BeakerBird
New member
Our local pet store has had some Quakers for sale. About a month ago I stopped in to check them out. They were in a very small little cage. There were multiple green birds and a blue one. There were originally 2 blue ones, but one sold right before I walked in. Due to a misunderstanding with the shop owner that day I did not get her, although I have been looking for a blue buddy for Beaker.
Yesterday, I couldn't take it any longer. I went in and held her and picked her up. I was told she had not learned step up and had minimal people interaction. The day before I noticed she wasn't as sweet as when I first handled her and tried to bite any time I touched her cage. She also would sit in her food bowl and would feed her cage mates, but she was in control of distribution!
When I got her home I tried to see if she would step up, but she would just fly away. She flew fairly high up and sat on one of our window sills. I had to get an 8 foot ladder to get her down. I hated to, but I clipped her flight feathers for her safety. She can still glide and land softly, but not catch any real lift. Here is my first picture of her. She is sitting next to Beaker. No I did not quarantine.
This is the most upright I have seen her stand, and I think it was out of curiosity for the camera. Once clipped, we tried step up again. This is when I really discovered that she is splay legged. She puts one foot on my finger and the other one is looking for the rest of my finger but pretty far out instead of straight down. I also noticed that once she did perch on me, she would lose her balance forward and keeps her tail way down to maintain that balance. Here is a picture of her and how she normally sits. (This is after she bathed in her water dish) Don't worry she was snuggled up in a towel with me after)
She loves Beaker, and Beaker loves her. She wants to be as close to him as possible. He preened her yesterday and they only time they got snippy was when she found a sunflower seed and Beaker wanted it. They settled their differences on their own. My intention is not to let them share cages, but I couldn't get Beaker out of her cage last night!
While in her cage, if she sits on a perch she keeps her right leg on the perch and uses her left to grab the cage. Her favorite spot is inside of her coconut hut. She did sleep in the happy hut, however. Right now we have her cage in the living room and Beaker has a huge cage upstairs.
Despite her weird stance and splay leg issue, she gets around the cage just fine. I initially set things up low and she would just climb to the top of the cage and hang out. She is very snuggly and during this initial day has not been bitey. She has been very sleepy, as was Beaker when I first brought him home. Right now both of them are napping on a perch stand by the front window while we have sunlight. I am happy to say that she DOES know step up, and even is trying to say it. Her issue is that she loses her balance.
My question is, looking at the photos do you believe she is splay legged? She is much too old, from what I have read, to do anything non surgical to fix it. Does anyone else have a bird with this condition? Do you treat them any differently?
Yesterday, I couldn't take it any longer. I went in and held her and picked her up. I was told she had not learned step up and had minimal people interaction. The day before I noticed she wasn't as sweet as when I first handled her and tried to bite any time I touched her cage. She also would sit in her food bowl and would feed her cage mates, but she was in control of distribution!
When I got her home I tried to see if she would step up, but she would just fly away. She flew fairly high up and sat on one of our window sills. I had to get an 8 foot ladder to get her down. I hated to, but I clipped her flight feathers for her safety. She can still glide and land softly, but not catch any real lift. Here is my first picture of her. She is sitting next to Beaker. No I did not quarantine.
This is the most upright I have seen her stand, and I think it was out of curiosity for the camera. Once clipped, we tried step up again. This is when I really discovered that she is splay legged. She puts one foot on my finger and the other one is looking for the rest of my finger but pretty far out instead of straight down. I also noticed that once she did perch on me, she would lose her balance forward and keeps her tail way down to maintain that balance. Here is a picture of her and how she normally sits. (This is after she bathed in her water dish) Don't worry she was snuggled up in a towel with me after)
She loves Beaker, and Beaker loves her. She wants to be as close to him as possible. He preened her yesterday and they only time they got snippy was when she found a sunflower seed and Beaker wanted it. They settled their differences on their own. My intention is not to let them share cages, but I couldn't get Beaker out of her cage last night!
While in her cage, if she sits on a perch she keeps her right leg on the perch and uses her left to grab the cage. Her favorite spot is inside of her coconut hut. She did sleep in the happy hut, however. Right now we have her cage in the living room and Beaker has a huge cage upstairs.
Despite her weird stance and splay leg issue, she gets around the cage just fine. I initially set things up low and she would just climb to the top of the cage and hang out. She is very snuggly and during this initial day has not been bitey. She has been very sleepy, as was Beaker when I first brought him home. Right now both of them are napping on a perch stand by the front window while we have sunlight. I am happy to say that she DOES know step up, and even is trying to say it. Her issue is that she loses her balance.
My question is, looking at the photos do you believe she is splay legged? She is much too old, from what I have read, to do anything non surgical to fix it. Does anyone else have a bird with this condition? Do you treat them any differently?
