Had to rescue this poor guy

Well I went to visit my breeder friend who had the fire. She is known in her area and many times will find birds dropped at her place. She had a family stop by and give her a black headed caique. They thought he was around 5 to 8 yrs old. He has been passed around the family, the first owners (in the same family) gave him up after a year or so when he bit their son and the brat flung him against a wall!

He has never been around other birds, was in a deplorable rusty cage with filthy rope perches and sticks from outside. He has been fed large parrot seed mix....getting a clear picture on this poor babies past?

He has a slight scissor beak... now whether this is hereditary, poor hand feeding as a baby, or poor diet as an adult I can't be sure. The slight nature of it has me thinking it is diet related and the fact that he had no real chewable toys or pedicure perches may have contributed.

So he came home with me. I was thinking I might just get him in shape and find him a good home. However I took him to the vet today and during the beak trim he had a very bad stress induced seizure. It broke my heart and solidified his place here with me. My husband says he did it knowing it would pull my heart strings and ensure that he stays here lol! He is SUPER sweet and even after the vet visit was blowing kisses and talking and being so loving. He says he is a pretty pretty bird...a lot!

He had major testing done and other than lack of good muscle development all seems fine of course I have to wait on the testing. I was afraid he would be reluctant to eat chop since he is used to such a garbage diet but he ate so well this morning for breakfast that he looked like he had a bib on his crop was so full.

The vet wants to see him in another month to work on the beak again and next time they will give him a little birdie Valium ahead of time so we don't have a repeat of today.

He got a new big cage, a new name and apparently a new mom!
So here is Meegosh....

He weighed 146 grams on the vets scale so how does that compare with other caique owners birds is that a normal, average weight? Never mind...I see that is about mid range average for the black headed.

AWWWW what a heartwarming outcome to such a sad begining. Such a cutie too.

Congratulations on the new family member! Thank you for taking in this dear precious baby. Rescue birdies are the best

I know you've had a lot of heartache recently, I'm so glad to hear you are opening your heart and home to a loving little companion that needs you! You are a kind and loving person!

What a lucky bird . He is so pretty .

LaurenB said:

Congratulations on the new family member! Thank you for taking in this dear precious baby. Rescue birdies are the best

I know you've had a lot of heartache recently, I'm so glad to hear you are opening your heart and home to a loving little companion that needs you! You are a kind and loving person!

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Isn't it amazing that birds from an abusive past can show any humans trust? He really is a sweetheart and it feels like he knows he is in good hands now. He is a darling about coming in and out of his cage, has taken a shine to me from the instant I picked him up on my finger at my friends house and even buttered up my husband really quickly. There was a moment at the vets today where I thought my good intentions were going to kill him and my heart just sank but that is also the moment I knew I would do whatever it takes to reward him for trusting me.

Awwww so happy he found you!

Wonderful !!!! Welcome to "Caiques" Hes going to be your best friend Just have to learn their "Way" . Their like no other species

Pinkbirdy said:

Wonderful !!!! Welcome to "Caiques" Hes going to be your best friend Just have to learn their "Way" . Their like no other species

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Yes I used to hand feed lots of these, mostly the white belled but never kept one for myself. He hasn't gone into caique overload yet but I won't be surprised when he does.

I'm glad you found this cute little guy . I'm sure you'll have him rehabbed in no time. That's wonderful to hear that he's not a picky eater either!

He might be fine cause hes older .

Well he definitely found the right Lady to be with. I'm sure he feels like he is in heaven because he is for sure! He's a beauty but he's going to be GORGEOUS in a few weeks.

Awww, I am so happy you found each other! Magoosh looks like a real sweetheart. He certainly is a pretty bird too (and knows it)! I bet on the diet you feed your birds, he will be even prettier soon enough And no doubt, he will quickly become social, loving and spoiled. Please keep us posted on the little guys progress.

Congratulations, Laura! Meegosh is a darling little character! I think he will be very happy in his new home. Poor little guy deserves to enjoy all the good stuff.

Meegosh is in excellent hands. I'm so glad he found his way to you!

Congratulations on your new family member.

Meegosh doesn't seem any worse for the wear and stress yesterday. The seizure really freaked me out but he doesn't seem to have any lasting effects. I heard about a place about an hour away that does the beak trim by laser and I am going to look into that for the next time. I am thinking that would be less traumatic than the dremel tool. I feel like if I could get the bulk of it done by laser then I could file it on a regular basis to keep it from growing so twisted.

I'm happy to hear Meegosh has no lasting effects from yesterday's excitement. He's such a cutie, Laura. Looking forward to hearing more about him.

Having his beak trimmed by laser sounds like a safer option for him. Please let us know what you decide.

More photos too, please.

What about using an edible perch? That's how I got Buddy's beak back in shape and I keep one in his cage for him. Is that an option?

Oh my God what nice looking bird. I have always wanted one of those....I'm told they are like the little clowns of the parrot species. Full of energy and playful.

Ohhhh I want to hold it too!!! They are such fun parrots.

Taw5106 said:

What about using an edible perch? That's how I got Buddy's beak back in shape and I keep one in his cage for him. Is that an option?

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I thought of that but since he only had rope perches and sticks from outside he doesn't groom his beak on his pedicure perches just yet. He does however wipe his beak all over me!