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Young cockatiel foot won't curl

Cockatielier

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What a relief!!! The I guess it's General Manager/In Charge of the Birds called me today! I had put in an email to the general info email address yesterday asking for the owner to contact me. I guess it's not the owner, maybe the owner is one of those own-only persons and isn't involved with the stores, I don't know. But anyway, the Bird Guy called me and said he's been breeding birds for 30 years and that TODAY they are taking little Bertie to the vet in the next state (which is the closest board-certified avian vet I guess) and apologized profusely that no one has communicated with me about this. He said out of all his breedings, he's had a handful of birds that just went lame due to I guess genetics/neurological problems, and this might be the case with Bertie. He said that he thinks the vet will put Bertie under general anesthesia, and anyway he'll get thoroughly checked out. He said Bertie was checked before and no breaks were determined, altho when that could be I don't know. Anyway he'll have the vet send her report to me tonight. We're still due to bring him home tomorrow night, but he'll be stressed after all this travel and exam. I am SO RELIEVED. I was so stressed about this poor bird and feeling like no one was going to do anything about it. If he's lame, he's lame, but I just want to know. So yes, I feel much better now knowing there is support. Sometimes you just need to hear - I've got this, don't worry about it.
 

Tiel Feathers

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I’m glad the store is doing something and I hope the vet visit goes well for Bertie!
 

Kodigirl210

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It’s curiously sad that they couldn’t just tell you that instead of constantly winding you up. Immature young adults shouldn’t ever be where they are expected to have at least moderate professional courtesy and ethics.

I’m glad to hear Bertie is going to the vet though. It is hard enough to prepare for a regular bird and then have everything thrown sideways because of a special circumstance is a lot to deal with.

Since he feels it is nerve damage all you can do is therapy to hopefully stimulate his toes. If not then plan B with platform perches, prewrap and vet wrap will be the word of the day.

I hope everything goes smoothly from here on out. If the vet checked him today, I’m nit sure why they don’t let you have Bertie tonight but nothing they have done makes any sense.

And though I know that you’re just happy to have Bertie, if it is neuro - then it is genetic and you do deserve a credit. Don’t let that go, if only because everything that they have put you through. No reason they could upfront from the get go, especially since they said they had taken him to the vet a long time ago and yet here you are waiting for the second report.

Best of luck!
 

ELS

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Wow, I just read all of this. I am glad Bertie went to the vet at last! I also definitely think you need your own cockatiel. :)

And though I know that you’re just happy to have Bertie, if it is neuro - then it is genetic and you do deserve a credit. Don’t let that go, if only because everything that they have put you through. No reason they could upfront from the get go, especially since they said they had taken him to the vet a long time ago and yet here you are waiting for the second report.
Yes, definitely this! :yes: They certainly owe you a partial refund. What did the manager say about the employee? Did she tell him that a customer wanted him to contact them? If she really did hide that from her boss to be spiteful to a customer (!!) then I would also want to make sure that he was aware. That is a shocking degree of immaturity and lack of professionalism, and frankly makes me suspicious that she knows something about how the problem occurred.
 

Cockatielier

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Good news from the vet! They put him under anesthesia and thoroughly examined him, including x-rays. It appears there is a mineral deposit on I believe the joint of his leg, and that is stiffening it. He can feel pain in his toes when pinched so it is not neurological. It could have been started by a strain or a pull or getting his leg caught. It's not gout because he's not old enough to have gout, but it sounds a little similar. With some work he may or may not get use back, but at least it's nothing majorly serious like nerve damage or genetic issues. No signs of breaks. After talking with the staff I feel much better. It appears the message was relayed, but there was a lag in communication due to some other issues they are dealing with there. They did act on it and spent a lot of money on him at the vet's so my faith in them is restored. I was fearing the worst because I was stressed about it, but they do care about their birds. One reason Bertie couldn't come home tonight is that when they come out of anesthesia they do not eat well so the staff want to keep an eye on him for an extra day and make sure he's eating, etc. Another reason he couldn't come home right away is that with all the changes and stress he just went through, to come home with us for the first time would add more stress to that, so he'll go to the only home he's ever known - the pet store - for another night. They want us to wait until Sat. to pick him up for that reason.

Anyway, thank you all so much for your support and suggestions here! That was really helpful. Who knew a little bird could get my feathers so ruffled. :)
 

Kodigirl210

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Well it’s good to hear that all is as well as can be. I would definitely work on trying to get him working the leg with the hope the deposit will grind off as horrible as that sounds.

