Falling please Help

My B&G has all the

I have no experience with falling birds, but I worked with "falling" children. Is it possible that your bird is having drop-seizures? I could be TOTALLY wrong...seriously. That having been said, in humans, seizures often look nothing like what people expect to see based on TV and movies.

Have you observed any other new behaviors? I strongly recommend an exam and at least basic lab work by a certified avian vet. Since this behavior is sudden, wouldn't rule out taking her to an emergency vet as today is Sunday. There are many potential causes, ranging from something minor and overlooked to more serious issues. In the meanwhile, sudden dropping can prove injurious, are you able to reconfigure her cage to lower the perches? (I know this isn't easy with long-tailed macaws) Same with playstand, any method of reducing the fall distance?

Please keep us updated!

Scott said:

Have you observed any other new behaviors? I strongly recommend an exam and at least basic lab work by a certified avian vet. Since this behavior is sudden, wouldn't rule out taking her to an emergency vet as today is Sunday. There are many potential causes, ranging from something minor and overlooked to more serious issues. In the meanwhile, sudden dropping can prove injurious, are you able to reconfigure her cage to lower the perches? (I know this isn't easy with long-tailed macaws) Same with playstand, any method of reducing the fall distance?



Please keep us updated!

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Thank you I am in the process of redoing her cage. A vet visit coming soon. I have also put wood shavings I the bottom of her cage for more padding. Thanks again for your reply I will update soon


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I wouldn't put any type of wood-shavings in the bottom of her cage, as this will be dangerous if she happens to eat any. Instead, you need to pad the bottom of the cage using folded towels, blankets, or pillows, and also lower the perch in her cage so that if she does fall it's not from any type of height that will hurt her.

I agree with Scott, i would be taking her to an emergency vet TODAY, since it just started today. There are a hundred things this could be, from little to fatal, but the sooner you get an x-ray and a full blood work-up and get a diagnosis, the better outcome you'll have. This could progress extremely quickly. So if you have a 24/7 Exotic Animal Hospital within driving range to you, I'd be getting her there ASAP. If not, then you must absolutely get her to either a Board-Certified Avian Vet or an Avian Specialist Vet first thing tomorrow morning. Keep her warm, and watch her very, very closely.

You said this is happening while she is falling asleep...Is she sleeping more than she normally does, like during the day today? Is she lethargic? Fluffed-Up? It's good that she's eating and drinking normally.

Could she have ingested anything that she shouldn't have either yesterday or this morning? Has she had any recent falls, or any type of accidents where she flew into anything, or hit her head?

Wrap her existing perches: it will make them bigger -so easier to grip and the material wil provide an anti-slip-surface. (Any vetwrap lying around? or an old T-shirt you can sacrifice)
(I agree on ditch the shavings-> use something that cannot leave splinters etc.)
if it is really bad you could go for a sleeping board instead of branch.

And yes plze... CAV asap.
(migh even be neurological)

If she is on your hand : does she still grip strongly?
Can she hang by one foot? Can she hang from both with equal strenght?
Can she pull herself up (partly, all the way) when she's hanging upside down (from your hand)?
and the scary one: is the tail active in keeping her balanced, if you hold the bird (by the body) and tip her forward/ backwards (-> beak to the floor and back) the tail should be really active



(I had somewhat the same problem here: wings constricted and not enough grippingpower in the feet for safe perching, so a lot of bad falls -> which injured the wings even further)
Oh, you are in Texas...what are you burning daylight for?! (it's evening here)
Get her vetted up!

EllenD said:

I wouldn't put any type of wood-shavings in the bottom of her cage, as this will be dangerous if she happens to eat any. Instead, you need to pad the bottom of the cage using folded towels, blankets, or pillows, and also lower the perch in her cage so that if she does fall it's not from any type of height that will hurt her.

I agree with Scott, i would be taking her to an emergency vet TODAY, since it just started today. There are a hundred things this could be, from little to fatal, but the sooner you get an x-ray and a full blood work-up and get a diagnosis, the better outcome you'll have. This could progress extremely quickly. So if you have a 24/7 Exotic Animal Hospital within driving range to you, I'd be getting her there ASAP. If not, then you must absolutely get her to either a Board-Certified Avian Vet or an Avian Specialist Vet first thing tomorrow morning. Keep her warm, and watch her very, very closely.

You said this is happening while she is falling asleep...Is she sleeping more than she normally does, like during the day today? Is she lethargic? Fluffed-Up? It's good that she's eating and drinking normally.

Could she have ingested anything that she shouldn't have either yesterday or this morning? Has she had any recent falls, or any type of accidents where she flew into anything, or hit her head?

