Cheddar keeps falling

[texsize47]

Cheddar has been with us since December last year.
Merlin and Cheddar have been housed in the same cage's for most of that time.
All of the behavior I see in Cheddar leads me to believe she (my gut call) is young. She plays like Merlin did when we first got him like lunging and attaching imaginary things. Very playful, very active.
but sometimes ... she falls from her toys. I dismissed this as over enthusiasm,.

But we are seeing her fall or nearly fall at night for no apparent reason. I wake up early in the am and this morning I heard Cheddar flapping around a little bit as if trying to keep from falling.
they (Merlin and Cheddar) perch/sleep at the back of the cage on a dragonwood (I think that's what it's called) perch. I plan on putting some bandage stuff on the perch as soon as I let them out in the morning.

I don't have much faith in my avian vet, I know you're out there saying it. Take her to the avian vet. The next closest avian vet has a 2-week waiting list. I took Plumas to my avian vet for falling off his perch. my vets verdict was arthritis and gave pain medication. Plumas died not long after that. I think the falling was due to mini strokes or seizures. And then there's Bingo. I lost count of the number of times I took him in and never got a diagnosis or any real help.

I may try taking her in anyway, she is easy to handle.

Has anyone else found young amazon parrots so clumsy as to fall of perches?
Everything I see shows me she's in good health. she is learning to fly but her feathers haven't fully grown in yet. She can maintain level flight but can't really gain altitude.
I have to go the natives are getting restless .

 

[texsize47]

Now going with plan B.
As soon as the birds got over “it might eat me” phase they started chewing at it. These two have a tendency to chew on fabric of any kind and I have to be careful.

I took out the dragonwood perch and installed a different natural wood perch of slightly smaller diameter. She is a noticeably smaller parrot with smaller feet to match.

 

[wrench1343]

Salty is 10 and he falls from and has been falling from perches, toys, hanging chain since almost day one. Parrots, while super climbers are not superhuman climbers and make mistakes about the same rate that people would. Often - no, but like once a week he goes flapping to the floor in what I know was a slip.

 

[texsize47]

Salty is 10 and he falls from and has been falling from perches, toys, hanging chain since almost day one. Parrots, while super climbers are not superhuman climbers and make mistakes about the same rate that people would. Often - no, but like once a week he goes flapping to the floor in what I know was a slip.

Thanks for the information on Salty.
For most of my “big” birds falling down is/has been very rare.
Before Cheddar I would have voted Bella most clumsy.
But she does these loops inside her cage when she can’t be in the kitchen due to cooking. Perch, right side of cage, top of cage, left side of cage, back to perch. Sometimes she falls.

Falls when playing and hanging off a toy are bound to happen and Cheddar being so playful gets more than a normal share.

Falling or near falling at night ……
They sleep in contact with each other, wing against wing. Maybe one shifts or moves and disturbs the other.

Going to keep a close eye on this and will see if the perch helps.

 

[GivemeSeedsorgivemeFlesh47]

Juliette is so clumsy that sometimes she misjudges her landing and rolls down your front and lands with her feet kicking in the air.

 

[kme3388]

#1 thing here. Your parrots are adorable.

I can’t say this is the issue but it’s something to try if you havent already. One of my parrots was falling to the bottom of his cage at night. The window shades werent dark enough, and all of the cars driving down the street would shine their headlights into the window next to my parrot. He got startled and he’d fall.

When i got another parrot he started sharing his space. Whenever my new parrot would move at night i again seen the falls. I put a night light in the room, and now again no falls.

I hope something in here helps you.

 

[texsize47]

#1 thing here. Your parrots are adorable.

I can’t say this is the issue but it’s something to try if you havent already. One of my parrots was falling to the bottom of his cage at night. The window shades werent dark enough, and all of the cars driving down the street would shine their headlights into the window next to my parrot. He got startled and he’d fall.

When i got another parrot he started sharing his space. Whenever my new parrot would move at night i again seen the falls. I put a night light in the room, and now again no falls.

I hope something in here helps you.

Cheddar looks amazing with that splash of yellow on the neck, thanks.
I have (I think) gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure there is light at night no matter what.

The lamp in the living room (where the big birds are) is running on a UPS . On top of that I have emergency lights plugged into the wall outlets that will come on in the event of a power outage.
If that’s not enough I keep the light on in the kitchen that gives some light into the living room.
Once through power mismanagement the UPS ran out of power and it got a bit dark but otherwise I think I got it covered.

