Carlos is only 8 weeks old and has been dealt a horrible hand in his short life. I had went to a breeder to see some conures, only to look and not to buy. The breeder's house was filthy, he took me to his laundry room where I seen a small canary sized cage, inside was a little GCC. The man roughly took the bird from the small cage, it was suffering from some sort of back trauma with droplets of blood dripping from his nail. He didn't tell me what happened, just said he could show me more birds. I did not want to see anything else, I wanted to leave. This poor GCC was dripping blood and clearly in pain, after maybe 10 minutes I finally got him to agree to put baking soda on his nail to help the bleeding stop. After he tended to the bird and put it back into the small cage I was ready to leave, he asked me to hold on. After disappearing into another room he came back out with my little carlos, a chubby, healthy looking little Cinnamon conure. I knew these birds where not taken care of from seeing the poor roughly handled bird in the laundry room. I looked at carlos once and knew I had to take him from that horrible place and what ever bad things were in store for him.
He got home and explored his cage and went to eat right away! He seemed happy to be out of that place. He was a bit clumsy climbing on his cage bars though, I thought maybe he was not used to barred cages, and still a clumsy baby. Everything seemed normal until he tried eating a small slice of apple I cut off for him. He held the apple with his beak and tried grasping it with his right foot, but could not close his toes once his foot was near his beak. He can grip the cage bars, his wooden and sand perches, as well as his ropes and certain toys. But he cannot hold his food, as I type this my little love is sititng beside me on his cage door eating mushed up Zupreem pellets I've been feeding him. He seems active and healthy, with a big appetite, he eats the seeds from his bowl, and I feed him the pellets and small diced up fruit&veggies he cannot hold onto. My uncle, who has had birds for over 3 decades said I should never have bought him and to take him back for being a dud. He and I both think it is either nerve damage, a neurologic problem or birth defect.
I love Carlos even though I've had him for only a day and a half, he seems to be almost already bonded to me, he squawks when I leave, and climbs to the cage door when I enter the room demanding his door be open. He has an amazing personality, but I need some advice, he will be slightly handicapped by this for the rest of his life and I want to make him as happy and comfortable as he can be, is it possible to do strength exercises with him to help him learn to use his feet more, or help with him grasping his food ? Is it possible this handicap could effect his life in the long run? Also does anyone have a recipe for a super healthy vitamin enriched mush I can make for him, to keep him healthy and at a good weight.
I'm sorry this was so long, but thanks for taking the time to read it!
He got home and explored his cage and went to eat right away! He seemed happy to be out of that place. He was a bit clumsy climbing on his cage bars though, I thought maybe he was not used to barred cages, and still a clumsy baby. Everything seemed normal until he tried eating a small slice of apple I cut off for him. He held the apple with his beak and tried grasping it with his right foot, but could not close his toes once his foot was near his beak. He can grip the cage bars, his wooden and sand perches, as well as his ropes and certain toys. But he cannot hold his food, as I type this my little love is sititng beside me on his cage door eating mushed up Zupreem pellets I've been feeding him. He seems active and healthy, with a big appetite, he eats the seeds from his bowl, and I feed him the pellets and small diced up fruit&veggies he cannot hold onto. My uncle, who has had birds for over 3 decades said I should never have bought him and to take him back for being a dud. He and I both think it is either nerve damage, a neurologic problem or birth defect.
I love Carlos even though I've had him for only a day and a half, he seems to be almost already bonded to me, he squawks when I leave, and climbs to the cage door when I enter the room demanding his door be open. He has an amazing personality, but I need some advice, he will be slightly handicapped by this for the rest of his life and I want to make him as happy and comfortable as he can be, is it possible to do strength exercises with him to help him learn to use his feet more, or help with him grasping his food ? Is it possible this handicap could effect his life in the long run? Also does anyone have a recipe for a super healthy vitamin enriched mush I can make for him, to keep him healthy and at a good weight.
`Maybe a vet check up is best87. If my spelling is strange is because Lilo is jhelping me with this! 
