Rescued TAG

[Adinafloyd]

Hi all, its been a few months since I have been on the forum. I need any and all advice. My hubby is a police officer, he went on a follow up call to a known drug user and the lady no longer lived in the house but still went daily to feed the dogs which are housed outside. He happened to look in the house and sitting in the corner of a dark room with no windows was a TAG. He has light and no stimulation!!!! My DH then informed the stupid woman that she can turn the bird over to him or he will haul her in on abuse charged (which he still plans to do AFTER we get that poor baby outta there) Any advice on helping this lil sweetie adjust to being in a loving family would be great. I currently still have my ekkie (scarlet) and my CAG (jax). Thanks Yall!!

PS the poor baby is stuffed in a 2ft by 2ft cage!!!

 

[Katiejayne]

Aw that's awful! Id just say go slowly introduce one new toy at a time so as not to scare her to much
Hopefully someone with more help will comment soon

 

[Adinafloyd]

****UPDATE*****
Ok, Tutu's vet visit was so-so. She is extremely underweight (basically skin and feathers over bone) and malnurished. She was only being fed dollar store wild bird feed. She is now getting all the good stuff like mash, fresh fruit and veggies, etc... I have just ordered nutriberries and harrisons juvenile hand feeding formula. I am trying to help her gain weight but not by plying her with unhealthy foods. Any suggestions on other foods I can give her???

 

[Katiejayne]

Mine loves eggs, rice, pasta, mashed sweet potato all not to unhealthy also a few nuts aren't too bad for them plus there's plenty of different types to choose from to keep her interested.

 

[Adinafloyd]

Thanks Katie, just got some pasta. She is reluctant to try anything. No telling how long its been since she has eaten anything other than wild bird seed

 

[Katiejayne]

try eating it yourself in front of her, everything I eat my bird seems to want lol the poor thing she is so lucky to now have you x

 

[lucy1]

Thankyou for taking this poor baby in! So sad, and makes you wonder how many more are out there we don't know about...

Is she eating any of the good stuff you're offering, or just ignoring/ freaking out over it?

My old amazon (Kev, RIP) would try anything I offered, but we were very closely bonded. My young macaw holds the standard macaw belief of what is yours is mine, so no issues with him trying new stuff! My current pair of amazons dislike me quite a lot. Rupert will tolerate me but Rosie is still terrified of anyone and everything except her beloved Rupert... She freaks out big style if I dare to put something new in their pots. If there is no bond there yet it may be worth playing on the birds natural curiosity/ jealousy. Pointedly eat something you want her to try and make a big deal about how fantastic it is. Don't offer her any. Get someone else (hubby?) to come over, feed him a small piece and have him make happy noises to show how amazing it is. Hold a small piece out to Tutu but don't actually let her have it, give it to hubby again who makes excited noises. Eat another piece and really big up how amazing it is. Finally offer her another piece. It sounds mean but it puts a higher value on the food you're offering so it's less likely to be discarded and will most likely at least be tried as its now something valuable and apparently tasty, rather than something poisonous the freaky 2 legged monkey pushed through the bars (no offence intended!)... It works with my stubborn wild amazon!

Please keep us updated with how she's doing x

 

[Adinafloyd]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I'm gonna try the taste and tease method today. So far she only wants peanuts and corn on the cob. In the shape she's in I can't deny any food. At least she is eating something. I'm gonna try the nutri berries with the taste and tease and I'll coat the corn with harrisons juvenile hand feeding formula. Gotta get some nutrients in her. No offense taken, I feel like the two legged trained monkey sometimes with these guys...lol. They have me well trained

 

[Adinafloyd]

Oh also I have a big cage set up and it is sitting beside her little tiny cage. I let her our in hopes she will explore over to it and realize how awesome it is and move in...that plan is not working. I don't want to force her as she is weakened and any stress could hurt her. She looks at it, exploring with her eyes but hasn't gotten too close. I put some treats on II and she got within a few inches but that was it. Any tips to convince her to move in to the one that she can stand up straight in. Thanks again everyone

 

[punkindave]

We took in an RBC recently that was a breeder and a complete perch potato, used to a small cage and stressed a lot.. We recently moved him to a larger cage and we were ready for issues, but surprisingly he took to it right away. We let him watch from a stand while we moved his toys and perches to the new house.. Put him in the new one and he climbed around a bit then settled immediately in his rope atom (his fortress of solitude)! He even has started venturing out on the "veranda" (the upper drop door) he never left his cage before the move.

Don't think he'll move on his own, you may have to do it for her and make it as stress free as possible. Try moving a couple of items from her old cage over and outfit the new cage with some different levels of varied perches and just put her in. Stay near and monitor her for signs of stressing. You may be surprised! Best of luck!

Try mini frozen raviolis, tortellini or even potato Pierogi!! Our entire flock goes gahgah for them to a point that we have to lock them up while we're eating.

 

[Terry57]

I am so happy you took her out of that horrible situation.
We moved 2 of our amazons to new cages as soon as we got them, and they adjusted well.
We also moved theit toys into the new cage, and also their perches before moving the fids themselves.
I bet it will take her no time at all to love a new, larger cage

 

[Adinafloyd]

Well, I moved tutu to the bigger cage and she climbed around the top upside down until she was worn out and still would not step on a perch. When she almost fell I took her out. She is still in a weakened condition so I am scared to stress her too much. She is eating nutri berries and starting to beg when she sees us eating. She had no toys to switch to the new cage, just a bell that she sleeps with her head in. I put that bell in by a perch but no luck. I'll try again, I left the cage set up right beside her so she could really get used to it. I put her bell back in the small cage until I try again, she really loves that bell. Prolly cause its all she had for so long. Thanks for all the tips and support, I'll keep this thread updated.

 

[Adinafloyd]

Oh and the taste and tease worked, that's how I got her to try nutriberries. After that I fully understood why they beg for people food, lol.

 

[Adinafloyd]

Oh, sorry I can't edit or add to a post on my phone so I just hafta add a new one. I did BA tracking on her a d found that the bird belonged to the drug heads parents and she is around thirty years old. So I understand why the small cage as back then people didn't know much about parrots. The parents are now in a home and a cop we know happening to grow up near them. The parents dotted on tutu and she was never locked in her cage, she usually stayed on top, only sleeping inside. The daughter got the bird when they got put in the home and that's when poor tutu was left like that. Thankfully we got her and the cop told them that tutu was taken from their daughter and that she was close to death but that she will be fine now. They said they were grateful and had a feeling that she wasn't caring for tutu. Well at least I know that for the majority of her thirty years she was loved. They even told the cop to tell us to look closely at the side of the food bowl....it has her name hand etched with hearts and a smiley face..its light but u can see it.