Once again, why are you trusting your "breeder" over an Avian Vet? I'm a 20-year parrot breeder with a Master's Degree in Animal Health Science, and I wouldn't tell you to trust me over what an Avian Vet is telling you! I'm telling you, you need to have the surgery done simply based on your bird's age, as he'll have life-long problems if you don't...and that's decades and decades...
All surgeries for everyone pose risks. With birds the biggest risk is the anesthesia, but they are now using different meds/gasses that are much safer, and as long as the Vet first does a complete blood-panel, checks his heart, checks his lungs, etc, to make sure that he's healthy enough for anesthesia, then he'll be fine. There will always be risks but you are taking a much larger risk with the injury you describe letting it go without being repaired at 4 months old! A subluxation like this will not only not repair itself or spontaneously heal, but it's going to keep happening over and over again, it will keep slipping, ripping, and tearing, and may not ever heal correctly in the first place.
Seriously, your breeder is not a doctor, and I don't even know if she has any medical education or experience or not at all, most likely not. The fact that you're trusting your breeder more than an Avian Vet is kind of troubling to me, because you're literally putting the health of your 4-month old bird in the hands of a breeder instead of 2 different doctors/surgeons...And if the surgeon has done this orthopedic repair 3 times, then that's a hell of a lot more experience than your breeder has ever had...I hope you understand where everyone is coming from...
I suggest you do some research, and the absolute best videos I can refer you to are from the TV show "Dr. K's Exotic Animal ER"...It's a show on the NationalGeographic channel, but you can google it and watch episodes online for free on numerous sites. Dr. Kelleher owns an Exotic Animal Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, FL, she's an Exotic's Vet, but she's also a Board-Certified Avian Vet and Surgeon, and the name of her hospital is "Broward Avian and Exotic"...There are two different episodes from I think season 2 or 3, where Dr. Kelleher literally cuts apart, alters, and then totally rebuilds both legs of two different baby Scarlet Macaws who were both born with such bad orthopedic deformities that their legs were literally positioned over their heads, and they could do nothing but lay on their bellies with their legs up in the air, one the whole way over their heads. After Dr. K did the first surgery, then the owner had another rescue Macaw that was being hand-raised and cared for by another parrot rehab person and that had the same issues come in and have the same surgery done. Dr. K had to literally cut-off the baby Macaw's leg, entirely except for the blood supply, cut out lengths of femur bone, alter the lengths and positions of both ligaments and tendons, and the muscles, and then use wire, pins, plates, and screws to rebuild these baby Macaw's legs. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen done in veterinary medicine. And these were both baby Macaws that were only 2-3 months old, unweaned and without their feathers yet, and they were both under anesthesia for hours, and did perfectly fine. I think you need to see that these surgeries are done every single day, and the surgery that your Macaw would be having would be very straight-forward, simple, and short. And it would ensure that he will continue to grow properly and be able to walk, balance, and land properly for his entire life.
What you have to think about is that if you don't have this very short, simple surgery done now to repair this injury so that he can continue to grow and develop properly, the odds are that he's going to have to have much more extensive, risky, and dangerous surgery as an adult because he's eventually not going to be able to walk, balance, or fly/land properly...or perch for that matter. How can a Macaw live a full, active, healthy life if they cannot perch properly, or at all? That's what you need to think about. And then take the advice of the Avian Vets/Surgeons who are not only educated in this, but that have performed these types of surgeries before. Your breeder means well, I'm sure, but they should not be giving you medical advice, and certainly should not be telling you that the Avian Vet/Surgeons are wrong and you should just do the opposite of what they are telling you. That's irresponsible of your breeder, and unfair to both you and your bird...And also, the fact that your breeder sold you an unweaned baby Macaw in the first place is a red-flag that they aren't the most scrupulous or well-meaning breeder in the first place, as no parrot breeders should ever sell an unweaned baby parrot. It's just not responsible or safe...
