Older Zon, Roosting issues

[henpecked]

So how we have 2 threads dealing with older amazons that have roosting /perching issues while sleeping at night. Both birds are in their 40's . I have several zons in their 40's and many more nearing that mark.I haven't seen this issue before in forums or ever heard about it. What's causing it and what can i do to avoid it??? The golden opportunity is having both parronts here to compare notes.
Loads of history about Toots and the new bird would help. I know Toots lives with another bird which might help to keep him active. I suspect both birds are clipped which would make them less active?? Did both birds grow up in active households and now the kids have moved out? Is there a similar diet involved? I heard mention of arthritis, but aren't these birds really middle aged? i mean , peoples and zons have about the same lifespan , would most 40yr old humans have arthritis?? Do these birds get out and about or they cage bound?
I'd love to explore this but need your help.

 

[Kalidasa]

Very many people who develop arthritis start in their 40's and it gets progressively worse.

 

[SandyBee]

From my understanding Blue fronts, white fronts and that size amazon have a 40-60 year life span makin these birds in the last third of their life.

It's the DYH, yellow nape and mealy that have the 60-80 year life span.

So I do wonder can it be vision and balance issue's at this point. I was at our rescue yesterday and there is a 44 Blue front there who is partially blind from cataracts and she has been given platforms to sleep on.

 

[henpecked]

maybe so sandy, I don't keep those zons so not really up on them. I'm still not convinced it's arthritis as there should be other symptoms , then falling off their perch when sleeping. I'd just like to gain some insight into this.

 

[henpecked]

Heck, it's got me checking my birds in the middle of the night now.

 

[SandyBee]

I agree that it's probably not arthritis other symptoms would be present.
I know with Bosley he is starting to develop cataracts and every now and again he misjudges his footing and slips, hasn't affected his sleeping as of yet.
But we were at the rescue yesterday talking with the director and she has seen a lot of birds and the older ones with sight problems always have some sort of balance issues regardless of species. Platforms are provided to help them and they tend to always lean on a familiar bar/platform/toy as to keep their bearings straight.

 

[SandyBee]

Heck, it's got me checking my birds in the middle of the night now.

Me too!!!!

 

[Pajarita]

I have a blind bird and, although she lives at the bottom of the cage, she sleeps with her head tucked in, just like any other bird would, so I doubt that cataracts would make them do this.

I also have a zon that is around 50 as well as a 32 year old and they both sleep the same way all other birds sleep even though the 50 year old is a wreck with advanced liver damage and the 32 year old still has a bit of gout in her toes and ankles.

Birds lock their toes around the perch when they sleep in order not to fall so I'm thinking that the problem could be in the flexor tendon (this is the one that 'locks') but then, on the other hand, it's when they 'crouch' that the tendons stretch and 'lock' so I guess it could also be that the arthritis in their ankles (their 'backward knees' are actually their ankles -the real knees are inside their bodies) is so severe that it hurts when they bend them so they try to sleep with the legs stretched out which prevents their tendons from locking.

I would try a bit of metacam (to reduce inflammation and pain) for a couple of weeks and a glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM supplement and see if this does the trick...

 

[henpecked]

I think they tried that with Toots and it didn't help.

 

[Pajarita]

How long did he take it? Because I can tell you from personal experience that glucosamine supplements need time to improve joints and I don't know about birds but dogs, for example, need a much higher dosage than humans so maybe parrots do too.