Long term stress reaction from vet?

[Caitcultclassic]

So nearly a month ago my RB2, Percy, had a blood feather broken that wouldn’t stop so we rushed him to the emergency avian vet, it was very touch and go for a bit. He was there for several hours, and just hasn’t been the same—understandably. He plays by himself in the cage and still talks, and he wants to be around us all, but no hands, no touching. He has to jump down to the floor and go to the stairs before be take him up or down for bed/day time playing (he has a sleep cage upstairs and a play cage downstairs that just stays open all the time).

He will climb onto my shoulder and just chill there, here I can only give him a kiss on the beak or the head, absolutely no hands. He is hand frightened, and he has made a lot of progress from when it first happened, I just want to see if there is any advice on anything else I can do, or just see if anyone else has had any similar experiences.

I miss how we could easily pet him, but he interacts with us in other ways and doesn’t bite so it isn’t the end of the world.

I expect him adjusting afterwards will take several months and we are trying to get him in a good place to make a “happy” visit to the vet where he’ll just get treats and attention.

Best,
Cait

 

[Laurasea]

I wonder how long it takes them to make more blood cells?
Id hope this article would cover that questions but didn't
https://be.chewy.com/bird-blood-blood-loss/

Hand feeding treats up to fifty times a day ( Pamela Clark Bird behavior expert says aim for 50! Lol ) I guess would have to part of their normal diet fed by hand. She says look fir any good behaviors and reward. Jumped to a perch reward, came over to say hi reward, ect.
I do know hand feeding things all day long helps me make friends again when trust has been lost.

 

[Scott]

Glad Percy is medically well, sorry to hear of trauma. If he was hand tolerant before the emergency, chances are he will return to similar state with time. Working to reestablish trust with positive rewards should quicken the process. This is going to sound silly... do you have older pics or preferably vids of handling Percy? Parrots are extremely visual and Percy might perceive the images as comforting.

 

[SailBoat]

Truly great advice provide above.

Emergency Vet visits are truly stressful for everyone! Its 100% hands-on, save the Parrot.

Recovery to where you have been to now is an indication of what is likely in the future. It is all rebuilding the Bond and Trust factors of the relationship. Take the time out of the equation. Its all at the rate your Parrot is comfortable with...

 

[Caitcultclassic]

Thank you all!

I am trying to go at his pace, and he use to love nothing more than getting head scratches (he would actually beg for them) and we can see his struggle between when he does his begging behavior and then realizes a hand is getting near him and him not want that but also wanting pets.

Slow and steady wins the race. My dad is able to pet him depending on the day with out worry, it’s my mom and I (the ones who rushed him to the vet) that have the most to rebuild as far as trust goes. He’s still super playful by himself, eats and drinks well, so we shall try hand feeding his food as much as possible.

I have several videos I can play of him rolling around in our lap, getting pets and being handled happily. I’ll give that a try for him.

I think the weather is also having a negative effect on him. When it’s sunny out he is much easier to interact with while when it gets rainy/foggy like it’s mostly been he gets more skittish and wants to be left alone. And he obviously isn’t so scared that he won’t let us take him outside when it is a nice day—if it requires us to get what he wants he’s more than happy to use our hands.

He went through something traumatic, and my entire family understanding of that we just wanted to make sure we could do everything to make him more comfortable!

Thank you all so much for your advice!

 

[noodles123]

I'd imagine it will just take time (as stated by others). I'm sure that you will rebuild that trust over the next few weeks/months .


On the off-chance that he's on the younger side, you really should only pet them on the head and neck only as they near sexual maturity---for when you guys get to that point again.

 

[Scott]

The fact your dad can handle him bodes well. He hasn't sworn off all hands, just the ones who took him to the vet. So I suspect a bit of time and effort will restore his confidence and trust.