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Need some advice

squishy_bub

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Hi, I hope everyone and their birds are doing well :)
I am writing again to seek some advice from you.

Today marks her 3rd week after the surgery and her 3rd week of staying with the collar.
On Wednesday, I went for a check-up as stated in her file, in hope that her foot in fine and she gets her collar removed. The foot is doing fine, told that she needs to walk more with it to make the skin harden. About the collar, not so fine. He did not remove it, saying that maybe I should wait for 3-4 more days until I remove it just to make sure the sole of the foot is more hardened and in case she starts prodding at her bad foot to come again and put a collar.
Now, this has put me in a dilemma. I have 3 options that I can make :
1. Remove the collar the next day ( don't know how to do that), put her in the bigger cage and see what and how she does.
2. Don't remove the collar until Saturday, that marks the 28th day post-surgery, in hope that her foot is even better healed. Until then, I want to let her roam outside the cage (supervised) on the floor. Problem is she has the ability to fly (ground level).She could prod at her foot even then, but maybe it will be harder.
3. Don't remove the collar until Saturday, but let her inside the bigger cage.

What should I choose and why?

I can see her get frustrated day by day with that big collar since she has not preened for so long. She is just so pissed at it that she will lunge and screech at me, even make noise like a crow when I try to remove her poop or food bowl. I won't pretend I understand what she is going through, but I admire how she managed to stay so long with the collar. If I were her, I would have probably gone mad by the first week. I want to see her without a collar as much as she does, because that would certainly make her happy, but I do fear that if I remove the collar the happiness won't last for long in case she prods at her foot. These are just IFs, but I do claim them as my fears and worries.

Sorry for the long post, here's Yoko.
 

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Karen

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Happy to hear she's healing well. I would wait the few extra days and get her walking on that leg like the vet suggested before removing the collar. I totally understand you want to take it off for her because she hates it so much. I would want to do the same thing. But you would hate to go backwards.

So whatever it takes to get her walking to strengthen that leg I would do with the collar on for the additional days the vet suggested. If you can't figure out how to remove the collar when the time is right I would call the office and I'm sure they will be able to explain to you.

Did the vet comment on the metal in her system? Do they feel the medications have taken care of it?
 

squishy_bub

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Happy to hear she's healing well. I would wait the few extra days and get her walking on that leg like the vet suggested before removing the collar. I totally understand you want to take it off for her because she hates it so much. I would want to do the same thing. But you would hate to go backwards.

So whatever it takes to get her walking to strengthen that leg I would do with the collar on for the additional days the vet suggested. If you can't figure out how to remove the collar when the time is right I would call the office and I'm sure they will be able to explain to you.

Did the vet comment on the metal in her system? Do they feel the medications have taken care of it?
Thanks for the answer. He recommended me to wait 3-4 more days and the 4th day is today. How should I proceed?
 
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Karen

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Were you able to get her to do the extra walking?

I’m sure when you remove the collar she will do a lot of preening and of course she will want to inspect her leg. I pray she does not become destructive with it. Watch her closely.

Be prepared to do some distractions such as giving her a shower, giving her food, toys, moving her about so she doesn’t overly fuss with the leg too much.

Has she been in the new cage? That may keep her busy exploring all her new toys and perches.

Good luck!
 
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squishy_bub

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Were you able to get her to do the extra walking?

I’m sure when you remove the collar she will do a lot of preening and of course she will want to inspect her leg. I pray she does not become destructive with it. Watch her closely.

Be prepared to do some distractions such as giving her a shower, giving her food, toys, moving her about so she doesn’t overly fuss with the leg too much.

Has she been in the new cage? That may keep her busy exploring all her new toys and perches.

Good luck!
She definitely used her leg more these few days, but I have not let her walk outside her cage. I was just planning on doing that or wait a couple of hours and remove the collar.
She hasn't been in her new cage. I was waiting for when I remove her collar and put her in there.
She just seems, I don't know how to say, unhappy, depressed, bored to death? Everytime I approach her cage she will hiss at me or screech and lunge. She is just irritable :(
 
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Karen

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I’m hoping her spirits will pick up once she has some freedom from the collar and small cage.
 

squishy_bub

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Hi, sorry, forgot to update on the process.
That collar was one hell of a ride. I toweled her and held her firmly and my aunt did the tough part. We had to use scissors and I was afraid it would come too close to her neck. Then we had to use pliers, because guess what, the collar had some sort of metal wire in three places, and we had to unscrew that. I almost thought I would twist her neck at some point. Really wanted to give up. Finally, we did it. Never sweated and been so nervous in my life.

