hope chirp is ok.

 

[taxidermynerd]

Can see one pic n it does not look like normal budgie poop but food can change poop esp fruits veggies which my budgie only ate romaine so I dont know. I would watch it n him n ask vet.

Hope chirp is ok.

I'm not sure what's causing it. We're going to call the vet at 8 when they open. Hoping it isn't anything too bad. He's acting normal, but I know budgies as well as pretty much any other bird can hide illnesses pretty well. I'm gonna bring along the papers from his cage to show the vet. Gonna bring along the first aid kit just in case.

Edit: His dropping are normal now. I'm gonna replace the papers and set the old one aside. Dad is gonna call the vet at 8 and see if we can get an appointment for later. Good wishes are much appreciated.

 

[JLcribber]

The pictures are blurry but I don't see too much to be worried about? Looks pretty normal.

 

[taxidermynerd]

The pictures are blurry but I don't see too much to be worried about? Looks pretty normal.

Yeah, looking at the newspaper, it seems that most of the grey droppings are under his sleep spot. The dropping under one of his other preferred perching places are normal, and then about and hour or two ago, his droppings were back to normal again. They're a little bit loose right now, but not watery or anything.

We called the vet anyway, just in case, and the receptionist said she'd have the vet call us back and ask for more details.