New Additions: Rescued Umbies Athena and Apollo

[luckywings]

We are looking for input into cage setups and ideas for water/food containers for our male cockatoo who is at this point blind. He previously has only been able to use a lixit water bottle due to the beak overgrowth. any input is much appreciated!!

you can read more about their story here --->

These are two umbrella cockatoos I rescued from a home in Oregon. The breeder has six other parrots she wants $1800 per pair of birds, they include two pairs of African greys and one pair of moluccan cockatoos. she did not believe in vet care for her parrots. She has no more desire to breed birds and sadly they are taking the toll. I say this not to be offensive in any way we are all learning in this life I understand that! Their home was truly atrocious a separate single wide trailer you could not see out of the windows due to the pine oil and collection of dust, the odor was sickening, birds screaming in terror from lack of human contact, seeds sprouted 6" high in cages, no toys, nothing at all! And sadly we had to leave the other six parrots behind. We will see what we can do for them but we now have two in our home who need us and who could use a hand from others who are able to help! they were housed in wire mesh rabbit style cages 2-3 feet large with only nest boxes attached. One pair of parrots had chewed through the box and was loose in this room. The Male umbrella cockatoo was the worse off of them all as he was in a car accident 10 years ago, the female has a massive hernia type growth on her abdomen. Their first vet trip is today, we will see what their future holds. Fingers crossed! They are very sweet birds and you can see the appreciation and trust they feel for us already. The female leads the male and helps him (we suspect he is mostly or completely blind)....UPDATE: Good news for both our new birds today. One: they have names now Apollo as he can sure use some divine healing and Athena for she truly is courageous and cares for her companion. Two: Athena's growth looks to be a non issue and at this point we are going to get a biopsy on it once she settles in a bit more. also waiting on their blood results to come back tomorrow though we are feeling confident the issue might stem from a vitamin/chemical deficiency and we will know more tomorrow.At this point we are collecting donations which will go 100% to the care of them medically, we plan to have a biopsy on Athena's mass, have MRI readings done on Apollo to see if there is more we can do to help him live a comfortable life. We are just starting on this journey with these guys and welcome you all to share in our journey! We will be setting up their own facebook page so you can watch them as they heal. ....UPDATE: well Appollos condition is not clear yet, we are sending off for liver panels and a few other tests before starting him on antibiotics, we are waiting to hear back on those results (they already had enough blood from his draw yesterday thankfully) I will continue to update everyone on their condition. Thank you!

Feel free to check out their photos here!<http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152253163115363.931850.608740362&type=3">



Thank you so much for reading our story we hope you will stay tuned to their pages and watch for updated photos! They are amazing birds with such gentle and loving demeanor they truly deserve the best that life has to offer, we know that for at least 10 years they have never enjoyed a single toy, shower, or human touch but have already shown us their love and appreciation.

 

[luckywings]

Photos of our new precious babies :21:

 

[Karigan]

Oh those poor birds! So they are in Oregon then? I hope there are people on this site near enough to help. Thank you so much for taking in these birds, I have no doubt that you have saved their lives!

 

[MikeyTN]

Oh poor babies.....I hope you had their beaks worked on already....I would highly suggest in getting them a sustainable perch instead of that rope one cause they'll have that destroyed in no time plus getting themselves tangled in the mess....I know cause the Umbrella I took in had the rope perch too and it was completely destroyed in a very short period as I was gathering dragon wood to make his new perches. Keeping a few of the concrete perches will help you with the beak but by the looks it will take awhile to recover from the previous owner's ignorance....Athena and Apollo are lucky to have you taking them in.

I do hope you have done some research on Cockatoos, don't let their sweetness fool you. It takes them no time to rub it in your face. Good Luck!!!

 

[luckywings]

Thanks Mikey I dont have rope in any of my other cockatoos cages but felt with his age/ blindness/and arthritic feet that they would be more comfortable but taking them out seems a better idea and he has had two gradual beak trims and one more to go, he really had no muscle definition in his jaw and his beak was so overgrown and scissored we had to ensure he would be able to eat and drink as things went back into place. most of the length is off and only the left side needs some work as well as a bit of length they do have two concrete perches as well as a sanded bee pollen one but as we get them into a larger space we will add more surfaces. what are your thoughts on platforms? and yes we know what we are in for we are owned by a few cockatoos now and these two just found their voices tonight haha

 

[MikeyTN]

The platform depends on how badly he is to get around the cage because of his blindness. Dragon wood perches are better as they don't have the slippery surface like mazanita perches. That way they can grip better. IF he falls a lot, then you really need to think of a cage that's not tall but wider at the front and sides. So there wouldn't be any mishap of him falling and hurt himself in the process.