My New Little Survivor

Well I went to a bbq at a friend's house yesterday and she had two rosellas that are still pretty young. The parents had gotten out of the aviary and she was handraising them but she also has a baby, lambs and chickens hatching out all over the place and didnt have time to tame them properly. So of course they are now sitting next to me and we are getting to know each other. As it's thier first day I have just sat thier cages next to me with the doors open and I'll leave it at that. They are weaning onto pellets and they had a nibble on the fruit I gave them this morning but they are still eating mostly mush (thankfully out of the bowl on thier own). I estimate by thier feathering that they are around 5 or 6 weeks old.

My main concern is that the bigger and quieter one has a twisted leg. I had to separate the two since the little fiesty one was chewing on his/her toes and making them bleed. I will try and get photos up asap but baisically the legs is twisted so that he is walking on his knuckles and it sticks slightly out to the side so grip and balance are a problem. He can't perch really good so I am not going to clip him ever, he needs his wings for safety. I have hung baskets off his walls instead of perches so that he can sit up high without having to perch but he does have one low perch just in case he surprises me and learns how to use it. Lol, he is currently using this perch (a bottle brush branch) to rough up the pins that are opening on his face and get the food off it.

Is there anything I can do for him such as therapies or cage furniture that will make his life easier? Also, will he be more prone to arthritis type things? What can I feed him or do for him to keep those sorts of things at bay. The vet said to put it down but I think that it can have a perfectly normal life and I want to make sure that I do everything to make that happen. I loved it as soon as I saw it.

Also I need help with the name. Here are my choices this far:

Dara - star, brave, daring
Charley - Independent
Spirit - breath, to bloom, swell, thrive
Zephyr - Strong wind
Prisha - A gift
Shiloh - Sanctuary

I want something where the meaning fits his situation. It's a tough little survivor. I'm not sure if it is a male or female at this point so I want a unisex name as well.

Sounds like you've made a good start! I've not had a bird with a leg injury before, so won't try to give advice, but I hope others with experience chime in

I like the idea of giving the bird a strong name. My Senegals leg sounds pretty much like what you're describing (I'll upload some pictures so you can compare?).

Do NOT listen to that Vet. Birds with a bad leg can still live a great life, they just might need a little adjustment is all. He shouldn't suffer too much as he's gotten this problem when young, so he'll learn to adapt really quickly.

Merlin went through some physiotherapy, so he could use his toes better than before, since he was just constantly curling them to walk on his 'knuckles', but now he's learning to move his leg so he can grip things, not brilliantly as his toes don't match in a way he can grip properly, but he damn well tries! So I'd recommend physio to help out, we put a cottonball between his toes, so he was 'gripping it' and we strapped it up, so that the foot didn't "stiffen" and stay like that, giving him flexibility Every second day, we'd take the cottonball off and make him stretch his toes out and also daily we would "push" his leg, twisting it ever ever ever so slightly to try and get it the "right" (even though it'd be backwards) way around, instead of it facing sideways.

After a few weeks we stopped that as Merlin didn't like the therapy and he was gaining so much movement in his toes and he was coping just fine.

Don't give up on this birdy, I've got the sweetest and most affectionate bird ever - which is probably due to his dependence on me and the bonding during the physio, etc. He's now a pretty independent bird (even though he hates being away from flock members) but he can happily do things on his own, he gets about very well and entertains us with his attempts or mishaps due to his bad leg.

Good luck, and please keep us updated!

OH - and in regards to helping him out around the cage etc. I got larger perches so that Merlin is almost 'sat' on the perch, able to lean his body down on it if he needs to, as well as the smaller ones for changing his grip, etc. But the larger perch he always chose to sleep on. &at first we made sure all the perches were quite low in the cage (We got him at 8 weeks) because he used to stumble a lot and fall off his perches, a combination of having a bad leg and being so young.

I was a little bit worried of having a grate at the bottom of the cage incase he struggled because of his leg, but he doesn't seem to, and I'd rather he didn't stomp around in poop all day... If you have any questions that you think I might be able to help with, feel free to ask

Someone recently told me it's a calcium deficiency.

