Yikes! I hurt him!

happycat

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Wow. A lot of stuff happened today and I feel so bad about it! Well, today we were bringing him to get his nails trimmed and, I admit, I am awful at grabbing Kirby. I'm always too scared to grab him quickly like everyone does (scared of hurting him, not him hurting me) and that fear ended with a very hurt foot. I eventually grabbed him, and was bringing him towards his carrier. I don't really remember what happened because it happened so quickly, but I think I let him go a little bit, and banged him into the iron bed frame. Afterwards he was limping and falling. We took him to get trimmed and he couldn't grip with his left foot. Then we took him to the vet. They gave us medicine and said it should heal within the next couple of days, and if not we should take him again to get X-rays. That was reassuring because seeing my baby bird hurt like that, because of me, was pretty darn scary!

The vet said we should put him in a terrarium but its 10:00 at night and we really needed to get him to bed so we just used his cage. (the other vet said it was okay too) but its way too big. For about 15 minutes he was climbing to the top of the cage trying to find his hut where it usually was and had a very shocked expression to find out it wasn't there. He was still very determined to sleep up high however! (I was impressed to see him even climbing that much, even though he had trouble) He half fell half flew to the bottom a few times and finally he went in his hut on the bottom of the cage. We had a towel on the cage to discourage him to go up high.

Right now he is sleeping. He has been a lot less energetic, for instance letting me pet his belly when he used to fly away, but thats understandable for a hurt/broken leg. He has been flying around a lot and looks like he is attempting to be energetic. He also ate some pellet crumbs. They are shaped in little balls which he obviously can't pick up so I have to crumble them.

*PHEW* Glad he's okay but wow do I feel bad for him! I'll have to find a way for him to not climb his cage tomorrow.
 

Kiwibird

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Poor little guy, hope he recovers from his mishap quickly:)We've all been there before. You obviously didn't mean to hurt Kirby and have done exactly what you needed to (take him the vet) so he can heal up properly.
 

goalerjones

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I sympathize. Even though my guy is little he can still do some damage. As such I've learned to go slow when he nips me or is acting out. Trying to go fast only heightens his fear and his biting.
 
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happycat

happycat

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I'm so proud of him! Today, even with a hurt foot, he managed to bathe in his water bowl, which I kind of wish he didn't always do but I'm happy to see it now, haha. And walk, climb and stretch his bad leg. He also had a few big poops last night like he does every night. They looked a bit odd but at least he's pooping. :)

edit:

Oh, and can anyone give me advice on how to leave him in his cage without him falling and how to grab him for medicine?
 
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happycat

happycat

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Update:
He's not as good as I'd hoped he'd be by this time. He's basically sat on top of his hut the whole day, and is still limping and lifting his foot like in pain. He has been eating, drinking, and pooping, but he seems to have a bit of trouble sometimes when pooping probably because he hasn't been eating as much. Also been biting me a lot probably because of the medicine I forced on him. Hopefully with time he will improve! The good thing is that he is being as active as his foot will allow him.
 
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happycat

happycat

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Catching has been a traumatic experience for us both :(
I am so afraid of hurting him that I miss him almost every time I try to catch him, making him fly away. Each time he flies away he lands kind of roughly, hurting his foot. So whenever he makes improvements, I take him out and he takes a step backwards, limping again.
 

Kiwibird

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Is he on a liquid medication? If so, you can carefully soak a treat with it, and then give him the medication-soaked treat. It's a more gentle way of medicating them than restraining. You can also use a CLEAN syringe and play a 'game' with him to entice him to take his meds.

Kiwi had to take oral antibiotics once, and was not receptive to having a syringe shoved in his beak and liquid go down his throat. We ended up soaking a fruit loop (a rare and favored treat for him) with each dose instead. It took about 5 minutes every dose because I was so careful to allow all the medication to absorb in, so he would get the full amount he needed. He was much more receptive to the medication in that form;) and since it is a favored treat, he didn't waste hardly any. I also recently heard of a "trick" I wish i knew a long time ago. Basically, using a CLEAN syringe, you use it to suction up fruit juice and then you squirt the juice out of the syringe into your mouth, making a big deal about how tasty it is (thus the reason you want a clean one). Then you let your bird try some of the juice, which they will love, since it is sweet. Once they decide the stuff out of the syringe tastes good, then you mix the medication with juice and let them drink it up. Will make life a lot easier when they're on medication:)
 
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happycat

happycat

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Is he on a liquid medication? If so, you can carefully soak a treat with it, and then give him the medication-soaked treat. It's a more gentle way of medicating them than restraining. You can also use a CLEAN syringe and play a 'game' with him to entice him to take his meds.

Kiwi had to take oral antibiotics once, and was not receptive to having a syringe shoved in his beak and liquid go down his throat. We ended up soaking a fruit loop (a rare and favored treat for him) with each dose instead. It took about 5 minutes every dose because I was so careful to allow all the medication to absorb in, so he would get the full amount he needed. He was much more receptive to the medication in that form;) and since it is a favored treat, he didn't waste hardly any. I also recently heard of a "trick" I wish i knew a long time ago. Basically, using a CLEAN syringe, you use it to suction up fruit juice and then you squirt the juice out of the syringe into your mouth, making a big deal about how tasty it is (thus the reason you want a clean one). Then you let your bird try some of the juice, which they will love, since it is sweet. Once they decide the stuff out of the syringe tastes good, then you mix the medication with juice and let them drink it up. Will make life a lot easier when they're on medication:)

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the ideas. :09:
I doubt the treat thing will work, only because he is SO MESSY. Even if its a favorite treat he will drop half of it and get it later. I think the juice idea is great and might work so thank you! (I'll make sure its clean, that medicine doesn't smell too good)
 

MonicaMc

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Poor Kirby! I hope he's fine!

