Pchela

Thank you everybody! I am happy I brought her home. She didn't eat yesterday so I got really worried but today she has been eating and it seems like she can eat pretty much anything I give her so that is really good news! I dont know if she can crack nuts and seeds yet but even if she can't there is so much other food that I can give her! Nuts and seed are such a small part of the diet I give anyway. I'm really relieved that she is eating as well as she is! Haven't named her yet... my husband likes Matilda and Prudence but I'm not sure yet.

Well, I went to see her last night and I ended up bringing her home with me! So, I have a new baby Caique! So far she has been very quiet and hasn't eaten anything but it's only been about 1/2 a day since she's been here so I'm sure she's nervous. I will be keeping a close eye on her and I'm just hoping that everything will work out. Wish me luck! BTW- I'm gonna have to find a name for this sweet little girl. Now taking suggestions!<br><br>Post edited by: Pchela, at: 2009/11/07 21:19

Thanks for all of the advice everybody! I can go visit again before I make up my mind and I'm hoping I can observe the bird eating. I am definitely leaning towards the baby with the beak problem. I know that I would always wonder what happened to him if I didn't take him. The breeder has 8 baby caiques right now and 5 are in a cage with the beak baby. He puts the food in but I guess he doesn't watch them eat. I would watch a baby with a beak problem to make sure he was okay but I guess the breeder feels that watching the weight is good enough. From what the vet said when I called it seems the worst I can expect is frequent beak trimmings and a special diet. That's not so bad. Best case would be that he eats fine and wears his beak down normally and just has a beak deformity. I think I can live with either of those outcomes. I'd feel guilty subjecting him to traumatic beak trims all of the time, but I'd feel more guilty if I didn't take him and always had to wonder if he is being cared for properly. As for taking him to the vet before I buy him, I can certainly ask the breeder if that's acceptable to him. Who knows what he'll say, but it's worth a shot right?

There was some trauma to the beak but I don't know what happened exactly. I talked to my vet and he said the bird may need beak trimmings regularly. There will be no way for me to know how special the birds dietary needs are unless I bring him home. The breeder has several babies in a cage together so he doesn't know what the bird is eating, only that the bird is maintaining its weight. He offers them seed, nuts and fresh food every day so I guess it's possible that the bird only eats soft foods. It's also possible that he can eat just fine and all my worrying if for nothing! I'm a terrible decision maker. I always think of the worst case scenario.

I didn't get a picture. The lower beak is split in two and the split is directly in the middle of the beak. Poor little baby. If I don't take him I wonder who will...

Okay, I'm hoping one of our resident experts can help me out. I have the option of buying either a normal caique baby or a caique baby with a split lower beak. What special care will she need? The breeder says that the beak will never grow in normal but he doesn't think it will require trimmings. I've been trying to research this but am not finding much information other than tales of purposeful beak splitting in cockatoos. Even those don't say what is required for living with a split beak. Will the baby be able to eat normally? Play normally? I want to be informed before I make this decision though my heart wants to make sure this little guy has a good home. I want to be sure I can care for her/him. Thanks!

So, you may or may not remember that I recently took in two parrots from an older gentleman who is making plans for them as he feels he's not much longer for this world. Both of them are great little birds, one is a tail plucker and skin mutilator. We've been to the vet and she's in a collar right now. The other is very mild mannered and sweet (to me). I already had my senegal and my timneh. We had a nice routine and life was good. Now, life is chaos! I'm overloaded! I took the other two birds as a foster situation but I've fallen in love with them both. I don't know what to do. I'm hoping it will pass and things will settle down soon. The biggest problem is that my grey bullies the other three. I have to give them separate out of cage time now and supervise her constantly or she will be on their cages terrorizing them. She wasn't like this before I got them. I could just open their cages and let them roam (while I was home of course) How do those of you with multiple birds manage it? Can I expect my grey to calm down in the future? I understand she may be jealous or wants to be dominant maybe but she's making me crazy right now! Sorry for the rant, just needed somebody to talk to. It doesn't help that my husband is out of town for the week so I have no help with them right now. EDIT- Would it help to clip her wings? (the grey) She is quite good at flying now and I had intended to let her remain flighted but maybe she has too much power over the others that way?<br><br>Post edited by: Pchela, at: 2009/07/23 19:18

Thanks she. I feel so bad for her and I feel like I'm torturing her but I tried to take the collar off yesterday (out of guilt) and she immediately started picking at the wound. *sigh* Poor little thing. I wish the vet could have gotten us in earlier but maybe this week will pass quickly!

Thank you lovethatgrey! All we've put on her is aloe gel and aloe juice. She's on Harrisons pellets already and lots of fresh fruits and veggies and nuts... some seed too. I'm going to add red palm oil as well and see if that helps. I hope the vet can help! I know that lots of times plucking can't really be stopped.

Well, she has a huge open wound on her bottom so I don't know how else to stop her from messing with it but with a collar. I tried to make her a comfortable foam one... I hope it works out. What other choice do I have if she's going to keep making herself bleed? Couldn't she bleed to death eventually? I really hate the collar and feel horribly guilty.

Thanks Dave. I called the vet earlier and they said to leave the collar on which I don't want to do because she hates it. She has mutilated her tail end... I imagine the stress of the move to a new home is causing her mutilation to be worse. She crawled up on my arm and I noticed several large drops of blood on my arm. Her tail is just one big scab at this point. I've been using aloe vera gel and aloe vera juice. This is my first time with a feather plucker/mutilator. We've got an appointment with the vet next week and I'm hoping he doesn't just stick a collar on her.

Okay, the little sweetheart is home with me now. In fact, she's just bled on my shirt. I put an elizabethan collar on her but it looks so uncomfortable! Does anybody know of any alternatives? I've heard of foam collars as well. Any experience with this? And if so, how to make them?

Oh! And also, her poor rear end is one big scab at this point. Does anybody have recommendations for easing that? Can I use vitamin E on her or vasoline or even neosporin? I've read that the cream neosporin is okay but no petroleum based products which rules out vasoline. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!<br><br>Post edited by: Pchela, at: 2009/07/07 03:14

LOL Dave. Sounds like the syrup will make the problem worse... she'll want to chew on those delicious tail feathers all day! So, I brought her home today and she was put into an Elizabethan collar before I brought her home. Does anybody have experience with these? She hates it with a passion and I hate to make her wear it... are they really helpful or just torture for the poor bird? (especially since it's her first day in a new house)

Thanks for the info Dave! No bitter apple then. I guess the maple syrup is supposed to keep them from messing with the area but I don't see how. Maple syrup is tasty and I'm sure birds think so too.