Amputated toe

I've recently acquired a blue fronted amazon named Buddy. I came across an ad in the classifieds online selling the bird and cage for $200. The poor bird looked really rough and my heart went out to him. Hubby took one look at the picture and told me to go get him.

When I went to the home there was another bird cage full of cockatiels and a rather large dog. The owner told me the bird 'Buddy' was a rescue bird and he had lived with him for 10 months but he just didn't have the time for him. He explained when he got the bird it's wing was funny and his nail on one toe was hanging. He stated he had been clipping the birds nails and beak himself. All I saw was a ragged poor very thin creature in a cage that was encrusted with feces including the perch. I paid the man for the bird, put him in a travel cage and brought him home.

It took my husband two and a half hours to scrub that cage clean. We threw everything out inside it that couldn't be scrubbed and promptly bought 2 new perches, healthy feed, a new toy, calcium and mineral block and vitamins etc. When that was done we put Buddy back in his cage with fresh food and water and started watching him. He was extremely nervous and would scream whenever you put your hand within a foot of his cage. It took several days for him to calm down although he never bit me while I was feeding and cleaning. He would just scream and move to the back of the cage.

After watching him for several days I noticed he has only three toes on one foot and a stub where the other one should be. His wing hung half an inch lower than the other and the opposite wing had been severely clipped. he has a patch on the top of the healthy wing that is bald but I haven't seen him pick at it at all. The birds feathers were in horrible shape and he didn't seem to bother preening or anything. I got a multivitamin from the vet and put him on a healthy diet while talking to him softly day after day. I even positioned his cage near my chair so he would always be close to me.

I started canvasing all the pet stores to see if I could find where he came from as I was angry about the shape the bird was in and had been told he was adopted out that way although I knew part of the treatment was the fault of the gentleman he had been with. I found the store. I asked for the birds history and it turns out he was given to the pet store after his owner had passed away due to an accident. They took care of him and at that time he was hand tamed and friendly. He also had no problems with his wings or toes and was adopted out to the gentleman I purchased him from in good condition. I believe them as the woman was genuinely shocked when she heard what shape he was in and actually had tears well up in her eyes. She even asked if she could come over in a few weeks to see him. She wants to wait until he's adjusted to our home first. I truly believe this woman genuinely cares for the animals in her care.

So during the 10 months the other fellow had him Buddy received very poor care indeed. He lost his toe, damaged his wing and was poorly treated. I don't even want to think about what happened to him that would cause him to be afraid of hands. I could lean my face over to his cage and he would come near the bars and listen but if he saw my hands he would freak out and back away.

So anyways he's been here for two weeks now. His feathers have started looking healthy again, he's preening himself, eating regularly again, putting on weight and doesn't scream when he sees my hand but he does back away sometimes. I have him separated from my YDH by about 20 ft and he's quarantined. I won't let him free until his vet check but he is not lonely or bored I make sure. He and my other bird seem to get along fine. Actually when Buddy sounds upset my other bird immediately starts screaming and won't stop until I see to him so I'm pretty sure they will get along fine.

I have a few questions. He is having difficulty eating because he hasn't mastered how to hold his food in his foot. It always drops unless it's large. As a result I have been cutting it really small so he doesn't have to hold it but I also realize he needs to adapt somehow. He won't climb and moves no more than 8 inches along the perch. He doesn't seem to be in any pain though.

Do you guys have any suggestions as to how to get him exercising his foot so he can learn to adapt. Keep in mind he is tolerating my hand near him but will not let me put it less than 6 inches away from him. I can't do any step up training for a while either as a loose perch also causes him to freak out. I'm really hoping he wasn't hit with a stick. At this point I figure the dog that the previous owner had may have gotten a hold of him and the idiot didnt bother getting him help.

I am in need of ideas to start putting him through parrot 'physio'. He needs to exercise more and learn to use his foot in different ways again.

You know I'm glad I've gotten him because he is a very intelligent little guy and seems to have a very sweet disposition. I know it will take time and a lot of patience but sooner or later he will realize he has a good home. BTW he is going on a 4 hour car ride next week to the closest avian vet for a full checkup.

