Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Jim relates,

We have a 12-year-old lovebird.

He’s had all kinds of injuries over the past 5 yrs and early last year we discovered he has glaucoma.

We found him on the floor which is very unusual and realized he injured himself …he now has tilted his head to the left and can’t lift it straight up or hold it in the position much longer.

So he has now been ill for over a year since.

 

We are just so sad for him as he used to fly and have the freedom to do so when we were home after work and on weekends.

 

Now he has to wait for us to get him to hold him around or at least try to get him out of his cage as much as we can to give him time out from being in his birdcage.

 

With his injury and I know how it happened….but possibly his eyesight got worse and flew into something or just had an accident and hurt himself.

 



 

So his bottom beak is off aligned now and so the right section grows out of each guessing he is not able to grind that down like he used to with a tilted neck…so we take him to the vet to get that taken care of every few months or so and he gets so stressed out.

 

What tiny file do you recommend for us to use?

 

We got these little ones that folks use and try to softly file that problem area because if not, we have watched him closely, and he is not able to eat properly or get food in him because he can’t get the food properly due to the out of aligning of his upper/bottom beak from the fall.

 

Also, we do have Dezi our lovebird, and our sun conure on fine pellets over 5 yrs now along with Lafeber’s Senior Nutri-berries.

 

What else would you recommend for these senior birds?

 

As we humans age…we need to get supplements to help us.

 

We would think birds as well…. anything we should get for our birds…especially for our handicapped love bird.

 

Oh, we have never used Poop-Off before.

 

What is really in it?

 

We usually just take the cage outside…wash it down with dish soap…good scrub the perches we have used for them now for 20 yrs and let the sun dry it all and bring it back in for our birds.

 

But now that we have to cage our lovebird at all times…his cage is needing constantly cleaning every day….so we figure to get Poop-Off and wipe it down daily as we don’t have time with us working all week to take it outside and wash/rinse.

 

Mainly we are concerned for our Lil Dezi….food needed for him to get nutrients in him and what type of hand file boards can we get as well?

 



 

Dear James

 

We are sorry to hear about your injured, aging lovebird. It is hard to know what to do for our aging pets, especially when they hurt themselves.

 

Due to better quality bird foods, more available information about bird care and bigger cages, our birds are living longer than they used to and as a result, we are needing to provide them with environments that can allow for their mobilization issues and more appropriate foods.

 

There are no special files for the task you are undertaking for the bird’s beak that I am aware of, you might find trimming a nail file to make it thinner, might help get into the areas needed easier.

 

Or even consider a small Dremel tool.

 

Please also realize that your little bird may not be with you much longer as with its current condition, he is unable to get around and eat like he used to.

 

You might consider a daily feeding of a hand feeding formula or crushing pellets, mix with water and syringe feed that.

 

We don’t have as many senior foods available yet, that may be more prevalent over the next few years once the bird food manufacturers catch on that this is a real need.

 

Lafebers Senior Nutri-berries are very nice but may still need to be broken up some for the elder birds.

 

Hagen Tropican makes a new pellet called Alternative and it is a good option for older birds as well.

 

Hagen Alternative has no soy making it ideal for senior and hormonal parrots.

 

Poop Off is an enzyme product for safely cleaning birdcages and accessories even while birds are nearby.

 

Perfectly safe for birds, cats, dogs, and humans. You could eat it by the spoonful with no concern.

 

It is nice for cleaning bird poop off surfaces, etc. It helps hold the moisture in place until the enzymes start to work. then just wipe it clean.

 

No rinsing is needed.

 

Overall, it sounds like you are doing all you can possibly do.

 

That he has survived a year now shows you are doing the right things.

 

A once-a-day syringe feeding should help supplement his other eating. if he is not eating then he should get syringe fed 3 times a day.

 

Are you weighing the bird at least weekly?

 

Doing so will help you determine if he is losing weight.

 

Regards,

Catherine

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Catherine Tobsing

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