New here and need some help...

[Jesi]

So I got my first parrotlet today. I am pretty experienced in parakeet keeping, had them since I can remember... My mom had them for years too so I've been around them my whole life. This past summer I've aquired a lot of animals on Craigslist as I just discovered the pet section. Being an animal lover I check it almost daily. I aquired some rare finches that were actually free. Not friendly at all, but quiet and cute nonetheless.

Anyhow, I found a parrotlet on CL a couple weeks ago. The woman is pregnant and wanted to get rid of it for whatever reason. It came with a parakeet friend and was told they were very "bonded". Not that I doubt her but when I remove one or the other from the cage they don't seem to flip out like 2 bonded parakeets do so who knows.

Now...I know pretty much nothing about parrotlets. She says it's about 4 months old and that it's female.

It is banded, and it's light blue. From what I'm reading online, a bright blue patch on the butt indicates it's a male...and this bird has that. So now I'm really confused. Also I noticed out of the back 4 "toes" 3 are "damaged". They are not bloody, but 2 are half the width they should be and have no nails, that is on it's right foot. The left foot has one full length "toe" with the nail and the other "toe" is about 3 quarters the width. I just e-mailed her to ask her if she knows if it was an injury or if it's a deformity. I am concerned about it. Also the front nails... the ones on the foot with the 2 half sized "toes" are kind of strange colored, almost gray and chalky looking, like they have crust or something on them but whitish in color. I'm not sure if that's just food or cuttlebone gunk or if it's possibly a fungal infection or something? Just trying to cover all of my bases.

She said she paid $200 for this bird a little bit ago and she was asking $120 but I don't have that kind of money. She eventually dropped it down to $75 and then I finally got her down to $50 today. I've only had the bird about 3 hours and I am in love. She said it was a girl and named her Chica, but I think it's a boy... We just named him Ocean. I can take photos if that helps with gender and toe issues if anyone can help me. I can't really afford a vet right now, we have a lot of car issues and other things to pay for but she seemed really desperate to get this bird gone and judging by where she lived, I'm glad I took the bird. Her house was very clean but she lived in the GHETTO of Buffalo, NY. There are shootings and stuff there every night so you can only imagine how afraid I was being there as it was, let alone wondering what kind of people would have ended up with this little sweetheart. My parakeets bite harder than he does! I love him!

 

[Jesi]

I also forgot to ask if there is any way of tracing his/her leg band? It does have a lot of numbers and letters on it. I see NYS which I'm assuming is New York State... and also 08 I'm wondering if that is the year born making this bird about 2 years old rather than 4 or 5 months like she said.

 

[Jesi]

If anyone can help with the leg banding info here is what it says...I don't know what order to put it in but this is what it says: 262 IPS DMA NYS 08

The NYS and IPS are sideways.

 

[JawzX]

IPS may be a society I'd, International Parrotlet Society? Of that's the case this band should be easily taceable through them.

The International Parrotlet Society

the DMA part is probably the breeder's initials or I'd, the ?(- probably does stand for Net York State, the 08 is most likely the year of hatching and the only thing left is the individual bird I'd.

 

[bogo1]

Hello
Are you keeping this bird quarantined.??? I am concerned about what you are describing on his feet.

 

[Cowtown]

Hello
Are you keeping this bird quarantined.??? I am concerned about what you are describing on his feet.

I agree... Please quarantine this bird from the one have... and please have a Vet check the bird out.. you say you don't have the money..
I would call the Vet and tell them you rescued the bird and it needs to be checked out and see if they will let you make payments.
I would do this for the bird and for you other bird also.. and you... if the bird is sick and you love him as you say.. then please have him examined.

 

[Jesi]

Didn't really see the point in quarantining him... He was with another parakeet already. I don't have another cage to do that with and they are really expensive. It's Saturday and none of my vets keep those kind of hours so I'd have to call on Monday or something. As I said, if he did lose his toes it must have been forever ago because it's not scabby or bloody, it's totally healed up. I'm going to give him a bath and see if the white stuff is just food or cuttlebone residue.

