Please help

Miloxmango

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Mar 25, 2022
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I’ve just rescued a blue headed pionus, it came from a very bad home, (there was mold on all the walls, flies and dust every where, and they smoked in the home), he was in a tiny room with a cockatoo, and African grey, all in separate cages, he likes scratches but won’t step up, and was locked in his cage most of the time, I got home and cleaned the cage down, it was rusty and looked to be tar, and got new perches, I went to check on him today and his nails are that long they are growing into his feet, he smells like cigarettes, and can’t walk without his nails getting stuck, his feathers look in horrible shape, and looks like he has been plucking underneath , his feet are a yellow colour, I’ve got him into the vets for the first appointment available, which is Monday where he will get his nails done and looked over, but is there anything I can do in the mean time, I can’t get to his nails to cut them, he can fly, and he keeps doing this thing where it kind of sounds like he is having a panic attack, I’m just really stuck, any advice would be appreciated!
 

wrench13

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THanks for rescuing this one! GO SLOW - take your time with getting him used to the new surroundings. Parrots rate of acceptance of change is glacial compared to our quick monkey brains. BTW if his nails are that long, the vet can only trim so much off, not a whole lot at once, because there are blood vessels just past the tips. It might take several visits before they approach normal length.
 
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Miloxmango

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Thank you! I just had to rescue him, I will take it slow, he’s just in such awful condition ,he can’t even get to his food bowl because of his nails getting stuck on the bars, so I have to hold the food bowl for him , I’m hoping he makes a full recovery
 

WingDing

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Blessings to you and your bird. Know that you have to strength and for taking in this precious bird and that there is a vast wealth of knowledge out here/there to help you.

I'd say to do your best to keep your emotions at bay knowing you have a vet appointment in the next few days. Birds adjust to life changes in the long haul. The process of getting a bird into physical and emotional health is the awesome journey. I know that you can embrace the journeyand that you and
the bird will flourish.

I see you have experience with birds and just wanted to encourage you. :)
 

Laurasea

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Welcome to the forums! Thank you so much for rescuing this precious soul.

Can you post a picture of him and feet?

Absolutely wonderful that you will be off the vet Monday!

Make sure like you are, that eating and drinking. Even if st first you have to offer seeds that had been eating. Diet change can take time. But you can offer some warm Cooked sweet potatoes, or cooked carrots to get some good vitamin A in him. Often they like those when served warm, and if able you can offer a taste from fingers.

This article might be helpful

This is also a great one
 
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Miloxmango

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Sorry for the late reply, it’s when he’s climbing on the bars to move from perch to perch, or to his food bowl
Is he walking on the bottom when he's getting his nails caught? Would it work to put a piece of cardboard on the bottom of his cage?
 
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Miloxmango

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Welcome to the forums! Thank you so much for rescuing this precious soul.

Can you post a picture of him and feet?

Absolutely wonderful that you will be off the vet Monday!

Make sure like you are, that eating and drinking. Even if st first you have to offer seeds that had been eating. Diet change can take time. But you can offer some warm Cooked sweet potatoes, or cooked carrots to get some good vitamin A in him. Often they like those when served warm, and if able you can offer a taste from fingers.

This article might be helpful

This is also a great one
Hiya sorry for the late reply this is the best photo I can get of him
 

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Miloxmango

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Welcome to the forums! Thank you so much for rescuing this precious soul.

Can you post a picture of him and feet?

Absolutely wonderful that you will be off the vet Monday!

Make sure like you are, that eating and drinking. Even if st first you have to offer seeds that had been eating. Diet change can take time. But you can offer some warm Cooked sweet potatoes, or cooked carrots to get some good vitamin A in him. Often they like those when served warm, and if able you can offer a taste from fingers.

This article might be helpful

This is also a great one
I also couldn’t get a photo of the nail that is sticking into his foot
 

Laurasea

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look at that beauty!!!!
Sure those nails are long and need a professional, but I've seen so much worse. So I am glad to see they aren't a horror show. Not fun for him , definitely getting in the way.

Feathers...show has bad diet before..not grooming himself ..maybe a little under weight.

Offer those baths and misting.