Lighting is a bigger concern for my Cockatiels cuz they will panic for real. Any change in lighting at night can send them into a frenzy.
I have the same emergency lights plugged into the wall outlets but….. the last time the power went out it didn’t keep them from panicking.

Since then I put a special LED bulb n a lamp next to their cage. It has a battery built in that keeps it on for a few hours.

So yah I take lighting seriously.
Strangely enough Bingo had pretty good night vision.
Not certain how good my three current amazons vision is at night.
Bella vision is poor at night.

If my wife stands next to Bella’s cage and talks to her I can scratch her head and she thinks it’s my wife doing it she can’t see that it’s me. If she figures it out I get bitten.

 

[nkrbkr]

I was going to second the night light, but saw that you’ve got that covered. Ava was very clumsy when she first came home with us. She’s still a bit clumsy, but as she’s getting stronger/more fit, she seems to be getting less clumsy. She used to fall off her perch at night quite frequently. I put a dim night light in the bird room, and she hasn’t fallen at night since. I hope the smaller perch helps!

 

[texsize47]

I’ve talked about how playful Cheddar is so I thought I’d upload a short video.
Sorry for the Darth Vader breathing but I had a stuffy nose, most of my concentration goes to trying to hold the camera steady not paying attention to my breathing.

 

[SailBoat]

Am I seeing this correctly: Is Cheddar missing two - three primary feathers about the same place on both wings?

At 4 to 6 primary feathers missing that will greatly affect their ability to get great lift at take-off and slow to gain height while flying.

An Active Parrot that is falling, that will increased when missing the above feathers as full lift is not available to get them back-on the perch, when they are playing hard and loose their balance.

While spending far too many hours watching our Julio over the years, I have come to the opinion that he has a night watchman thing going-on! He also falls at night and it is a combinations of sleeping with one eye open and loosing his balance when shifting about, to gain a better look-see, at something that moves, likely from car lights passing by late at night or just caring for his flight feathers in the dark and pushing his balance point, a bit too far.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Wrapping his sleeping perches in vet wrap helps a lot with grip and is gentle on their feetz.

 

[texsize47]

Am I seeing this correctly: Is Cheddar missing two - three primary feathers about the same place on both wings?

At 4 to 6 primary feathers missing that will greatly affect their ability to get great lift at take-off and slow to gain height while flying.

An Active Parrot that is falling, that will increased when missing the above feathers as full lift is not available to get them back-on the perch, when they are playing hard and loose their balance.

While spending far too many hours watching our Julio over the years, I have come to the opinion that he has a night watchman thing going-on! He also falls at night and it is a combinations of sleeping with one eye open and loosing his balance when shifting about, to gain a better look-see, at something that moves, likely from car lights passing by late at night or just caring for his flight feathers in the dark and pushing his balance point, a bit too far.

I bought her in December and her wings were clipped buy the breeder
She’s managed some fairly long flights within the house but can’t really gain altitude yet.
I do think she’s young but can’t believe the 4 months old story I got at purchase.

She spends a lot of time “excersizing” those wings.
Very playful.
She’s not much bigger than a white fronted amazon.
I say “she” and that’s just a hunch at this point.

 

[texsize47]

Wrapping his sleeping perches in vet wrap helps a lot with grip and is gentle on their feetz.

I tried that. After they (Merlin &Cheddar) got over the “radioactive “ phase they immediately went into “it must be a new chew toy” game so it didn’t last.

Since I swapped out the normal nighttime perch with one of a smaller diameter (still natural wood) I haven’t had any more nighttime tumbles.

 

[rheashard2]

I have thought about this. I get worried sick with every fall my CAG takes for unknown reasons. I know your concerns until you can figure it out.

 

[BigBalli]

Falling at night especially is a concern. Top causes in young birds: night frights (a dark room + any movement or noise startles them and they bolt), perch diameter or texture not gripping well during sleep, or the start of a seizure disorder. Easy fixes first. Put a dim nightlight in the room so she can see if she wakes. Check the sleeping perch with your fingers, a perch that's too smooth or too thick to wrap her foot fully around is a common culprit, and dragonwood is great but if it's been polished smooth by use, rough it with 80-grit sandpaper. Keep a log of when falls happen and what the room was doing (AC kicking on, etc). If it keeps happening, an avian vet exam with a calcium panel is worth it even if yours has been lackluster before.