• 11 Posts
  • 25 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 20th, 2023

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  • If it were me, I would insist on x-rays, just to be sure. If the veterinarian recommends x-rays, they’re going to want to sedate him. Don’t be put off by this, it’s very normal to sedate them because it could be very painful if the patient actually has a fracture. If the vet does not want to sedate them, ask about sedation, or go to a different vet. Avian anaesthesia is commonly done with a drug called isoflurane. Isoflurane is extremely safe to use in birds because birds don’t metabolize it (the drug never enters their blood stream). Instead, it works by signalling to the brain that it’s time to go to sleep. Because they’re just asleep, they don’t need to be intubated or anything like you would if someone was anesthetised for surgery.


  • My African Grey’s name is Theodore; Theo for short. He’s a very “standard” parrot. Theo is curious and destructive, but afraid of new things and afraid of new people. I’m sure that he’ll get better with time. He just needs to see that we won’t abandon him again. I know that none of what happened was my fault, but I still feel guilty about it, especially when I get frustrated with him. I have to keep reminding myself that we’re both trying to recover.


  • In your video we can see some significant asymmetry; his right wing is sitting much higher, and further from the body, than his left wing. Asymmetry is a clear sign that something is wrong. I would definitely get him checked out by an avian vet when possible. If you are unable to get to an avian veterinarian by tomorrow, some veterinarians, or emergency animal hospitals, will prescribe pain control while you wait for an appointment with an avian vet.

    When you see the avian vet, mention the clumsiness. Something might be causing him to be off balance. Healthy birds shouldn’t be clumsy enough to cause significant injury; if they fall, they should be able to recover by flapping.

    Thanks for reaching out for advice- it can be scary and stressful to hear that your little buddy might be hurt. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself too.





  • My African Grey was definitely traumatized. He (understandably) developed some separation anxiety. From his perspective, he was alone for 14 hours, in the dark (because the power was out), then there was a big scary noise in the middle of the night and strangers kidnapped him.

    Marty’s emotionally unaffected. I took both birds out in their carriers to a pet-friendly shop the other day (trying to teach them that carriers don’t always mean they’re going somewhere bad) and Marty said “Hi Marty” to everything.


  • We never got around to it, no. We were preparing to do a trial of Fluoxetine (Prozac), but the compounding pharmacy said that they weren’t able to make a dose small enough to have room to titrate for his tiny little body. Our next plan was to try Clomipramine, but the whole wild fire thing happened. Marty lost his tail and has been absolutely exhausted while re-growing it. He hasn’t been exhibiting as much hormonal behaviour because he’s sleeping so often. Once he’s back to normal, we’ll consider trying Clomipramine.