First reaction of her was to climb the highest perch and then she kept preening for an hour or more. She is still preening, but not as much. She seems to be doing just fine for how much she has been staying in this new cage. I am really happy, I hope she keeps doing fine. Now she won't come down from that calcium perch lol
Should I have wrapped the pink perch?

I think I have to buy other perches because I can't screw them properly due to the large bar spacing. And other rope perch, since she needs more connection between them.
 

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Karen

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I'm so glad to see her doing better. Poor girl has been through so much. You've done such a good job taking care of her! Oh my gosh, sounds like it was a rough time, but so glad you got that collar off. I hope she starts to feel happier.

The calcium perch may be too rough for her, keep an eye on her foot for any redness. You can always wrap the perch if you see it's causing her a problem. You can always put another comfy perch up higher and she may want to use that one the most.

As you see her begin to start moving around the cage, I'm sure you'll see where you need to adjust things for her. You might be able to just buy some bigger washers instead of bigger perches to get them to adjust properly with the wider bar spacing.

Does she enjoy toys? She may benefit from the enrichment in her cage by way of toys, things she can shred and foraging opportunities for getting her favorite treats and nutriberries.
 

squishy_bub

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I have removes the calcium perch because it was too cold for her to stay on it.

I will have to look for some washers when I get the time.

She used to have some lufa toy and some wood to chew on and she also liked a toy with dangling dices and bell, but I have thrown that away. The lufa toy does not have a catching system and the wood toy, she will chew the catching system before the actual wood. Oh, she also has this big round transparent ball with a bell inside that it's meant for her to search and get her food, but I am not sure how well will she manage it with only one foot, because she used both of them before.
I am looking for some toys to buy from northernparrots and found an interesting item amongst other toys. It's this one : 1599500082896.png https://www.northernparrots.com/hap...onid=264dd7b9e04d066f51f11064c24ed4ac1e8cfd06
Should I buy this or not? 1599500082896.png 1599500082896.png 1599500082896.png
 

iamwhoiam

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The snuggle huts can be dangerous. Birds can chew on them and get caught up in the threads and some birds ingest the materials.
It's good that your bird is doing better.
Can you replace the washers that came with the perches with larger ones? Get stainless steel or nickel plated, not zinc. Also consider getting her a platform. You can wrap that with some vet wrap.
 

squishy_bub

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The snuggle huts can be dangerous. Birds can chew on them and get caught up in the threads and some birds ingest the materials.
It's good that your bird is doing better.
Can you replace the washers that came with the perches with larger ones? Get stainless steel or nickel plated, not zinc. Also consider getting her a platform. You can wrap that with some vet wrap.
Ok, so no hut for her.
I'll try looking for some washers these days.
I am having trouble in finding any kind of platform for her to use. I have looked for rodents platform, but they do not sell separately, only whole cages.
 

Karen

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Also consider getting her a platform. You can wrap that with some vet wrap.
We've been trying to find a platform as that would be the best option for her leg. I'm not sure how to help find a site.

@Zara
@Ripshod
 
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Karen

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The large size is 18cm x 26cm / 7.1" x 10.2". That seems pretty big.

This idea looks like it could easily be a 'do-it-yourself' at home.
 

JLcribber

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I think I have to buy other perches because I can't screw them properly due to the large bar spacing. And other rope perch, since she needs more connection between them.
We've been trying to find a platform as that would be the best option for her leg. I'm not sure how to help find a site.

@Zara
@Ripshod
I have some ready made perches in my store that might be what you’re looking for. I understand about the large bar spacing. I consider this when managing things. I also do custom orders.


Mounts like this are for big cages. Double discs. Any existing perches can have a second disc added. Just ask.

BEA143D9-BDDF-4A58-80BF-F7C92427B20A.jpeg [/QUOTE]
 
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squishy_bub

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Hi, sorry for not responding these days and thanks to all of you who helped me find a perch. I am postponing a little bit in buying her the platform perch.

I have noticed on Monday that she removed a little bit of the scab and then the next days she seemed not to pay attention to her leg. I was out for a walk this evening and when I came back home, it seems that she removed the entire scab. She doesn't want to use her leg at all. I don't know if it bothers her because it is sore or hurting. I do not know what to do. Observe her for a few more days and see if anything improves/worsens? I do not know what the vet could do for her except putting the collar again. I don't think that a bandage could solve anything since she will just remove it somehow and I clearly do not want to see her with a collar since it clearly bothered and irritated the skin around the neck.
I am just so tired. Everything seemed to be going just fine and now there is a setback.

Edit : Also, how long does this process of healing of an amputated leg lasts, in general?
 
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