Humans often have physical therapy treatments for things like that. I know that I have a bone spur in my left arm socket and I was given exercises to grind it down. I don’t how successful I really was but it doesn’t hurt like it used to.

And while you’re willing to give them a free pass I’m still disappointed. It would have taken 30-seconds to a couple minutes to relay that via phone or for the staff to say he’s being taken to vet and we’re monitoring the issue. We’ll have more news on such and such date.

Overall I’m happy Bertie has been treated and you finally have more than excuses lol. Now what about that other Tiel? ;)
 
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Tiel Feathers

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I’m so glad Bertie is an otherwise healthy birdie! There might be mobility exercises you can do to help his leg improve. So tomorrow is the big day, how exciting!:fairy2:
 

iamwhoiam

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Thanks for the update. Sounds good. Make sure you get a copy of the vet's report for your records.
 

Cockatielier

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Hi guys! You are a great group! I am so grateful for you. Bertie is home and we really have to work on adapting his cage for a bird with a lame foot. Not sure exactly how to adapt things yet, have to keep learning about that. I have stolen him while the teen was at work so haha, he is also mine. :) I did put him on the carpet and he freaked. I think the space is too open for him, he's not used to it. He squawked a couple times. So he still perches on our arms. I got 3 page copies of his xrays and they are pretty funny, sprawled out. You can see in one xray the white mass around his left hock. I see tonight he's sleeping on the rim of his water bowl. Hmm. He is so much fun. The craigslist bird person never responded to my email and I see the ad is no longer there, so I'm sure he went quickly. There was another male for sale, 6 yrs. old, but that ad was no longer there very quickly. I think we have a shortage of cockatiels. The Bird Breeder at the store said their reproductive habits are being bred out of them because we keep taking the young chicks away from them. And I heard the breeders around here are largely retiring.
 

iamwhoiam

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It's great that Bertie is home. Too bad that the other bird you were considering is no longer listed.
 

Kodigirl210

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Glad you got Bertie home. First and foremost look at a couple of platform perches. That will give him a chance to rest his leg without being down on the ground.

BraveWind 2 PCS Wooden Parrot Platform Bird Cage Perches Fan Square Shape Animals Springboard Small Animals Parakeets Platform for Cage https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BBH1BFP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_S67ZCbCZWDTGT

Something along the lines of that. Also look at making “super highways” for him in the cage so link the perches together across the side and back of the cage. Kind of a U shape.

I would recommend getting vet wrap to wrap all his perches do it gives him more grip power.

70A64A27-6D6A-47E6-8399-7E6E31534667.jpeg

I would also make sure the diameter of the perches aren’t too wide otherwise he won’t be able to maintain as type a grip as he needs to feel comfortable with his good foot. Rope perches seem to work really well and maybe string a boing from the bottom of the cage to the top so he has a way to get up without climbing the bars. Look for ones that don’t have plastic caps.

Bonka Bird Toys 1959 Small Charm Rope Boing Coil Swing Bird Toy parrot cage pet stand perch cockatiel parakeet play chew aviary bungee accessories colored playground https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GX8IY24/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_V.7ZCb5KZGY97

Try to stay away from dowel rods and definitely no pedi-perches. Until he gets that leg rehabilitated, his not going to stand normally and you don’t want him to end up with abrasions on his feet. Make sure you wrap his perch bar as well.

30C867E8-8C1A-4D02-B806-9D3E023844D6.jpeg

Sorry to hear the other tiel is gone. I’m sure sooner or later something will pop up. It always does lol.

Welcome Home Bertie!

 

Zara

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Fantastic, I´m so glad Bertie is finally home!❤
 

Lady Jane

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I hope the breeder considers the genetics of the parent birds and not using them for breeding purposes.
 

finchly

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Hi guys! You are a great group! I am so grateful for you. Bertie is home and we really have to work on adapting his cage for a bird with a lame foot. Not sure exactly how to adapt things yet, have to keep learning about that. I have stolen him while the teen was at work so haha, he is also mine. :) I did put him on the carpet and he freaked. I think the space is too open for him, he's not used to it. He squawked a couple times. So he still perches on our arms. I got 3 page copies of his xrays and they are pretty funny, sprawled out. You can see in one xray the white mass around his left hock. I see tonight he's sleeping on the rim of his water bowl. Hmm. He is so much fun. The craigslist bird person never responded to my email and I see the ad is no longer there, so I'm sure he went quickly. There was another male for sale, 6 yrs. old, but that ad was no longer there very quickly. I think we have a shortage of cockatiels. The Bird Breeder at the store said their reproductive habits are being bred out of them because we keep taking the young chicks away from them. And I heard the breeders around here are largely retiring.
Hello, sorry if this is a repeat cause I haven't read the entire thread, but @Brittany0208 has had to do a lot of adapting for her bird. Here's a thread where she was just getting started with that. Sorry, I know she has posted a lot about it but I keep sidetracking when I go to look. :lol:
 

Cockatielier

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Thank you for the suggestions!! I am going to try to find more perches tomorrow. The fake limb-like ones are useless, too slippery. The rope one we have is great for him, but we only got 1 of those so I have to get more. The corner platform perch looks great.

