Pictures Sad canary at friend's home, should I bird nap him?

[Bartiel]

This is Piet, the good boi in question. He lives in a cage at a friend's place. There is something wrong with his feet, his feathers are in very poor condition, and he often has nails that are too long. His chirps are soft and weak. He's on an all seed diet.

The cage is moderate in size, but he's only got the corner pictured to hang out in. 3 similar sized perches, because "he doesn't move much". He can't either, with only those perches. You can see a lot of droppings, a whole pile, that apparently aren't removed/cleaned.

I'm seriously considering bird napping this little guy because to me this is animal abuse / neglect. You can't keep a bird and just give it food and call it a day. There is so much care lacking here.

What would you suggest? Should I talk to them about this? I've talked before, but they just blame his condition on... Him. "He doesn't move, cause he's got bad feet". I don't think they realized that this may very well be because of the conditions /they/ have provided.

I got 2 cockatiels, so if this guy has got feet mites or air sac mites I don't want them exposed to it. But yeah, one step at a time, what steps should I take to start getting this guy better conditions?

 

[Respect]

Obviously not going to advocate for theft, but I understand your dilemma

Do you think it would be possible to gently offer your opinion and advice on how to make things better?

You could also “gift” more perches and better food.

I hope things turn out well and someone can offer more reassuring advice.

 

[Bartiel]

I was thinking of gifting a package of good stuff and perches for Christmas. Thing is, my girlfriend told me she had done that and the perches were never added to the cage. No idea how I'm gonna start that conversation, but I'll have to, soon.

 

[Birdie Mama]

Bring yourself over as secret bird Santa, like we have here on AA. Show up, and say that you are spreading the cheer to special birdie friends, and go for it? As you have coffee and convo, clean and add the perches and maybe a couple of canary size toys, etc…all while spreading the Santa cheer! Hopefully it works.

I did that a few years ago with a budgie, even donated a larger cage, toy parts, made fresh toys, and a lizard bath dish etc. that was about 6 years ago, and the owner has kept it up. She just did not know where to start…so I did the start for her and now it’s history. Just don’t point out too much what they are doing wrong as that might get their back up..lead by example is my motto.

all the best, little will enjoy it more once he settles and may become more active, encouraging them to keep it up.

 

[Bartiel]

That is a brilliant idea. To actually fix the cage straight away as part of the gift. Thank you! I'll update after Christmas!

 

[Sparkles99]

Yes, a brilliant idea! And bring homemade cookies for the humans, plus tea. Make it a party instead of a court trial. You two, bonding over birds & goodies.

Please don’t bird-nap. It will cause more harm than good. We often have no idea what someone else is going through. Think of the human(s) too.

 

[Pixiebeaks]

Remove the white rope thing , those strands can impact crop .
The band apears to have slipped over toes ??? If so needs to be removed. Bird vets office have the tool that does this . I had to have my gree. Cheeks band that was slipping over joint and getting stuck . They also sell them maybe in Amazon, but you have to be careful not to break the leg or toes

 

[Peachfaced]

Remove the white rope thing , those strands can impact crop .
The band apears to have slipped over toes ??? If so needs to be removed. Bird vets office have the tool that does this . I had to have my gree. Cheeks band that was slipping over joint and getting stuck . They also sell them maybe in Amazon, but you have to be careful not to break the leg or toes

It’s hard to tell, but I think it’s just an illusion. The band seems to be behind the toes to me.

But I definitely agree that part of the gift should be helping by installing the new perches!

 

[Shezbug]

A discussion, an offer of a cage upgrade, a gift of better accessories, a gift voucher for them to redeem from you for cage cleaning or bird sitting ect would be a much better way to deal with this situation than stealing a friends pet regardless of how you feel it is being cared for.

Some times people do not know they are doing less than needed until they are told or shown in a compassionate caring helpful way.
Unfortunately some people just wont change (my neighbour recently lost their dog due to being so darn stubborn) but hopefully with you knowing the owner you will find a way to get the needed information through in a supportive way and be able to encourage changes.

 

[Bartiel]

Thanks for all the good ideas and guidance. I wasn't actually going to steal the bird, but I did get that urge to take the friendly little dude home with me, of course.
I will do all of the above; bring tea/food for the owners, gift gifts to enrich the bird's cage, and the 'cleaning/care' vouchers are a brilliant idea as well!

Thank you all!

 

[Susan clay]

View attachment 455620
This is Piet, the good boi in question. He lives in a cage at a friend's place. There is something wrong with his feet, his feathers are in very poor condition, and he often has nails that are too long. His chirps are soft and weak. He's on an all seed diet.