So any ideas on how to help my little Buddy out and get him moving again?

Here is a picture of Buddy as of today. i wish I'd taken a picture of him when I first got him but that was the last thing on my mind.

Reading this almost made me cry, thank you for what you have done for this poor bird. As for quarantining, you have to keep him in a different room preferably on opposite sides on the house/appartment not just 20 feet away from your other bird.

cdog said:

Reading this almost made me cry, thank you for what you have done for this poor bird. As for quarantining, you have to keep him in a different room preferably on opposite sides on the house/appartment not just 20 feet away from your other bird.

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Thanks I will figure something out to remedy this but in the meantime I really need soem ideas on how to help him get his mobility back. Anyone?

I think with time he will learn. Try rope perches and keep things close to the bottom

Sulphiria said:

I think with time he will learn. Try rope perches and keep things close to the bottom

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Oh thank you I hadn't thought of lowering his perches. I will do that in the morning when he wakes up.

I knew I would get some good ideas here. Oh I have two perches in his cage one near his food dish and one near his water. They are different widths.

Rope perches are a good idea, unless he has trouble clenching his feet. The vet will assess his feet & grasping ability. If grasping is a problem, he'll do best with a platforn perch. After the vets okay, try things like wooden ladders, natural branch perches, and different thicknesses of wooden dowel perches. Also, walking on the floor, and climbing up a "staircase" of stacked books will exercise his feet. I want to thank you for taking in and helping this poor little angel. I bet when he settles in, you'll have a real gem.

you could also try a natural tree branch type perch that has various branch widths so the feet expand and contract while he moves along it's length. I use a whole manzanita tree branch placed in a christmas tree stand as my Hahn's bird stand and he gets a great workout using all those different-shaped branches.

As for the toe, if he was around other birds when they attack to establish leadership the defending bird will sometimes use his feet to block and this can result in the loss of a toe.

He obviously didn't know how to clip them IF the bird was that petrified of hands, the bird probably bit him and he probably clipped off his toe. A bird can learn to live without one of it's toes on it's own over time. They can live without a wing or a foot even. I have a tiel that's got a missing toe and part of the other nail all messed up and she does just fine. Also I once had a budgie that I had to amputate her foot because of leg band, long story....But you just need to give them the time to get used to it. DO NOT use manzanita perch! It's got a very slippery surface, since he's trying to relearn how to use his newly conditioned foot, that would be a bad choice. He probably would have a hard time gripping right now, I personally would go with a size or two smaller then recommended size perch for a Amazon so the bird would have a better grip. Until he learn the new ability on how to grip with the missing toe. But of course you could provide him with different types of perches in there so he could choose the one he wants to use. Lowing the perches is a good idea, however they like to be up high off the bottom of the cage. I would actually get him a smaller cage for now until he's fully adjusted and able to climb and grip well then move him back into his bigger cage. Thank you for rescuing him!!! Let me know if you need help with anything else.

There are also platform perches you can either make or purchase. Thank you so much for this rescue.

http://avianoutfitters.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=748

Congrats on rescuing Buddy. Missing toe is no big deal. i'd get him out of his cage and on to a playstand with lots of toys. Find toys he likes to play with ,with his feet. Feed him pieces large enough that he has to hold them with his foot and perch with the other.GET HIM OFF THE ADDED VITAMINS. Unless your vet says to add them. A well balanced diet is enough, too much extra vitamins can be very harmful. Direct sunshine and orange veggies is what he needs. BTW i think Buddy is a hybrid, BFA X OWA

The local vet in town recommended vitamins for the first few weeks and they were purchased there. They are not to be a permanent thing. He was in such a bad way. His feathers looked bad, he was terribly thin and had an extremely loose bowel movements when we got him. He looked like a wet rat but he wasn't even wet. He only has about 2 or 3 days left in the bottle and he will be done.

