Brain Damage (collision with wall)

[PickleMeDickles]

As some of you know, I have allowed my three conures to become flighted. All has gone well, except Winston (male sun) was doing loops around the dining room and for some reason decided to fly full speed into a wall.

It has now been a couple of hours and he is acting fine. He has a big chunk of feathers missing from the top of his head. The only thing he wanted after the catastrophe was to snuggle with mommy. It is now dark, and my Suns go to sleep like clockwork. I am an RN so feel kind of stupid asking these questions, but I am NOT a parrot RN.

How soon after a head injury will they show symptoms? Should I wake him up periodically during the night? Why did this happen in the first place, the wall is white but is covered in pictures! My heart just can't handle another collision like this one. Is this just a learning process like learning to ride a bike.

Please help educate me and calm my fears. I really want my birds to enjoy the freedom of flight but I also want them safe.

Thanks in advance.

-Jen

 

[TacoNTiki]

I can't answer your questions but want to say that my birds have a light clip. They have freedom to fly about and with excellent control, just not at top speed. So when they do hit a window, or mirror, it doesn't hurt them as much. I just feel in a confined environment, like in a house, it's safer to have a light clip (your opinion may vary and I respect that).

 

[itchyfeet]

I understand your fears! I live with a minor TBI and it's changed my life dramatically - it's the whole ignorance is bliss thing. Try not to overthink it.
If he 'seems' fine, he could well be. I'd check on him periodically overnight for signs of responsiveness and shock, but I wouldn't wake him if he's all tucked under his wing like normal.
I second the light clip, at least until you're confident of his coordination and wall dodging skills (I think my husband would give me a light clip if he could!)
I'm a little surprised at the feather loss - if anything is still even a teeny bit odd in the morning, I'd take him in to get a once over.

Let us know how you get on

 

[rosembers]

Wow! How scary! I would not let this detour you from allowing them freeflight. There are so many health benefits for them, mentally and physically! I would recommend "perimeter training" where you take your birds out one at a time, and walk them through the room or house they are allowed to free fly in, and walk them around the edges while they are perched with you and show them the walls (touch the walls, allow them to mouth the walls lightly, etc). Also, make sure all windows have the shades drawn. The shades can be open, but they need to be drawn so that the birds don't see a clear window that looks like an open hole to outside. They will learn. I would keep a night light on tonight in case your bird gets upset during the night or isn't quite feeling his best. Personally, I would get up and peek at him periodically through the night, but not necessarily wake him if he seems okay. Best of luck to you and your birds! I'm sure he will be okay

 

[Anansi]

Yes, I agree with Rosembers. At the slightest sign that anything might be wrong, make sure to take poor Winston in to see the avian vet

I also agree that taking your bird on repeated tours of the house is very important. Granted, like children, they'll still have their little accidents here and there.

Some flight training with your bird can cut down drastically on such incidents, though. Just take Winston into a smaller room and work on flight drills of increasing difficulty with him. The better the flight skills, the less likely they are to crash.

 

[Allee]

Any updates on Winston?

I'm sorry to hear about his scary accident. I can't add anything to the great advice you've been given, just hoping to hear Winston is well on his way to recovery.

 

[PickleMeDickles]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support. So many of my non "bird" friends just don't understand. Now to the most important thing, Winston is FINE! I have no idea how he shaved the top of his feather off his head with this collision, but he is back to his boinker self.

Now, about this "clip" thing. It is new to me. How do I do this and should I do it now when they are just learning. Thanks everyone!

-Jen

 

[kiwination]

best thing to do is to go to a vet, especially if he hit his head hard enough to lose some feathers. it can lead to some serious problems and better safe than sorry(

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I can totally understand your feelings on this. Skittles is probably the best flier I have ever seen. Peaches was a pretty good flier in her younger days, but not so much anymore. She has a hard time 'gripping' her landing.

Skittles has hit the window twice and both times it was because of sudden and loud scares. They scared me as well. The first time he lost some head feathers but fortunately didn't break skin.

The best thing to do in the future is monitor them immediately after. If they are able to perch without difficulty and able to fly then you should be out of the woods. They may seem distressed for a bit, but comforting them will help with that. Skittles did some panting after his first hit with the window. I monitored him closely.

The more time they have flown before hitting the object they come into contact with the greater the danger because of them building up speed.

Fortunately, birds indoors don't fly with the same power as birds outdoors.

Like Taco said, a light clip may be something to look into. They can still fly just not as powerful as a full-flight. I actually had never thought of that, and if Skittles wasn't such a good flier, I'd certainly be considering that. If you do go that route, be sure to ensure that both wings are clipped identically.

Also, like rosembers stated, don't let this deter you from free-flight. A flighted bird gets more exercise in five minutes out of cage than a caged bird does all day. I can tell how much Skittles enjoys being free-flighted. I know for some people it's a safety/security issue - I get that. But I still think everything that can be done should be done to allow a bird full flight.

 

[Anansi]

Clipping is your decision, of course. Only you can decide what works for your household.

Personally, I don't clip. I just train them exhaustively with flight, targeting and recall. Then I top all that off with startle training.

Oh, another thing that helps is to have fixed perching stations throughout the house. That way, once they're used to them, they become the automatic go to spots if something does manage to startle them. They wind up flying with a definite destination in mind rather than just flying on blind panic.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

@Anansi That may be why Skittles rebounded so quickly! He has 'little playstands' all around the house that way he has a place to perch wherever I am. Great idea!

I don't clip Skittles, I just can't bear the thought of depriving him of flight seeing how much he enjoys it.

 

[Anansi]

@Anansi That may be why Skittles rebounded so quickly! He has 'little playstands' all around the house that way he has a place to perch wherever I am. Great idea!

I don't clip Skittles, I just can't bear the thought of depriving him of flight seeing how much he enjoys it.

Yes, those perches give them a place to escape to, which can make all the difference in the world when they're in fight or flight mode. The longer they're looking for a sanctuary, the more frantic they become. And it's the frantic flights that often lead to mistakes.

And yes, I take great joy in watching Jolly fly around the house. Maya still keeps her flying to a minimum, unfortunately, but she'll get there.

 

[StarryEyedGirl]

Harley has a light clip. But that's because he tends to go full force into the hutch when he was fully flighted. He has since learned 'hey there's a hutch there. Let's land on top instead of crash into and scare mom'. We have rope set up throughout the apartment for him so he grabs the rope if he flies around to land on. He's hit the wall a few times too. Scared me to death but he got right back up and waddled like no one saw anything lol. I tend to be Harleys perch. Wherever mommy is Harley is. He's still just a baby. He'll be 2 in February. So we still have some training to do. But I understand the scare. I'm sure we've all had that scares once or twice before. They do learn eventually.