He can be taught to take medicine without struggling, however the ideal time to teach him to take meds is not when he's taking meds! You can try mixing the meds with fruit juice, apple sauce, honey, yogurt or other things with a similar consistency to get him to like the meds more.


As far as feet go, try platform perches, or putting perches together and wrapping them in vet wrap or some rope to make a platform for him to stand on.
 
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happycat

happycat

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Poor Kirby! I hope he's fine!

He can be taught to take medicine without struggling, however the ideal time to teach him to take meds is not when he's taking meds! You can try mixing the meds with fruit juice, apple sauce, honey, yogurt or other things with a similar consistency to get him to like the meds more.


As far as feet go, try platform perches, or putting perches together and wrapping them in vet wrap or some rope to make a platform for him to stand on.

Its not really the med taking that he's having trouble with. In fact, once I grab him with a towel he takes them pretty easily. The thing thats wrong is with me. I can't manage to grab him with a towel without him flying away and bumping into something.
 

MonicaMc

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And you can't catch him any easier not using a towel?


I can understand it being difficult trying to capture a bird. :( With my bourke parakeet, I just use my hands to get her. With the ARN, I'll probably use a kitchen towel or something to move her when I need to. All the other birds I use my hands, too!
 
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happycat

happycat

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And you can't catch him any easier not using a towel?


I can understand it being difficult trying to capture a bird. :( With my bourke parakeet, I just use my hands to get her. With the ARN, I'll probably use a kitchen towel or something to move her when I need to. All the other birds I use my hands, too!

I use either a small towel or a T-shirt. I tried using my hands but he bites me really hard when I do that.

He is extremely fast, but its mostly the fear of grabbing him by the wrong part and hurting him, and feeling bad for him. He has been biting me all day, either grumpy from a hurt foot or because I've been grabbing him.

I just really don't want to make the problem worse by him banging into stuff because I'm too wimpy to grab him. Is there someway to get him to come to me easier?
 

MonicaMc

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There is... but again, not necessarily ideal time when medicating him... better to teach the behavior before it's required, if you know what I mean.


Don't really like to suggest this, but you might try taking him and his cage (if you can) into a dimly lit room (not too dark) and seeing if you can get him out of the cage easier that way.



As far as getting a bird to come to you easier? Food. Feeding them by hand if the bird will allow it. If not, sitting as closely as you can to the bird while the bird eats without causing any stress to the bird. (i.e. if bird wont eat, you might be sitting too close).

I'm actually trying that last step right now with the ARN, as she's too terrified to take food from my hands. I have noticed that her interest has peaked when she sees that I have her Nutriberries in my hands, but she'd hide or run away before ever coming close enough to touch me!
 

Kalidasa

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The only way I could get Kumar to take his meds when he needed it was to either put it on bird bread, or literally inject a blueberry with it with a syringe and he sucks all the juice out (as usual).
 
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happycat

happycat

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Improvement! Kirby is putting more weight on his bad leg, and is lifting it less. He is, however, obviously extremely bored on the bottom of the cage. I put his pinecone toy in and he started eating it, and paper too. I can't take him out, poor thing, maybe I can find something else for him to do!

He definitely looks in pain less though. :)
 

Anansi

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Just seeing this thread now, so my advice might be a little late, but why not just keep him in a smaller travel cage until he heals? Less chance of him falling a severe height and making the leg worse, easier to catch when you need to reach in for him, and lastly, he might be more amenable to leaving it since it isn't his usual territory.

Hope your little guy heals swiftly and well.
 

Kiwibird

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Glad Kirby is in less pain today:) Try giving him some small toys if he's bored, or maybe just sit and talk gently to him.
 

ruffledfeathers

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I'm late to the conversation too, but I was going to suggest possibly a dimly lit room to remove him from the cage too. I sometimes did that with my canary when I had to trim his nails. He really disliked being handled but it was a lot easier when it was a calm and dimly lit room and then I just gently but decidedly grabbed him (if that makes sense.)
Anyhow it sounds like your bird is on the path to recovery now and that's good.
 
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happycat

happycat

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This morning, I realized he actually kind of LIKES the medicine! (it smells pretty good!) I put the syringe next to his beak pushed it and he licked it all up! Since he is improving today I'm weaning him off the medicine and am only giving the morning dosage. SO glad my baby is okay!

@Anansi
I do have a smaller cage but I didn't move him into that cage since I felt like he would be more comfortable in his current cage. The one downside to that is finding him every night climbing to the top of his cage looking for his hut. His foot is improved enough that he won't completely fall though.
 

MonicaMc

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If he'll lick the syringe, then you may not need to remove him from the cage to medicate him!


Keep giving the meds for as long as recommended by the a-vet.
 

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