Question

[BarkleyLoves]

Sorry for all the questions. For some reason Barkley (4 y/o) cannot stand on one foot. Our other bird Pepper is able to stand on one foot and eat his treats. Barkley has to eat over a dish or if he's outside the cage, you have to put your hand underneath his beak so he can eat. He's kind of a bumbling little bird. Is this normal?

 

[ann]

i think you should take him to the vet. are his nails too long? did he cut his foot? I know finches can get bumble foot from dirty perches making it difficult to perch, i don't know if parrots can get it though. sand paper perches are also irritating to the feet, a soft rope or natural wood perch might help. good luck!

 

[BarkleyLoves]

He has one of those perches that are supposed to help with the nails, but he hardly uses it. I think I might take it out since it doesn't seem to work and it might be causing some of this. We just thought when we got him that he would outgrow this bumbling stage. But so far he hasn't. He probably does need a good vet check-up. I just didn't know if this was normal or not.

 

[kc_y0]

A vet check up would be good, he may have an injured leg that you don't know about, birds tend to hide these things from us best they can. Hope he is okay!

 

[MacawGuy]

Yea go to the vet

 

[mtdoramike]

Yep, vet visit is a must. You should get a full blood workup on his if possible to make sure there isn't any chimical imbalance here.

Mac at times will stand on one leg and hold a treat. But it's not very often like with my Senegal which ALWAYS holds her food in one foot and eats it. I will quite often have to hold the treat or food and offer it to Mac and stand there holding it for him while he eats it. I see no issue with this myself. I had Mac to the vet a month or so ago and all is fine with him.

I will also add here that Mac has his nails, beak and wings trimmed about every 3 months. His beak they only do a light filing just to dull it slightly.

 

[Molcan2]

Has he ever been to the vet since you've had him? He needs to go initially and if healthy, yearly visits. That aside, Rocco is very clumsy. He almost never perches on one foot and I have only seen him hold something to eat in is foot one time since we've had him. He prefers to just dive in and eat it with his beak. Rome on the other hand almost always uses her foot to hold her food. It might just be his preference.

 

[BarkleyLoves]

We took him to the vet almost a year ago. He is due for his yearly physical. We're just trying to find a new, reputable vet right now. We've been traveling back and forth from TX to LA to go to our old vet. But it's quite a drive.

I do hope he's not hurt. I feel terrible. I should have brought him in sooner. But maybe it is just his preference?