Night fright *sigh*

[JamesC]

Ten minutes after one AM as I start to write this. I just got Sidney calmed down and put back to bed and I'm going to stay up for a while to make sure he is going to stay calm. He had a night fright about an hour ago. First time he has had one since I adopted him.

And like everything he does, he could not do one in half measure. Oh, no. Not Sidney.

His right wing must have went through the bars when he fell off his perch or while he was thrashing about. He took off all the primaries and most of the secondaries. There is just one large feather left and it is at a strange angle so I'm assuming he will shed that tomorrow. He has nothing but a scrawny "chicken wing" on the right side now.

No structural damage to the wing as far as I could tell. At first, he was holding it out and I started having flashes of trying to rouse a vet at this hour. But he pulled it away when I started to examine it and eventually folded it in what looked like a normal manner though it was hard to tell without any feathers running along his side. It sure looks a mess though. And going to be completely useless for flight until the new feathers come in.

So the boing is coming down for now. Don't want him to attempt to fly from way up there. Might even make the top of his cage off limits when he is outside since it is about 5 feet up. Hopefully he quickly realizes that if he attempts to fly it is not going to end well. I might do a couple of "drop tests" onto a pillow so that his brain will process the change.

I've noticed that whenever I have had to clip a bird's wings that it generally picks up the alteration in flight characteristics of it's wings pretty quick. And Sidney impressed me already in that he shed all the clipped feathers on his left wing and now has a full set but none of the clipped on the right before shed this incident. Even with that kind of asymmetrical lift from his wings he was able to fly around well enough. I thought that I might have to nip a couple of feathers on the left to keep him steady in the air but he did surprisingly well.

And it has been long enough for me to be satisfied that he has settled. Hopefully he has been tucked and sleeping this entire time. It is time for me to get some sleep.

 

[RavensGryf]

I'm sorry to hear that happened to Sidney. So they all broke off? He should adapt to the feel right away. Like a new haircut!

Do you cover Sidney at night? I never used to do it, but the past maybe 6-7 years I have covered Robin at night and knock on wood - no more night frights! They're not as bad as tiels, but Poi's definitely have the tendency.

 

[JamesC]

He didn't break them off. Pulled them out clean. I don't know where in the cage he did it because they are scattered all over. I examined him in more detail this morning and found that he has 3 secondaries left and had two primaries though one that was crooked fell off after he was out. The other is a new feather that is still growing. How that one survived the carnage of the other feathers I don't know.

I cover the flock at night. And Sid has a nightlight that puts a bit of light where he can see if he wakes. Never had a fright with him before now. It really surprised me when I heard him shriek and all the commotion of him flopping around. Didn't help any that Rosco got freaked and fell off his perch just after I got Sid to stop thrashing. Bad enough with one flailing about. If I had not had Sid wrapped up and held against my chest he probably would have went off again. Fortunately Rosco got himself straightened out after just a few seconds. I peeked into both his and Tootsie's cages and found Rosco all wide eyed jittery and Tootsie sitting calmly on her sleeping perch, eyes half shut seeming like she was wondering what all the commotion was about.

Sid was very defensive this morning. If I had not been quick I would have lost skin when he lunged at me. Calmed down after he had a bite of breakfast so I was able to pick him up to get a better look at him. He really made a big fuss when I was leaving for work. Much more than normal. I suppose that it all may come from the fact that he knows he is in a more vulnerable state.

He did try to fly once this morning. He always makes a short hop from the debris catcher on the cage to my recliner while I fix my breakfast. I was standing nearby when he did cause I thought he might try it. About a foot and a half distance. Beak first into the well padded arm of the chair and down to the floor he went in a heap. Very startled looking when I picked him up. And he started making his "raspberry" noise that he usually does when something he does not like happens.

He seems ok now. A little quiet compared to normal. Currently sitting on my right shoulder doing a bit of scratching or stretching. And a little bit of beak grinding. Contented that he is with me at least. No permanent harm but I will be happy when the replacement feathers have grown in.

 

[RavensGryf]

My cockatiel many years ago would pull all of his own blood feathers out. If they weren't blood feathers, I've never seen a bird do it, but for whatever reason he did, he'll be okay. He's just getting used to it and probably does feel a bit compromised and therefore a little insecure. Just hope he doesn't crash around while they new blood feathers are growing in!

 

[JamesC]

Well, Sid seems to have made the adjustment. He has only really tried to fly one time taking off from the carpet and ended up spinning wildly and flopping around for a couple of seconds. He landed on his back and stayed there while his eyes pinned and opened repeatedly. I guess his mind was working out what happened. Then he flipped over and came running straight to me. Since then he has gone from mildly independant to a velcro bird. He has been clinging to me all day today and latches on tightly to my shirt if I try to get him to step up if he thinks his destination is his cage. Which I loaded with new toys today to keep his him occupied when I do put him inside.

That one primary feather he has left is bothering me. There is a gap in the coverts where some of them were also stripped off and the primary will slide through that gap and stick out from the wing by an inch or so. It does not seem like it is bothering him much. He will put it back in place when he preens but any time he opens that wing it slips out. Hopefully the coverts grow back in quickly and block off that gap. I was hoping that it would pop out but it looks as if it is sound and will not shed. I'll have to keep an eye on it and figure out a way to smooth it back in place if he is not paying attention to it.

 

[MikeyTN]

Try not covering the cage! Some birds will freak if they can't see what's going on. I leave night light on for all my birds without covering anyone.

 

[thekarens]

We do the same as Mikey

 

[parrotlover1176]

I'm sorry about the night fright, as a Cockatiel person I know how bad they can be. Luckily my Sennie has never had one.

I also leave cages uncovered and have night lights and have had no more unexplained night frights.

 

[RavensGryf]

That's interesting. Uncovered with a night light helped several of you with night frights. Maybe it's just coincidence how Robin seems to be better with a cover. He HATES to get covered though. Tries to kill the cover every night!

 

[thekarens]

I think like people, birds are all different for what does and doesn't work for them.