Acrylic collar damaged my parrots neck. Will he get function back?

[Zircon]

My 25 yo Senegal had to have a back right toe amputated. The vet put an acrylic collar on him to protect the wound. He wore it for about 2 months. When I took it off he was unable to turn his head around to rest his head on his back. He also can’t get his head to a place where he can preen his tail feathers or use the oil gland. The gland had to be disimpacted. And several tail feathers had to be removed on right side of tail. From the gland to the right side of the tail is still swollen and inflamed; even after the feathers were removed and gland disimpacted. Bet denies that the collar would have damaged him in this way but on day one of removing collar he had this disability. The collar was removed the beginning of May. I’m trying to give him things to pick up to build up any muscle that may have atrophied. But he just isn’t improving. X-ray shows nothing broken. Any ideas? If I can’t get his neck back to his previous functioning level, the gland will only become impacted again

 

[kme3388]

Hi there, I’m so sorry to hear about your parrot. Are you still working with a vet?

I myself have never used the acrylic collars. They intimidated me as they look like they allow no movement at all. I myself have no experience with this type of collar.

I do use a soft collar on one of my parrots that did feather pluck. He did this to the extent that he was bleeding twice. I was informed by Nico’s vet that collars can’t be left on all of the time, and they need to be removed daily for movement otherwise he would not only have weakness of the spine, but the wings too.

You could always do clicker training with your parrot. When he goes to reach for the stick, and treat it may get your parrot to stretch out the spine, and move it.

I hope something in here helps. Again, I’m so sorry to hear about your parrot. He’s incredibly cute.

 

[Zircon]

Hi there, I’m so sorry to hear about your parrot. Are you still working with a vet?

I myself have never used the acrylic collars. They intimidated me as they look like they allow no movement at all. I myself have no experience with this type of collar.

I do use a soft collar on one of my parrots that did feather pluck. He did this to the extent that he was bleeding twice. I was informed by Nico’s vet that collars can’t be left on all of the time, and they need to be removed daily for movement otherwise he would not only have weakness of the spine, but the wings too.

You could always do clicker training with your parrot. When he goes to reach for the stick, and treat it may get your parrot to stretch out the spine, and move it.

I hope something in here helps. Again, I’m so sorry to hear about your parrot. He’s incredibly cute.

Yes. Still working w a vet but has no advice. I was never told to take the collar off daily or at all. This just sickens me

 

[kme3388]

Yes. Still working w a vet but has no advice. I was never told to take the collar off daily or at all. This just sickens me

I would focus on clicker training as most parrots try to reach for the target stick. All 3 of my parrots do. Maybe that can get your parrot moving his neck, and head around. For my conures I use sun flower seeds do their training. That’s a high reward treat for them. For my Ekkie he gets pine nuts.

Here’s a video on clicker training

I just use chop sticks, and a dog clicker for my parrots target training.

I do not feed my parrots seed in their cages so seeds, and nuts truly are high reward treats for them when I’m training.

 

[Terry57]

I'm so sorry that your baby is going through this. I agree with kme, you could try clicker training or basically anything that will help him to build up his strength in his neck again. Perhaps new toys that he will need to reach toward? I would think that any small movements would start to help, just like PT helps people. I hope your beautiful boy heals quickly and I will keep him in my prayers.

 

[melissa87]

Hi @Zircon how is your senegal doing now?

 

[Zircon]

Hi @Zircon how is your senegal doing now?

Thank you for asking!!!! He is still returning to the vet every 2 weeks w very little improvement in turning his neck; perhaps slight improvement turning to the right but no where near being able to reach his tail or laying his beak on his back. He doesn't spread his tail feathers fully. Has started doing this slightly during flight and hoping this will help him w landing on otherwise flat surfaces. His tail feathers on the right side look much better. He received a laser treatment @ his last visit. He is still plucking his right side & leg which tells me there is still something going on w the right side or right side of tail. He can't get to his preening gland which has to be frustrating as well. I fear that the damage done by this hard acrylic collar has done more damage than I first thought. He is otherwise acting ok other than sleeping a bit more than he used to. He is still receiving meloxicam daily. Vet mentioned neuritis but I would think nerve damage.