The cage is moderate in size, but he's only got the corner pictured to hang out in. 3 similar sized perches, because "he doesn't move much". He can't either, with only those perches. You can see a lot of droppings, a whole pile, that apparently aren't removed/cleaned.

I'm seriously considering bird napping this little guy because to me this is animal abuse / neglect. You can't keep a bird and just give it food and call it a day. There is so much care lacking here.

What would you suggest? Should I talk to them about this? I've talked before, but they just blame his condition on... Him. "He doesn't move, cause he's got bad feet". I don't think they realized that this may very well be because of the conditions /they/ have provided.

I got 2 cockatiels, so if this guy has got feet mites or air sac mites I don't want them exposed to it. But yeah, one step at a time, what steps should I take to start getting this guy better conditions?

I rescued a young budgie who was being abused, I got a large cage,, I mentioned to the birds owner, if the bird too much trouble, I had an emtpty cage.. 2 weeks later the budgie was mine..
Just ask the owner, if you can take the poor bird.
He may be glad to give him away.

 

[Bartiel]

I rescued a young budgie who was being abused, I got a large cage,, I mentioned to the birds owner, if the bird too much trouble, I had an emtpty cage.. 2 weeks later the budgie was mine..
Just ask the owner, if you can take the poor bird.
He may be glad to give him away.

Might end up doing that if the gift-giving-tea-party thingy doesn't work.

 

[Bartiel]

Merry Christmas Pietje

Your tips worked wonderfully. They allowed me to upgrade and clean the cage to a certain extent.

• Got rid of the cotton preening toy, replaced with coconut fibers and rosemary sticks.
• Added a preening toy of shreddable paper, reeds, and carton with thyme sticks mixed in.
• Added three large apple tree branches, two of which giving horizontal movement space and one allowing him to climb up if he would fall down.
• Added a coconut rope + apple tree branch horizontal "swing"
• Added a pinecone on a hemp rope with nutriberries, wooden balls, and natural cork bark.

It doesn't look like much, but it's a huge change for a small bird. So we'll see how he interacts with it and adjust accordingly


Merry Christmas!

 

[April]

Merry Christmas Pietje

Your tips worked wonderfully. They allowed me to upgrade and clean the cage to a certain extent.

View attachment 456069

• Got rid of the cotton preening toy, replaced with coconut fibers and rosemary sticks.
• Added a preening toy of shreddable paper, reeds, and carton with thyme sticks mixed in.
• Added three large apple tree branches, two of which giving horizontal movement space and one allowing him to climb up if he would fall down.
• Added a coconut rope + apple tree branch horizontal "swing"
• Added a pinecone on a hemp rope with nutriberries, wooden balls, and natural cork bark.

It doesn't look like much, but it's a huge change for a small bird. So we'll see how he interacts with it and adjust accordingly


Merry Christmas!

That looks great! How wonderful that you were able to make a difference for him.

 

[Birdie Mama]

That looks awesome!!

 

[Emma&pico]

Merry Christmas Pietje

Your tips worked wonderfully. They allowed me to upgrade and clean the cage to a certain extent.

View attachment 456069

• Got rid of the cotton preening toy, replaced with coconut fibers and rosemary sticks.
• Added a preening toy of shreddable paper, reeds, and carton with thyme sticks mixed in.
• Added three large apple tree branches, two of which giving horizontal movement space and one allowing him to climb up if he would fall down.
• Added a coconut rope + apple tree branch horizontal "swing"
• Added a pinecone on a hemp rope with nutriberries, wooden balls, and natural cork bark.

It doesn't look like much, but it's a huge change for a small bird. So we'll see how he interacts with it and adjust accordingly


Merry Christmas!

That looks brilliant

 

[Sparkles99]

Way to go & Merry Christmas!

 

[Shezbug]

What a wonderful update! So happy you were able to improve the situation in a positive way without any issues.

 

[Peachfaced]

Merry Christmas Pietje

Your tips worked wonderfully. They allowed me to upgrade and clean the cage to a certain extent.

View attachment 456069

• Got rid of the cotton preening toy, replaced with coconut fibers and rosemary sticks.
• Added a preening toy of shreddable paper, reeds, and carton with thyme sticks mixed in.
• Added three large apple tree branches, two of which giving horizontal movement space and one allowing him to climb up if he would fall down.
• Added a coconut rope + apple tree branch horizontal "swing"
• Added a pinecone on a hemp rope with nutriberries, wooden balls, and natural cork bark.

It doesn't look like much, but it's a huge change for a small bird. So we'll see how he interacts with it and adjust accordingly


Merry Christmas!

Those small changes will have a massive impact on his quality of life. Thank you!!

 

[Bartiel]

Well... The owners took everything out because the bird didn't move much with the new environment. They didn't allow it to acclimatise and got rid of it all after about a week.