Radio Free Blue & Gold: All Gus, all the time.

[wrench13]

Aye, there be no talkin' about pirates an parrots unless I be .....involved , as it were. That be close ta muntiny.

see: The Brigands: Pirate Music and Black Powder Cannons: Home

 

[BeatriceC]

The one winged wonder chicken (Charlotte) falls a LOT. Her missing wing is the source of her balance problems, and their instinct to throw their wings out to steady themselves actually makes it worse for her, because then she's a whole lot more off balance. Naturally, we have to take certain precautions. She's always perched over something soft. I have foam garage mats (or preschool mats, if you prefer primary colors instead of grey), that I cart around to stick under perches that are on a hard floor or on the concrete outside. If she's not feeling well I have some pillows that I can line her cage with (she doesn't like them there, so I only put them in if she's showing signs of a problem), and I've made sure the bottom of her cage is springy to minimize damage. We try to keep her on a lower perch, and when we're walking around with her, we make sure one of her feet is on the index finger of the hand/arm she's on, so we can grab the foot and steady her with the thumb. It took her a while to be comfortable with that, but after a couple weeks, she figured out she's steadier that way and started to make sure her foot was in the right spot herself.

The other big thing is to observe everything. Get to know the kinds of things Gus does when he's hurting or otherwise not feeling well. Then you can make sure you can get him moved to a safer place as soon as he starts showing signs of trouble brewing. Charlotte makes it very obvious she's feeling off *if* you know what you're looking for. It took some time just observing and watching and quite frankly, taking notes, to put things together (we're a scientist and a mathematician...kinda par for the course in our house).

 

[BeatriceC]

Oh, and to add to the above, I agree with the person who said she'd probably be showing some signs of pain if there was a problem. With all the falls Charlotte has taken, there's been only two injuries. She broke the very tip of her beak off once. It bled a lot and we had to take her to the vet to get it to stop bleeding, and then he dremmeled it down and all was good. The other injury was mine. She grabbed for the nearest thing she could find to keep from falling, which was unfortunately my hand and wrist, and managed to do some damage to the ligaments keeping my hand attached to my wrist as well as some nerve damage. In her defense, there was already significant existing damage to that hand and wrist from a mountain climbing accident years and years ago. She just made things a whole lot worse.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Oh, and to add to the above, I agree with the person who said she'd probably be showing some signs of pain if there was a problem. With all the falls Charlotte has taken, there's been only two injuries. She broke the very tip of her beak off once. It bled a lot and we had to take her to the vet to get it to stop bleeding, and then he dremmeled it down and all was good. The other injury was mine. She grabbed for the nearest thing she could find to keep from falling, which was unfortunately my hand and wrist, and managed to do some damage to the ligaments keeping my hand attached to my wrist as well as some nerve damage. In her defense, there was already significant existing damage to that hand and wrist from a mountain climbing accident years and years ago. She just made things a whole lot worse.

I read your post about that. I squeaked through my rock climbing years without serious injury only because I developed another physical problem that made climbing impossible. I'd enjoy hearing some of your mountaineering tales. Do they all go along the lines of "oh we are very careful, why driving to the park is the most dangerous part" and gradually morph into "oh man, you were so run out, just one manky piece of pro and joe took that whipper"? Good times.

You are so right, it's about watching this particular bird at this exact moment, knowing that everything is in flux. He's new in our home, so he is probably concealing any problems he can ... He's probably weak from not having any chance to exercise being locked in a hellish cage 8 years...wing and foot muscles either atrophied from disuse or damaged by bone disease...we will watch to see how he does, and I hope that where he is now is not where he will be. He is eating better, being loved on, has room to move, wings will grow...maybe he will get stronger. And if not I hope we can figure out a safe world for him.

His real parront, my husband Wonder Boy, is the true hero here. He looked at shelter birds, sent donations, drove to another city to look at a crippled bird that was terrified of him, paid the adoption fee, brought him home, got him the nicest cage I ever saw, wakes him for breakfast, cleans the cage, and loves on him every evening. I just write on parrotforum and sue for all the bird I can touch. I watch and fiddle and try to understand what he needs, but Boy is the one who saves him. Maybe some day he will register here and you all will get to know him, as I slide into the inevitable isolation of the Not Chosen, start drinking with The Rival and muttering darkly about ungrateful fine feathered friends. Man, it is way too late at night to be making sense. Oh wait, I'm not.

Please keep pitching the helpful suggestions for Gus, it's so appreciated.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Aye, there be no talkin' about pirates an parrots unless I be .....involved , as it were. That be close ta muntiny.

see: The Brigands: Pirate Music and Black Powder Cannons: Home

I cannot view the website, savvy? I get a brief flash, then it goes to statclik, this domain is expired, come view these ads. Ye've been boarded, maties! I assume I would have seen something like this?

Yo ho, yo ho, a parrot's life for me!
We forage, we splinter, we preen and we squawk,
Step up, me 'earties, yo ho!
We bite and we nip, say bad words when we talk,
Step up, me 'earties, yo ho.

