Rehomed Caique - Beak question

[Grinder]

Sadly, I have rehomed her with a very nice lady who works with 'troubled' birds. I didn't mind the fact that it was taking a while to adjust. Honestly I took her in for her sake and not ours. We were simply giving her a home. Unfortunately she became so violent when I approached her cage to give her fresh water or food. She eats her food over her water and poops in her water dish so I had to change that many times each day. Cleaning her cage was also an awful experience. She literally thrashes about in her cage - slamming against the sides with her wings flapping, climbing to the top and falling to the bottom over and over again. Her safety was in jeopardy if she hadn't already done harm to herself. I simply could not watch her do that to herself. The lady who took her had a very refreshing view on 'troubled' birds in that they aren't really troubled. She was able to stand next to her cage without her freaking out so it become obvious that she might have a better chance with the new owner. I was open about the issues with her and the lady was accepting of everything.

It's sad we only had her for about ten days... I feel like a failure.

 

[SandyBee]

Making a hard decision that's based on the welfare of the bird does not make you a failure, it makes you a hero.
There was something about this bird that was making it unhappy, may she find love and peace at her new home.

 

[MonicaMc]

Sometimes, we are only the stepping stones into their next home!


If the caique does better in her new home than she did in yours, you did the right thing! It's as simple as that! And I hope she is happy!

 

[Cheekyarentyou]

Hi, I adopted pretty. I have worked with many birds that were given up. Sometimes I wish the bird could stay but I think giving up a bird is a painful and personal choice. In this case i am sure it was the right choice. I agree with grinder fully regarding his reasoning.
I think sometimes pretty's leg gets in a bad position and it causes her pain. It takes a little getting used to moving her. I suspect pretty got into a bad pose and freaked out. Not wanting pretty to fall or hurt herself she might have been held or contained. Since everything is new and scary pretty might have focused on the scary person. When distracted she didn't care for her leg so in the end the scary new person did equate to pain. The first interactions with a parrot are most important it seriously colors every other interaction. The new environment probably compounded everything. Pretty can't escape. If she feels threatened she can try to run but it's very painful to bring her leg down an put weight on it. She seems ok to use it to hang from or tasks that don't involve pressure on the hip joint. (I hope an X-ray will show more)
Or so this is what I think so far. I took her to Pender vet hospital where a great avian vet spent a lot of time answering questions. After the snow cleats pretty will have her beak trimmed. I had blood work, fecal tests, a couple viral tests and physical exam. I think pretty had a low level, maybe subclinical respiratory infection that got a little worse with stress. It would have been impossible to notice because pretty flopped around like a seagull cause in a fish net. I think it was minor for a period because she caused minor feather damage to the area around her nose. She had significant stress bars in recently molted feathers an overall poor feather quality. This might also be because she will skip eating to be with people. She is on 2 broad spec antibiotics, benibac and being moved to Harrison's. it's a mix now because she loves her sweet pellets.

Her splay l

 

[MonicaMc]

It seems your message got cut off about her splayed leg, but I'm glad that you joined the forum so you could let us know how she adjust to her knew home! Please, keep us updated!

Besides the infection, I hope everything else turns out fine!

 

[Parrotdise]

Congrats! Pretty is adorable. It is normal for Caiques beaks to grow faster and be little on the long side. You might try giving her some wood that she can peel or a cement perch if she likes to rub her beak everywhere. She sure looks like a sweetie.