Well, I named my new little friend Dara and after some reasearch and watching Dara I have put in one large perch very low in the cage and then two baskets higher up since she is still young and clumsy and I worried about her falling off the perch while asleep. I'm not sure on the sex yet but I have fallen in the habit of calling it a girl. I will look into DNA sexing when I take her to the avian vet. I actually saw her perch for a short time this morning and she was quite good at balancing without the use of two claws.

Merlins leg does look quite similar to Dara's except that Dara's toes got chewed quite badly by her siblings before she came into my care. They were bleeding when I took her home. Im not sure if she will be able to use the claws but she does hook the toes that she has over the bars sometimes to help her climb. It's amazing watching her working out how to get around. Next time I have Dara out i will try to take pictures of her leg so that you can see it for yourself.

I have been reading about Merlin, his story is inspiring for me with Dara. I wonder if the moderators would make a section in the forums for ideas to make life better for handicapped birds.

Anna said:

Well, I named my new little friend Dara and after some reasearch and watching Dara I have put in one large perch very low in the cage and then two baskets higher up since she is still young and clumsy and I worried about her falling off the perch while asleep. I'm not sure on the sex yet but I have fallen in the habit of calling it a girl. I will look into DNA sexing when I take her to the avian vet. I actually saw her perch for a short time this morning and she was quite good at balancing without the use of two claws.

Merlins leg does look quite similar to Dara's except that Dara's toes got chewed quite badly by her siblings before she came into my care. They were bleeding when I took her home. Im not sure if she will be able to use the claws but she does hook the toes that she has over the bars sometimes to help her climb. It's amazing watching her working out how to get around. Next time I have Dara out i will try to take pictures of her leg so that you can see it for yourself.

I have been reading about Merlin, his story is inspiring for me with Dara. I wonder if the moderators would make a section in the forums for ideas to make life better for handicapped birds.

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I'm glad we could help out. The basket and perches are a good idea. We were considering investing in a wooden block perch, that you can buy for chinchillas, etc if she needs to 'lie down' high up. We never got around to doing it as Merlin coped just fine, but it's an idea. Although Dara is missing toes/injured, she will cope. Looking forward to seeing some pictures, I've got a name but no face and foot to put it to!

Here is my little Dara. It's hard to get a good pic of her foot since this is her first week with me and she is still skittish.

Awwww... she's so gorgeous... and she will adapt... People do, and birds will, too...

Awwe, what a cutie. It breaks my heart to see her, but also warms my heart to know that you have taken her in and are doing your best to accomedate her.

Aw, poor baby, her foot does look a bit messy. I'm happy knowing that you're trying to give her the best home possible and I'm sure she's going to be fine as long as her foot is healing up well. I've got high hopes for her, she is going to entertain you endlessly with her antics and the way she learns how to do things differently.

Yeah, she is pretty clever already. It still spins me out that she can fly 10x better than her 'normal' sibling. I have to go into town today to get stuff to make some better platforms. The baskets were only ever temporary but she has trouble getting out of them cause the sides are a bit high. Ill post pics when I'm done so that people can get ideas if they need them.

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I'd recommend that sort of things, you can hang them up and she can 'settle' in it.

Merlin flies really well and did really well for his age too, since he relied on that more than his foot since he struggled to walk for the most part.

Little Dara is adorable. I bet she will figure out how to do everything she should just in her own little way. I just took in a gold capped conure who is missing a toe on each foot yesterday.

Well, I took Dara and my other 'special needs bird' Marley to the vet. The vet said that Dara's leg could not be helped and that there could be the risk of ulcers later on so amputation may be necessary but that I am doing all the right things now so just keep an eye on it and leave it be unless it shows problems.

Marley is my tiel with a gammy wing. He fractured it around the shoulder area when he was clipped by a car and the first vet we took him to just said to put him down. The vet tested his flight and he can fly enough to save himself from a crash landing so that is good. He made a logical but interesting suggestion. That is, don't make every perch in the cage stable. They use so many muscles in the wild just trying to hang onto thier perches so flightless birds will get loads on exercise if you provide unstable perches. I kinda already knew that but wasnt thinking of it in those terms.

Anyway, they are healthy and happy so that is what matters.