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She seems ok she still throwing up her food for me. She can’t fly she can’t open her wings due to the arthritis in her wings so flying into anything is not possible her vet has gave me vitamins supplements to put in her water to help with that.


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ChristaNL said:

Wrap her existing perches: it will makes them bigger -so easier to grip and the material wil provide an anti-slip-surface. (Any vetwrap lying around? or an old T-shirt you can sacrifice)
(I agree on ditch the shavings-> use something that cannot leave splinters etc.)
if it is really bad you could go for a sleeping board instead of branch.

And yes plze... CAV asap.
(migh even be neurological)

If she is on your hand : does she still grip strongly?
Can she hang by one foot? Can she hang from both with equal strenght?
Can she pull herself up (partly, all the way) when she's hanging upside down (from your hand)?
and the scary one: is the tail active in keeping her balanced, if you hold the bird (by the body) and tip her forward/ backwards (-> beak to the floor and back) the tail should be really active



(I had somewhat the same problem here: wings constricted and not enough grippingpower in the feet for safe perching, so a lot of bad falls -> which injured the wings even further)

Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply. When she is on my hand yes strong grip as far as hanging her is not going to happen she freaks out and starts biting. She has 0 movement in opening her wings which gives her a uneasy feeling. I think that I have messed up by saying wood chips because they are not wood chips for say I got the from a local bird shop


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In case this will help...


Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet.

It doesn't matter what the "wood chips" are, or where you got them, please remove them from her cage. Birds shouldn't ever be on loose bedding of any kind, such as pine shaving, crushed Walnut shells, corn cob bedding, etc., all of which are sold in pet shops for birds. They are extremely dangerous because if they ingest even a small amount of them, they can and do cause emergent GI obstructions, among other issues. Plus, they are not going to cushion her fall to the bottom of her cage at all anyway, she needs to have something very soft and thick on the bottom, like pillows or folded blankets/towels, not bedding. If she has arthritis as severe as you describe, a fall onto bedding at the bottom of her cage could seriously injure her. The pet shops sell all kinds of things like this that are marketed for birds, for reptiles, etc., and they are all quite dangerous. Just lower her perch so that she doesn't have far to fall, pad the bottom of her cage with soft bedding, pillow, folded towels, etc. (put paper towels on top of the bedding, towels, pillows, etc. if you're worried about her pooping on them).

Is your vet either a Certified Avian Vet or an Avian Specialist Vet? Or are they just an "exotics" vet? The reason that I'm asking is because you said that her vet "gave her vitamins you put in her water for the arthritis issue"...That is not at all an acceptable treatment, for arthritis or anything else. It sounds like this is an Exotic's vet who treats birds, reptiles, amphibians, rodents, primates, marsupials, etc. and has no special education or training in treating or diagnosing birds. No Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet would ever prescribe vitamins that you put in the bird's water; the only time a bird needs vitamin supplementation is if it's suffering from some type of vitamin deficiency or malnutrition, and they would give them this as a prescription supplement, usually by injection, but never, ever by water, as they don't drink enough water for it to do any good for a deficiency, and it can actually contaminate the water and make it bad for her to drink. Nor should you ever give a bird antibiotics or any medication in their water...And a vitamin supplement isn't going to help her arthritis in any way at all...and it sounds like her arthritis is quite severe and very, very painful, poor thing, if she can't even open her wings up...Did this vet bother to put her on a prescription anti-inflammatory, such as Metacam? Or any type of pain medication?

It's quite possible that she's falling off of her perch due to the pain that she's in from her wings, and possibly her spine. If she can't even open her wings up, that means she can't balance herself, and my guess is that it's getting worse and worse, and she's in quite a lot of pain, and is becoming weaker and weaker due to the pain. And if this vet's treatment for severe arthritis that keeps her from being able to even move her wings was putting a "vitamin supplement" in her water, then you absolutely need to find a new vet ASAP, one that is either a Board Certified Avian Vet, or at the very least an Avian Specialist Vet who only sees birds.

The link above that Gail posted will help you search for a vet who has specialty education and training in treating only birds. You need to get her to one by tomorrow to figure out what is going on here, because my guess is that your bird is and has been in very severe pain, and is suffering quite a lot, and it's progressing, which could be very well why she's started to fall off of her perch. She needs a strong, prescription anti-inflammatory medication, and possibly a short-term narcotic pain killer to relieve the acute pain that she's having. If her arthritis is so severe that she cannot even open her wings or move them, then she absolutely needs to see an Avian Specialist, as a general or exotics vet has no idea what they are doing, obviously.

Keep in-mind that this still may also be a serious neurological issue, such as a stroke, a seizure disorder, a nerve problem, or it could be a heart/blood pressure problem, it could be a balance/inner-ear problem or infection, etc. So she needs to see a good, experienced Avian Vet ASAP...