Don't starve him into a good diet. But keep working on it.
 
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Terry57

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I'm so thrilled you brought this beautiful boy home with you. A misting/bath is going to make his feathers look better, and may help get some of the residue from the smoke off his feathers.

I have a Blue-headed Pionus, and he eats everything. He loves his veggies and will try anything. I hope your new boy is like that, it will make the diet change easier.
He is going to feel so much better with his nails shortened. I'm so glad you were able to get an appt. for Monday at the vet. Please let us know how it goes at the vet, I hope everything goes well.
 
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Miloxmango

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I'm so thrilled you brought this beautiful boy home with you. A misting/bath is going to make his feathers look better, and may help get some of the residue from the smoke off his feathers.

I have a Blue-headed Pionus, and he eats everything. He loves his veggies and will try anything. I hope your new boy is like that, it will make the diet change easier.
He is going to feel so much better with his nails shortened. I'm so glad you were able to get an appt. for Monday at the vet. Please let us know how it goes at the vet, I hope everything goes well.
I will update on how it goes and thank you, he will eat things out my hands and he dose eat veggies! Which is really good, he’s a really tame bird considering everything’s that’s gone on, once I’ve spoke to the vet I’ll find the best way to change his diet for him thank you for the support
 
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Miloxmango

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look at that beauty!!!!
Sure those nails are long and need a professional, but I've seen so much worse. So I am glad to see they aren't a horror show. Not fun for him , definitely getting in the way.

Feathers...show has bad diet before..not grooming himself ..maybe a little under weight.

Offer those baths and misting.

Don't starve him into a good diet. But keep working on it.
look at that beauty!!!!
Sure those nails are long and need a professional, but I've seen so much worse. So I am glad to see they aren't a horror show. Not fun for him , definitely getting in the way.

Feathers...show has bad diet before..not grooming himself ..maybe a little under weight.

Offer those baths and misting.

Don't starve him into a good diet. But keep working on it.
I never thought of misting I’ll definitely give that a go, and thank you !
 

HeatherG

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Panic attack? Pionus do a wheeze when they are excited or overexcited. It sounds alarming but they are really ok. It’s a Pionus thing.

I’m glad you found this bird. He’s beautiful even having been neglected. I hope his feet will be ok and not too painful to trim.

I adopted a conure who had been mistreated, in a very dirty and smoky home. He had been plucking. When I got him he was actually stinky and I bathed him gently in the sink with baby shampoo. I thought he was miserable if he was pulling his feathers out so it was worth a try to bathe him. It took two lathering and rinsing before he was pretty clean- not sticky-feathered. I don’t know if that’s something you should do with this bird. I am sure the vet can advise.
 
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Miloxmango

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Did you have your appointment for your handsome blue guy? I hope he is well.
Yeah so they cut down his nails, and said he sounds okay, he is actually underweight so I need to try fatten him up, he needs his beak trimming but they didn’t want to do it the same day because he was already stressed about his nails, and he needs misting , so it actually went really well!
 
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Miloxmango

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I will update on how it goes and thank you, he will eat things out my hands and he dose eat veggies! Which is really good, he’s a really tame bird considering everything’s that’s gone on, once I’ve spoke to the vet I’ll find the best way to change his diet for him thank you for the supportHe
I will update on how it goes and thank you, he will eat things out my hands and he dose eat veggies! Which is really good, he’s a really tame bird considering everything’s that’s gone on, once I’ve spoke to the vet I’ll find the best way to change his diet for him thank you for the support
So he went to the vets and everything good considering, there’s nothing wrong with his lungs or heart, he is under weight, and he had his nails clipped so he can walk around fine, he needs his beak doing so I’ll make another appointment for that
 

HeatherG

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I’m glad it went so well. I was wondering if they were going to anaesthetize your bird to do all that trimming at once but this is probably a better way.

Pionus are so subtly colorful and sweet. I am glad you found him. And a blue headed Pionus is just a lovely bird! Please send photos!!

I am glad he is a nice bird after the neglect he experienced. So you only have to work on physical health and not mental health, too. Does he have a name or do you get to choose one?
 

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