Parrot-medics Real Life Drama in the Avian ER! Are You Prepared?

Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

I admit there are times that I struggle to find topics and content that would be interesting to caged bird keepers. Much of the time though, the blog writes itself. A little known but highly reliable source for content on our blog is “customer reviews”

Catherine likes calf’s liver. I won’t eat out of a pan that has cooked calf’s liver. That does not make calf’s liver inherently bad. I’ll tell you right off the bat that if you give a product one star because “your bird didn’t like it” (think calves liver) we treat it like a review on calves liver – love it or hate it , it’s still good for you and because I don’t like the taste of it does not make it a bad source of nutrition and the review won’t get posted.

If your bird doesn’t like the new toy, ladder or perch. It doesn’t make the product necessarily bad. In many cases, birds are slow to adopt new accessories there, especially inside their bird cages. The more you change things in your bird’s environment the more readily they accept change which usually will manifest itself in a better-behaved bird.

We look at every review holistically. You’ve taken the time to provide us with feedback on a product. No matter what you say we treat it as very important information.

When we read a review on the small wood platform perch – “My little parakeet only has one leg from a very unfortunate accident. This small wood platform is perfect for her to rest on when she tires from perching. Perfect modification accessory for her!!”

Julie, posted the review responded with:

Hi Mitch!

Thanks for the informational videos…very interesting and I really appreciate the thought!

Hope (injured parakeet) flew onto my BHC’s cage and one of them snapped her left leg. It was an open fracture! Thankfully I had medicine from my vet to stop the bleeding on my hand and in turn, got the bleeding stopped rather quickly. We tried to save the leg by having her wear a splint (that she picked at incessantly I might add) for 3 weeks.

That didn’t do the trick so the leg/foot (from just above what we consider an ankle) had to be removed. I was so distraught and thought for sure I would lose her through this process. She proved me wrong (thank goodness) and did amazingly well for what she went through in that month’s time. She has adapted to live with one leg like a champ.

this is not Julie’s Budgie

but it gives you a sense of the mobility they keep

I modified her cage at first and she had nothing to do with it. I put it back to the way it was and she is fine and gets around very well. She does fly so that helps a lot!

I think we all can learn from an injured/disabled animal but, what I learned from the smallest of my birds I will carry with me every single day. If we can help anyone else through a life-changing event such as this…please let me know I am willing to discuss what we did and went through on a daily basis to get her back to health 🙂

Thanks again so much!!!

when I talk about the need for caged bird keepers’ first-aid kit it’s easy to look at the information in the abstract. Julie’s story brings things into focus. Sh*t happens!
Are you prepared for an avian first-aid emergency?

Written by Mitch Rezman
Approved by Catherine Tobsing