Last Updated on by Mitch Rezman
Brandi T. seeks cockatiel advice:
Hi! I’ve been reading and learning from you guys for the last 8 years.
So I’m really hoping you have some advice for me!
Recently we’ve adopted a female cockatiel, Roxy.
She came from a high profile hoarding case here in Michigan.
She’s one of over 200 animals who lived under garbage, in cages of twenty plus birds, most of which were eating their mates and young.
Roxy is the most loving little birdie.
You’d never know she has every reason to distrust humans.
She has done very well making friends with our other 3 ‘tiels, but poor Roxy is disabled.
She is missing half of her wings.
Where her primaries would emerge she doesn’t have. I’ve had her looked over by Dr. Scott McDonald, he believes that they were chewed off as a hatchling.
The problem we have is that she desperately wants to fly.
She sees the other birds do circles around their room, and occasionally she will take off like she can soar…
She drops like a rock.
It always ends with those wing tips bleeding.
She has permanent scabs from the wounds she endures nearly daily.
Whenever she stretches her wings she screams because it hurts her.
I’ve covered their floor with a rug, I have a nice ladder for her to find her way back to her cage for when she falls…I just can’t help but think there are other things I can do to help her.
I’d love for her to have more freedom and less pain.
Any ideas!?
Kudos to you for taking in little Roxy.
Dr. Scott is a great Vet and it is wonderful that you took her to him for examination.
Roxy will eventually learn she can’t fly like the others do and stop leaping off the cage.
If not, you may have to keep her on a low flight cage for her protection.
Or, perhaps create a big main play stand area with toys and food where the other birds will like to hang out during the day that she will learn that is the center of the bird’s universe when not in flight.
It can be made tall and filled with branches and toys and a bright light mounted above it which will entice all the birds to spend much of their time there.
She won’t feel so left behind if she can be in the middle of the thick of it.
The other birds may take off for a fly around but they then always come back to where Roxy is. She may be happy with that.
Please let us know what you work out.
Kindest regards,
Catherine
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