New bird owner needs help!

Carlos is only 8 weeks old and has been dealt a horrible hand in his short life. I had went to a breeder to see some conures, only to look and not to buy. The breeder's house was filthy, he took me to his laundry room where I seen a small canary sized cage, inside was a little GCC. The man roughly took the bird from the small cage, it was suffering from some sort of back trauma with droplets of blood dripping from his nail. He didn't tell me what happened, just said he could show me more birds. I did not want to see anything else, I wanted to leave. This poor GCC was dripping blood and clearly in pain, after maybe 10 minutes I finally got him to agree to put baking soda on his nail to help the bleeding stop. After he tended to the bird and put it back into the small cage I was ready to leave, he asked me to hold on. After disappearing into another room he came back out with my little carlos, a chubby, healthy looking little Cinnamon conure. I knew these birds where not taken care of from seeing the poor roughly handled bird in the laundry room. I looked at carlos once and knew I had to take him from that horrible place and what ever bad things were in store for him.

He got home and explored his cage and went to eat right away! He seemed happy to be out of that place. He was a bit clumsy climbing on his cage bars though, I thought maybe he was not used to barred cages, and still a clumsy baby. Everything seemed normal until he tried eating a small slice of apple I cut off for him. He held the apple with his beak and tried grasping it with his right foot, but could not close his toes once his foot was near his beak. He can grip the cage bars, his wooden and sand perches, as well as his ropes and certain toys. But he cannot hold his food, as I type this my little love is sititng beside me on his cage door eating mushed up Zupreem pellets I've been feeding him. He seems active and healthy, with a big appetite, he eats the seeds from his bowl, and I feed him the pellets and small diced up fruit&veggies he cannot hold onto. My uncle, who has had birds for over 3 decades said I should never have bought him and to take him back for being a dud. He and I both think it is either nerve damage, a neurologic problem or birth defect.

I love Carlos even though I've had him for only a day and a half, he seems to be almost already bonded to me, he squawks when I leave, and climbs to the cage door when I enter the room demanding his door be open. He has an amazing personality, but I need some advice, he will be slightly handicapped by this for the rest of his life and I want to make him as happy and comfortable as he can be, is it possible to do strength exercises with him to help him learn to use his feet more, or help with him grasping his food ? Is it possible this handicap could effect his life in the long run? Also does anyone have a recipe for a super healthy vitamin enriched mush I can make for him, to keep him healthy and at a good weight. I'm sorry this was so long, but thanks for taking the time to read it!

Hi, so I think you should bring Carlos to the vet because it could be more then nerves and if it is its just best to check. Since he was in a room with a lot of birds and they all probably weren't taken care of, he might have a disease. It also might be a gene problem of the birds being bred to much maybe. If you really love Carlos and can make some changes then keep him totally! He seems like a great sweaty baby boy! `Maybe a vet check up is best87. If my spelling is strange is because Lilo is jhelping me with this!

I will be taking him as soon as I can, my vet/family friend is currently out of the country for a small vacation with her spouse. I don't have a lot of money and she gives me very good discounts so I can afford it and does a very good job! My budgie Owl had a broken wing last yet and she fixed her up really well. Sadly I cant take Carlos to another vet, i have to wait for mine to return. I wasn't planning on a bird this soon but i couldn't say no to such a helpless little guy after seeing the fate of his friend. Right now, i'm just trying to make sure he eats his Zupreem pellets and veggies, other than the dud leg he seems completely happy healthy and rambunctious.

Oh ok good! Im sure he will be fine till they come back!

For the time being I woud consider putting him on a very high quaity pellet diet suchnas Roudybush or Harrisons. He could probably use the potent nutirtion right now. I would also make sure to give him lots of fresh fruits & veggies throughout the day with litte special treats such as almonds inbetween..... I think having a good variety of toys is also a good idea. Giving him a place to hide in his cage might also be something to consider especially is he feels vulnerabe...a birdie tent is a nice option because it can accomodate his long tail feathers safely. I make my conure a Steamed sweet potato mash once a week as well & mix in a variety of veggies - no avocado tho.....

Sounds like you are doing really well with the little guy! Keep up the good work! hope some of this helps....

If he's just a baby yet it can take him time to learn to adjust using his feet to grab onto food and such. Your already expecting too much at a day and a half assuming the worst. For the time being just wait until your vet comes around to help you treat if he does have an issue.

Wow, that story was moving. It makes me appreciate my bird even more and i'm disgusted that people could treat any animal that way let alone these amazing birds. I would think about finding someone in the government that can put a stop to what he's doing, it's disgusting really.

Man I can't believe stuff like this happens, i'm gonna get off the computer.

Also congrats on the bird, they are wonderful animals and you will love your time with him. Read up on this forum and find out the does and donts. ex: to much seed food caused petrie to pluck her feathers, so just look around. Your heart is cemented to your bird now so i'm certain it will get everything it needs.

He'll be picking up food & stuff in no time, he's a baby and needs to figure it out, and he will if he's climbing he can grip.

I took a lot of animal/avian biology in university and majored in health sciences, so I a have a good understanding of what's going on when my birds are "off". To be honest, when I do take them to the "avian" vet, I have to tell them what the issue is because I know more than them, which is unfortunate for me and other bird owners in the area because I am definitely no pro!!
That being said, and don't take this the wrong way but I am glad your vet is on vacation, hopefully not for too long. This gives you a chance to monitor what's going on with his foot and can later give the vet a better idea of what he/she is dealing with. I avoid going to the vet whenever possible and plenty of research when I have to deal with small medic, problems, etc. and so that no one jumps on me - I do go to the vet when I know I need to, mostly when I need antibiotics or NSAIDs.

This once happened temporarily to my crimson-bellied conure. He is free flighted outside and spends most summer days outdoors, he absolutely loves it. Anyway, we noticed one day that he couldn't close his one foot. We kept an eye on it and talked to a good friend who is even more knowledgable with birds and he mentioned that he probably ate so,etching outside (leg, flower, stick, etc) that was toxic and cause nerve damage. Luckily it was only temporary paralysis and his movements returned to normal in 3-5 days.

Also, I once had a baby bird who's leg was mildly splayed due it being say on by momma.
She could walk, climb pretty normally but her foot could not close due to her chronic injury in the nest. Are your bird's leg perfectly straight, or could one be angled out to the side a bit.