Living with a Blind Conure?

[MurfeyandSahara]

In 4 days I am bringing home two bonded male conures. Four years old. One is blind and the other more or less acts as his eyes. Does anyone live with a blind bird and have any suggestions? I have had several birds, and my beloved Yellowsided Conure passed away recently, but I have never had a blind one. This is going to be so different. The current owners are trying to be helpful but I believe these little guys are just too much for them. Sahara, the sighted bird, seems to be a bit hyper and jumpy also. I've dealt with that before and think that with calmness and consistancy he'll calm down unless it's the blind guy Murfey -who he is bonded to - that's driving him crazy. That will be hard to deal with for sure! I already know Sahara wants limited cuddles with his current owners, which gives him time away from Murfey. Murfey, with his blindness, doesn't step up or do cuddles and I'm hoping to gradually change that. But the main issue is learning how to live with a blind Conure.....

 

[Flboy]

Hi and welcome! We have several members with unsighted birds.
Vegas to Knoxville....... give yourself plenty of room to decompress!

 

[Scott]

Welcome, kudos for adopting a special needs bird! I have no experience to share but suspect Sahara will be rather defensive of Murfey. Have you had significant contact with both birds prior to bringing them home?

 

[SailBoat]

Truly great advice provided above!

At this point, consider a Web Search for living with a Blind Parrot or Blind Bird. Also consider: Living with a Handicap Parrot or Living with a Handicap Bird. Tons of information there.

With a Blind Parrot, think two diminutional! Kind of like moving from a multi-story home to a single floor (ranch style) home. Allow lots of walk around space with all perches easy to step up or down from. Use only natural branches with lots of undulation along its length. Eliminate all dowel style perches.

The underlying foundation is sameness! This allows the Parrot with limited sight to total blindness to move around the bottom of the cage. The Parrot will quickly develop landmarks to find its way around. NOTE: Take photos of the current cage set-up and attempt to use it as a guide to set-up the new cage.

Interactions between the two Parrots is their connection, learn it and respect it.

STOP! Life is going to change in your home. It becomes very important to contact call with your Parrot as much as possible and always when you are coming its way. Never just show-up, always use contact calls to let it know, your coming from as far away as possible.

Building a Strong Trust Bond is very important! Only good things happen when Humans are around.

Thank you, for bringing a Handicap Parrot into your home.

 

[Laurasea]

Hi thanks for taking in these guys. No blind bird experience, so we will all learn with you!

 

[wrench13]

Welcome to you friend. THank you for taking in this handicapped but still lovable parrot.

 

[GaleriaGila]

You are on my hero-list! Thank you for taking this on. Please hang around and share your story with us. Bravo!

 

[MurfeyandSahara]

thanks everyone. Blind little Murfey is adorable. I'm beginning to think the bigger challenge may be Sahara... he's a bit hyper and definitely protective of cage/Murfey, as expected. The poor bird was supposed to be named Murphy but it was originally misspelled. Apparently that is the continuing story of Murfey's life! I'm nervous about doing this.