The broken finger and macaw issue...

[lucy1]

Due to an overdose of (fermented and very tasty) grape juice I had a little fall over and have hurt myself. I've broken my finger and 'displaced' a ligament- hopefully it'll all mend itself without surgery but I'm looking at 4-6 weeks of my fingers being strapped up. This is painful and annoying but not the end of the world, unless you are a 2 year old macaw...

Milo just cannot cope with mums fingers being taped up. He alternates between extreme fear of the freaky double finger and an overwhelming desire to release my trapped fingers, and a well placed macaw beak on a broken finger is *NOT* a pleasant experience!!! It's my right (dominant) hand so I'm kinda struggling here... Anyone been in a similar situation and got any suggestions?

 

[Arwyn1313]

I'm sorry to hear about your fall. That darn adult grape juice will get you every time I don't have experience with your situation but here is a bump.

 

[Birdman666]

I've had several injuries during the time I've kept large parrots (including two sets of stitches CAUSED BY macaws!), and the reaction has always pretty much been exactly what you are describing.

They were just as freaked out over my wrist braces when I broke my wrists...

Didn't mind the leg brace, but the crutches sure triggered full on birdie freak out mode.

What I did when it was my fingers and my wrists is to drape a towel over it so that they couldn't see it, and picked them up with my other hand. (All mine except one are shoulder birds anyway.) If you want to chew up the towel that's fine, but not my finger/wrist/brace.

The damage WITH BIRDS included:

2 dislocated fingers (flip flops, tile floor, spilled soda, no fermented grape juice involved.)
Left thumb stitches (How did the severe macaw get it's name? How bad was the wound from that bird bite? It was SEVERE!)
Right index finger stitches (overly friendly Shamrock macaw.)
Three broken right wrists (skydiving, surfing, skateboarding)
Two broken left wrists (skydiving, skateboarding)
Toe/foot/ankle fracture trifecta (Stupid Gopher Hole!)

Try two broken wrists simultaneously, and five birds who want to be picked up, until they see THOSE THINGS on your wrist...

 

[Kiwibird]

Sorry to hear about your fall and subsequent injury I lucked out with my wrist brace (tendonitis) that Kiwi has not cared on iota about it. I think, like anything else a parrot is fearful of, some "conditioning" would be in order here. You could start working with him to step up to your left hand and also just kind of "introduce" the taped up hand as you would a toy he's afraid of. Just keep the hand in sight of his cage and if he comes near in a friendly way, reward him so he learns it is not frightening. However, he probably shouldn't step on it until it's all healed. Thats why you'd probably want to work on him stepping to the left. Even if he was very gentle, a macaw is HEAVY and beak or not, thats a lot of weight on a break. Best of luck with Milo and healing up that finger!