Umbrella cockatoo talon pad spike?

[Melissa2010B]

Has anyone seen this, and do you know what it is? Oz is a 15 year old male umbrella cockatoo and has recently developed an opening in one of his grip pads on one foot, with like a spiky thing coming out the side of it. We don't know whether it's just odd or something to be concerned about. Does anyone know what it is?

 

[U2gal]

He just needs better peches and more variety. My rescue U2s who were in a bad cage with bad perches had calluses on their toes.

 

[Melissa2010B]

He just needs better peches and more variety. My rescue U2s who were in a bad cage with bad perches had calluses on their toes.

He has all kinds of perches. He has a 5' x 5' x 7' aviary with a thick branch sleep perch, a thick cotton rope perch, a concrete perch and a couple of diameters of maple dowel perches in it.

This doesn't look like calouses, it's like a thin rod spike growing sideways out of one of the grip pads on the talon. Isn't the photo clear enough? I can maybe take another.

Here, I just sketched a yellow pointer arrow to it. If you right click and then View Image, you can see the full sized photo at my site.

 

[U2gal]

The photo is very clear. And is a cockatoo with calluses.

My rescues would have them. And it'll take a couple years for them to naturally go away with proper perches.

They need a lot of variety from 1" to 3" in thickness. From rope, to cement, to flat rocks (flagstone), etc.

I know you said you have a variety for him, but consider, is it all the same thickness? How thick is it? What is it you have?

And how old is he? How long have you had him?

 

[U2gal]

I also want to KUDOS you for having a proper size environment for your cockatoo. Many people think they can put a large umbrella cockatoo into a 32x24 or the bigger ones at 36x26 or slightly bigger and the bird will be happy.

So Im glad to see other people housing their cockatoos appropriately for a change. I thank you

 

[U2gal]

Sorry, I dont mean to post so many times in a row. Can you link us to, or post picture of the maple "dowel" perches. Anything dowel means its smooth and sleek and straight. Those are not good for a birds feet. It causes the bird to hold tighter to the perch, which causes arthritis and other foot issues, like long nails and calluses, or even short blunt thick fat nails with thick calluses.

 

[Melissa2010B]

The photo is very clear. And is a cockatoo with calluses.

My rescues would have them. And it'll take a couple years for them to naturally go away with proper perches.

They need a lot of variety from 1" to 3" in thickness. From rope, to cement, to flat rocks (flagstone), etc.

I know you said you have a variety for him, but consider, is it all the same thickness? How thick is it? What is it you have?

And how old is he? How long have you had him?

He's 15 years old and we've had him since May 2009 and love him dearly.

I'll take some pictures later, and post them, of the various perches.

You know, come to think if it, this may be why he liked that iron bridge with the 3" diameter iron rails, at the park. We could hardly get him off there.

 

[Melissa2010B]

OK, here we go...

This first one is his door perch. I made this myself, with maple dowel I bought and drilled. He doesn't spend much time on this one, it's mostly used for transit in and out of the aviary, which is 5x5x7':

This next one is his sleep perch where he spends the night. It came out of his original smaller dome top cage, and I put it up high, so he'd feel safe sleeping on it:

This third one looks towards the back of the aviary. The branch is from a few cottonless cottonwood trees that I planted in the yard a few years ago, which are now about 30' tall - very fast growing, and I found out safe for birds, so we have a nice supply of branches for him to play with and chew on now. The rope perch is 1"D, I think, and he has the spiral bungee too:

This last photo is the maple perch I gave him in front of the food dishes, and a concrete perch to the right there. I think the only thing we don't have, is a concrete slab that you mentioned, which I can probably get at Home Depot:

So with all this, why would he have a callous?

 

[U2gal]

Callouses are from gripping too hard with the toes.

Perhaps add some more barky type of wood perches?

I know you guys love him dearly or you wouldn't house him in an appropriate sized enclosure. I can tell you guys utterly care for him

But I'm thinking perhaps his sleep perch needs to be replaced with a very barky type of thick perch. Like pine or cedar with the bark. Or even dragonwood perches with the bark still attached.

And the big perch by the food dishes, possibly remove for a thick long bark branch? It looks only 1.5" in D. Which isn't that big for a big male umbies foot. And when they're eating and sleeping, they tend to grab their perch more tightly. The smooth surface is what causes a callus.

But als it may just be a good idea to get him vet checked too if you don't already do so.

 

[Melissa2010B]

Thanks. Well I think his sleep perch had bark originally and guess what? He chewed it off. Hmmm...cottonwood? Big trees in yard...

 

[Mare Miller]

I agree, the perches with bark still attached are better for their feet. The bark will be chewed off and this is good, it gives them something to do while in a cage.