:red::46::ip::mo::mo::mo:

 

[SilleIN]

We will probably let his wings grow. I don't think will ever be able to fly, but full wings might help his balance or slow him down a little if he falls.

He doesn't want to be on a lower perch, so I'm going to make him a play gym to hang out on with multiple levels and places to land. And experiment with different perch styles and materials to see what gives him the most stability. The perch he fell from is peeled but irregular, and I wonder if it's hard to balance on a round stick. Maybe an oblong one, rounded edges for the nails but flatter in the middle, so he has a bit more balance. I will put some pictures of his feet etc. up when I get home, maybe people can say if they are normal or not.

I know Gus has a bit more issues, than Sugar, but I was also told, that I could not teach Sugar to fly.

He was 13 years and he had no idea, what those appendices on each side was other than another large area to preen.

It has taken about ½ a year and he is still improving. He can now lift off on his own and he will fly 5-6 large circles before he lands on the ground.

If you wish to try to teach him to fly, please let me know and I will try to make a step by step guide to make an older bird comfortable with flight.

At any rate I think Gus would benefit from using his wings more. One of the beginning steps is to teach your bird to flap his wings on command. I have a video of it, but I have to figure out how to put it in here

 

[SilleIN]

I think I got it. Hopefully there's a video below

[ame="https://youtu.be/a55kdqt5f-8"]https://youtu.be/a55kdqt5f-8[/ame]

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

What about RADIO FREE RIVAL?????? Sorry sorry sorry---i know i'm the under-class here. :60:

 

[Kentuckienne]

What about RADIO FREE RIVAL?????? Sorry sorry sorry---i know i'm the under-class here. :60:

RIVAL SURVIVAL!

Come sit right down and hear a tale, An awful romantic trip,
That started with a tiny bird who gave a tiny nip.
He first bit Rival on the hand, and like a demon flew
Upon his Rival he did land and bit his shoulder too -
HIS SHOULDER TOO!

The atmosphere was getting tough, the tempers getting hot,
Despite the courage of the parronts two, domestic bliss was lost.
DOMESTIC BLISS WAS LOST!

The Rickeybird sets out to maim and splat with poop most vile...
He bites the hand...the fingers too...each bare appendage in sight...
The Demon Ball ... he flings it down, growls around,
Such a difficult child!

 

[Scottj]

Showing your age there K! Have re-runs even been on in 15-20 years??? Sadly I only read "sit right dow" before the tune kicked in and carried me through. Ahhh....Mary Ann... excuse me, I digress. Very clever!

 

[Kentuckienne]

Showing your age there K! Have re-runs even been on in 15-20 years??? Sadly I only read "sit right dow" before the tune kicked in and carried me through. Ahhh....Mary Ann... excuse me, I digress. Very clever!

My age is way showing, or it would be if this was a video forum.

You can also sing the G I theme song to the tune of "amazing grace".

 

[Kentuckienne]

Gus instantly either took to or hated the new orange toy. This is the most he's played with anything.
[ame="https://youtu.be/y4B33wN8glI"]https://youtu.be/y4B33wN8glI[/ame]

 

[Kentuckienne]

Aye, there be no talkin' about pirates an parrots unless I be .....involved , as it were. That be close ta muntiny.

see: The Brigands: Pirate Music and Black Powder Cannons: Home

Again, where be the website?

 

[wrench13]

Still? Gezz we just got un-hacked a few months ago.

Gus seems to like his new toy about about as much as any parrot likes a toy - in otherwords - DESTROY IT ! Jim ( AMYMYBLUEFRONT) let Salty pick a toy out on Sat at the local pet store. Salty IMMEDIATELY went to removing the outer layer after I hung it up.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Toys are full of demons. The ones with orange in them, especially, I think...

He looks so happy and lively and beautiful!

 

[Scottj]

Lol! I'm guessing Gus hates it and wants to kill it. At least thats what it looks like to me. Which, as parrots go maybe that means he likes it...'cuz he can kill it! I have heard toys can be good aggression getter outers. Diamond does play with with toys much.

Did you start with the clickers?

 

[Kentuckienne]

Gus just showed me another trick he knows. We just installed his new Gigantor size perch, and he doesn't like it yet. Wonder Boy set him on it so I could take a picture. He moved to his food bowl, ate a few bites, then I heard a clatter. Looked over to see him make deliberate eye contact, put his beak down in the bowl and use the side of it to fling a giant pile of kibble at me! I yelled hey! Then I remembered, don't encourage him, and moved to the other room. I sure hope this doesn't turn into a thing.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Gus has started doing an energetic head bounce when he wants a corn chip. No accompanying squawk or chirp - all emotion is in the motion!
[ame="https://youtu.be/ng_Z-voRruQ"]https://youtu.be/ng_Z-voRruQ[/ame]

 

[SilleIN]

Would Gus like foraging toys like this. I put grapes, walnuts and pieces of apple in there

 

[Teknogeddon]

What a precious macaw birdie. He's probably loving all this attention he's getting.