Help:my grey flew into a mirror

[Akuma]

Hi all
This is my first thread even though I'm not new to the forum.
I'm a member for some time now and I often visit without logging. Any way I have a lovely grey,Abudi,whom I had for almost 3 years. He wasn't an easy bird to deal with at first. It took him almost 3years to finally warm up to me and let me handle him easily.
Lately he started to follow me at home. He was clumsy with landing at first,but now he seems to master flying around the house.yesterday he followed me to the bathroom and perched on the shower rod. Something he's done before. I left him unattended for a few minutes and when I came back I found him in the basin,bleeding from the tip of his beak.
He must have flown to follow me and got confused with the large mirror in the bathroom so he flew into it and hurt himself.
I washed him,crumbled some tissues and soaked them with cold water to stop the bleeding. I put his beak into flour to dry the wound.
It seemed to help. The bleeding has stopped.
He seems normal until I gave him his food. I noticed that he still cannot eat his dry food. Even his soft food he couldn't eat his normal amount. I think he's still sore and I'm worried.
My question is do I have to take him to the vet?or should I wait a few days and see how it goes?
Your help is much appreciated.

 

[Scott]

A parrot's beak is extremely sensitive, and when injured can interfere with proper eating. Hopefully Abudi will heal quickly now that the bleeding has stopped. Such impacts are absorbed by the upper skeletal system and muscles and may cause lingering pain for a while. Do you notice other symptoms such as a lack of coordination or unusual movements?

A trip to an avian vet may be a good idea to help determine whether there is a treatable condition besides the bleeding. If you have a scale, good idea to monitor for weight loss.

Mirrors can be very confusing even to the best of fliers! You may have to take special precautions to keep Abudi from confusion in the future.

 

[Akuma]

Thanks Scott. No he seems normal except for his sensitive beak.
I soaked his pellets in water,hopefully that helps.
I'll make sure that his soft food is even softer tomorrow.
He goes to the food bowl,picks his food,holds it and then throws it down.
It night time now in Dubai. I'll try to take him to a vet tomorrow.

 

[EllenD]

I would take him ASAP just to make sure his beak isn't more severely injured, and they can give him some Metacam for pain and swelling, which will help him eat. It's going to hurt him more tomorrow I'm sure.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[SailBoat]

So sorry that your Gray flew into the mirror. As Scott so well stated, Mirrors are an issue for flight Parrots.

If your plan is to keep your Gray flighted, my I recommend that you take your Parrot on a hand guided tour of your home at least once a week. This is commonly referred to as the Real Estate Agent's Tour of your Home. During this tour, just like with the Agent, everything is 'introduced' to your Parrot.

The goal for a flighted Parrot is to develop 'safe' flight paths around your home. Commonly, your Parrot will choice one or two types of flights. One is the general flight around the home, commonly looking for the family. Or, an 'Escape' flight resulting from any number of 'things' that may have scared your Gray. This are commonly very rapid and very straight.

The purpose of the weekly tour of the home is provide your Gray with 'safe' flight plans and targeted landing areas should an 'Escape' flight occur. The tours provide a 'pre-planned' route that sets into place moments after your Parrot takes off.

During the tour, it is very important to bring your Parrot's beak to surface with windows, glass doors, glass panels and especially mirrors. The goal is to tap the surface with your finger and than tap your Parrots beak against the surface. Most Parrots will quickly learn that when you tap on the surfaces, they will do the same (not all, but most Parrots). Once they do tap on that surface, they have defined it as a hard surface. At that point, they will work their flights to avoid those surfaces.

As I stated, I do this once a Week and if anything changes in the home, I introduce that change. The goal is to hard-wire safe flight paths.

As Scott stated, Beak injuries can be painful. Your choice in soaking the pellets is great. You can also pre-crush the pellets when you see signs of your Gray being more comfortable with hard foods again.

As stated, please keep us updated and once everything is back to normal, please share your experience so that others can learn.

Thank-you, for caring for your Gray!

 

[Akuma]

Thank you sailboat for your suggestions. It's a good idea to take him around the house. I'll make sure we do that together after he gets back to his normal self. I kept him in his cage today. I didn't want to risk another accident.
I called the vet clinic. They said as long as there's no bleeding,it is not an emergency. They advised that I bring him tomorrow for a check up.

 

[Scott]

Sounds like a great plan, Akuma! Hopefully the visit will be uneventful and Abudi will quickly heal.

Sailboat's excellent techniques should give Abudi greater confidence to navigate with safety!