He is very fearful of being touched on his head or back, he cowers like a beaten dog. The owner still hasn't responded to my questions so I'm kind of thinking she abused him or maybe her boyfriend or whoever he was did? She also had cats and a toddler so who knows.

Yeah I found the IPS website and there's nothing on there about tracing the bird or anything. I'm just really annoyed that this girl told me he's only a couple months old and his band says 08... If that is the year than he is like 2 years old. How do I get IPS to tell me anything based on his band?

 

[Jesi]

Ok...the white gunk is completely gone so it must have just been residue of some kind. I think if it was any type of infection it would have had to be picked or scrubbed off and it just melted away. Could have even been poop. Now are darker pigment streaks in his nails normal? I'm used to just seeing pink "meat" and then the white nail. Some of his nails have a blackish streak kind of down the middle.

 

[JawzX]

contact the IPS through the email or phone numbers and tell them you have a bird with what appears to be an IPS band, and they should be able to give you the breeder's info, and possibly speciffic info about the bird, the breeder would have complete records if all the IPS can provide if the breeder's name/contact info.

 

[Jesi]

Ok, I emailed them last night already...so I guess it's just a matter of waiting to hear back. I guess I'll pop on Craigslist and see about a new cage for him, I'm not really seeing this bond she claimed this bird had with the parakeet, so maybe him being alone will bond him with me. By the way I uploaded photos onto my photbucket. Please check them out and tell me what everyone things about his feet, nails, age, and gender.

Pictures by Jesi715 - Photobucket

 

[Jesi]

Just found the girls original post... She said in her original post on CL that the cat can, will, and has gotten into the cage, so now I'm wondering if the cat got the poor birds toes?

 

[HRH Di]

First - congratulations and welcome to the forum.

Next - the toes look like they may be constricted toe. This happens in the nest when the birds are very young due to low humidity. The toes develop calluses that cause them to curl ending up with loss of blood flow leading to dead tissue. These toes have to be amputated.

My little CAG Ruby has this. She lost all 4 of her back toes; she has 4 litle stubs and perfectly normal front toes. She has a hard time balancing on shoulders and isn't as stable when she lands. We also noticed that the rough perches (those with grit, the calcium ones, etc) rub her stubby toes so we had to replace all of those with smooth wooden perches.

This condition does nothing to negatively affect the quality of life. Birds with contricted toe have perfectly normal lives they just may need modified perches.

 

[Jesi]

So do you think my birds toes need to be amputated or are you saying you think they already were? I have a Vision cage right now with the plastic perches and one gritty perch, I haven't seem the parrotlet on the gritty one.


Anyone possibly know the gender at all? Also, when I put Ocean on the cage with the 3 keets, he really doesn't do anything but sit wherever I put him, he doesn't seem intersted in interacting with the other birds at all. He's so good about me putting my hand in now that he lets me put my finger right up to his belly, he doesn't get on it yet though and I don't know if he doesn't know how yet or if he's afraid of falling due to his toes. Does this mean he's still getting used to the birds or should he just live alone and him and I can be buddies? I try to have him out as much as possible. Thanks guys!

 

[HRH Di]

The toes look like they've already been amputated and have healed just fine. But be sure to ask the vet when you go since I'm by no means a expert. As for the rough/gritty perches - double check with the vet. They rubbed my Ruby's little stubs and I didn't want that to develop into sores. Her feet are back to normal and healthy now.

Introducing a new bird to your flock is tricky. A new home is stressful for parrots, so anything you can do to keep the stress level down is probably best for everyone...that may mean keeping Ocean by himself for awhile.

 

[Bobby34231]

Hi Jesi and welcome to the forum, I agree with Di, the toes are already gone, hard to say by what manner, you will sometimes have poor parent birds that will actually chew toes off, gross I know but it does occur often with new parents or those under stress caused by a number of things including over breeding and inbreeding, enjoy your stay.

 

[Jesi]

Went to this site on gender identifying and this bird is in the middle of these 2 colors. I'm completely at a loss on gender here. It has a like splotch of the bright blue on it's butt and the underside of the wings have like a faded bright blue, but not as bright as the male in the photo and not as dull as the female. Any insight?

Little Tweet Parrotlet Breeder | Blue Parrotlets for sale