He is not going to jump, etc. from one perch to another - everything will have to be connected.

Today was sad. Last night he went to sleep perching on his water bowl. Well, I imagine his tail got wet because today he was shivering. I thought maybe there was something toxic in our house and he was sick and not going to make it (because that's the way my mind works...). He did not want to come to me, kept moving away from my finger, and hung onto the cage bars with his foot and his beak and wouldn't move. Uh oh. But then we pulled him out of his cage, set up a shallow box for him lined with paper towels, and let him sit in the sun at the window, and we held him a lot close to our bodies and he finally, finally stopped shivering, perked up, preened, catnapped, and his crest feathers finally went up again. It's chilly still here in the northeast. They had told me he needed to be at 75F for now and, well, our house is not usually that warm. So right now I'm sweating to death and it's nighttime and he's in his cage with his head tucked in his feathers. Anyway, tonight he is sleeping in his food bowl instead of on his water bowl so he should be okay as far as not taking a bath again. I'll keep trying to create a highway and platform system for him. The cage is kind of tall so it's a little tricky figuring out how to give him access all the way up and down without tripping all over the other perches. My daughter thinks the boing perch is too steep for him to climb. We are now avian engineers.
 

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Avian engineers, poop experts, it’s all part of the game.

They make these ceramic heat bulbs, you can mount it on the cage and he’ll be warm and you won’t have to sweat to death. Link
We always mount ours on one end so they can move away from it if they want to.

I’m not convinced he needs to go all the way up the cage? Why not line the bottom with towels and put the perches low for now.

PS you can bend the boing to be less steep.
 

Kodigirl210

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Covering the cage with a blanket or heavy toweling will also help keep the heat in his cage at night as well.

And right now I agree, he probably doesn’t need access to the whole cage just the lower parts. That will give him time to get used to the layout, the different types of perches and just overall mobility. As he proves that he’s comfortable you can start building up.

Put some towels or non-pill fleece on bottom of the cage and cover that with newspaper or puppy pads - whatever works for you so that way if he falls he can have a soft landing.

You also want to avoid babying him excessively. He’s supposed to move around and work the leg or at least adapt to life with it. I know he’s new and precious but it’s one of those for the sake of everyone and for his own good. You don’t want him getting to the point where he relies on everyone to move him around all the time instead of doing it on his own.

We’ve seen one or 3 “fluffy” cockatiels on the forum and it’s a lot harder to drop the weight sometimes than it is to gain, just like for us hoomans.

And once again, I know the daughter is enthralled and can’t stand the thought of him even cringing the teeniest bit let alone being in some discomfort, so I get that will be an uphill battle. Just be creative. Maybe something along the lines of a fluffy bird can’t fly. ;)
 

Zara

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And right now I agree, he probably doesn’t need access to the whole cage just the lower parts. That will give him time to get used to the layout, the different types of perches and just overall mobility. As he proves that he’s comfortable you can start building up.
Yea, I agree.

When I moved Adelie from the nursery into her cage, I started off with just the one perch that we used to work her foot, and her bed. I kept everything really low. She actually fell off the perch the first day, even though it was the same one she had used in her nursey cage. Over time I added stuff as she got comfortable around the cage. Her highest perch is 8 inches off the ground, and her platform is 9 inches off the ground. For now I´m not adding a higher ledge until she is adult and I don´t think I´ll ever put a perch higher. She has a nice open space which she uses well and flies in, so I want to keep as much of the flight space as possible.

41 days | Page 5 | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum
Pictures - Adélies house set up | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

We are now avian engineers.
lol yes. But you will work it out ;)
Most specal needs birds are different and so we can get inspiration from each other but ultimately we will have to adapt to our birds needs. Just by obsevation, you will manage it :) The key is to keep everything low while you are figuring it all out.

He is not going to jump, etc. from one perch to another
If he is flighted, he may fly from one perch to another like my little one does.
 
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