He is looking a lot better as well. His feathers are bright again, his bowel movements are back to normal, he's eating well and preening himself again. He's even started to put on weight. This morning for the very first time he climbed a little bit on his bars to reach the bottom of his cage. It took him a bit of time but he did it.

Here is a pic of him this morning. He looks 500% better than the first time I saw him. He still ahs a way to go but he is much healthier now.

He will be fine. I helped my grandmother raise all her parrots and her mollucan cockatoo is missing his toe too. His mother apparently bit it off. Anyway he is fast now. He paces his stand, dances, climbs up his spiral rope, his ladder, and he uses his feet for eating everything from cheerios to carrots. Just give him time. Teddy was very very very young so he grew upand lived with it. Yours' will stil have to adjust. Trust me that missing toe wont slow him down for long.

I know he will adjust. I was asking for ideas to help him out along the way. His toe worries me less than some of the other damage that was done to him. His wing looks like it was broke and never set properly as well.

This bird has had some major trauma in his life and any help/suggestions as to help him out would be appreciated.

Teri, you and your husband are heroes in my book!

henpecked said:

BTW i think Buddy is a hybrid, BFA X OWA

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I think you may be right. His wings are definitely the same as a blue fronted amazon but his head and neck are more like OWA and he's about 13 inches long and at least 5 years old (no one knows his age for sure). He's a lot shorter than my yellow headed amazon. She's 17 inches long. Either way he is as cute as a button. Becoming quite lively and I do believe I see a mischievous streak in him. Each day he is trusting us a little more and you can tell how curious he is which means he hasn't suffered any brain damage.

I love his personality and can't wait until it's fully out. I'm patient though. he's going to be a good addition to the family.

As many have already suggested, lots of variety with perches and potentially even 'vet wrap' them so they're not slippery for him? Lots of toys for his feet, big pieces of fruit - if he wants it, he'll move his feet for it! We did physiotherapy on Merlin but he was obviously trusting. We just basically did toe stretches, clasping his toes together and then stretching. But obviously don't attempt to do this until he trusts you. Stick to the different size and variations of perches/toys.

+ I think a platform was mention, that is also a good idea if he seems to be struggling perching, he can lie on that, we almost got one for Merlin but he adapted well since he was only a baby.

Keep us updated on his progress, thanks for taking him in

http://www.trixie.de/productimg/3076.jpg

This is what we have for Merlin right now (very similar anyway). He likes it because his feet can perch on it, but he can still lie across the bars if he slips/wants to settle. Maybe you could get/make something like that, but bigger, for him?
Merlin has toys hanging from the bottom like on that picture (but bird ones obviously )

So if you have it hanging it kinda makes more space for MORE hanging toys too

Mayden said:

http://www.trixie.de/productimg/3076.jpg

This is what we have for Merlin right now (very similar anyway). He likes it because his feet can perch on it, but he can still lie across the bars if he slips/wants to settle. Maybe you could get/make something like that, but bigger, for him?
Merlin has toys hanging from the bottom like on that picture (but bird ones obviously )

So if you have it hanging it kinda makes more space for MORE hanging toys too

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I like that. Thanks for showing it to me. Toys are a problem for Buddy I'm not sure why but he is afraid of them as well. When I put a one his cage he started screaming and wouldn't stop until I removed it. I've had to have it sitting near his cage for several days. Only today did he allow me to put it in his cage but he's still leary of it.

thank you for taking in the poor baby

It's been two weeks as of yesterday since we took Buddy in and he is doing really well. Thanks to many of the suggestions here he is now more mobile instead of sitting in one spot in his cage. He climbs a bit to the cage bottom, he's started holding food better and dropping less and he seems less and less nervous with each passing day.

He even allows me to change his food and water now without freaking out at the sign of my hands and allows me to put my hand within a few inches of him. Once or twice he started to bend his head for a pat but stopped partway. He is definitely more relaxed and becoming more and more accustomed to the people in the house. I've found out he loves being sung to so I do it every evening about half an hour before he goes to bed for the night.

I wish to thank everyone for all the ideas you posted. Thanks to your suggestions he is now much more active and started to look forward to us coming near his cage.

Thank you