Verena Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 i am so despondent, sitting here. our little levi (african grey of 8 months) keeps on jumping off great heights, that he developed a sore and eventually had stitches, with a collar to prevent him from taking them out. he was stressing so badly with the collar that i called the vet on monday, who said i could take the collar off, but to keep him with me to make sure he didn't take the stitches out. which is what i did. off came the collar and levi travelled with me to work, the shops, home, the whole week, always in my sight. and the wound was healing beautifully. and levi was behaving and leaving the stitches alone, even at night, and didn't leap off anything. and monday we would have been back at the vet to take the stitches out and all would have been well.... except that just now, he decided for no reason, to jump off my shoulder, and now he has another wound right next to the old one. i'm so despondent. i need training on parrots. how on earth does one teach a parrot to live in a cage? how does one teach a parrot to not jump off great heights? how long will it take for the feathers to grow back to the area so that there's at least some padding? i feel like giving up........ all that hard work this whole week for nothing it seems.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Welcome to the Forum Verena! I can hear your distress , but I am not experienced enough to have a solution for you, other than just keeping him in his Cage so a long fall can not happen again until he is healed. The only other thing I can think of, is to get a Harness, with a short tether so if he jumps, it will stop his fall. Others here with many years of experience will answer and help you. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Verena, Another thing just occurred to me also. It sounds like your CAG's Feathers have been trimmed way too much. They should never fall straight down and as hard as you are describing if they were trimmed properly. When trimmed, your CAG should be able to fly at no less than a 20 to 30 degree angle to the ground. It sounds as though he is just falling straight down with a thud?<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/07/07 14:31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 I got the same take on this situation, Dan, the wing feathers must be trimmed too severely. I feel your pain too, Verena and I know it is frustrating to watch your baby plummet and hurt itself again. You probably need a shallower cage and you should be able to keep him in it most of the time, my grey is not out of the cage all day. Your little "evil kneivel" has got guts all right. I don't have any other ideas at the moment but someone else here may have a better suggestion. I'm sorry your little one is a little daredevil but maybe all of us can come up with a solution to your problem. Keep us informed, we care about each and every one here in our family. Welcome to the forum and our family, we are here to help any way we can. He's a beauty there in your avatar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Verena, What a sad experience for both of you. But you can't give up, that poor thing needs you to help him heal. you did the right thing by keeping him with you as to help him heal. Can you continue to do that for a longer period of time, this second around? I would keep him on lower surfaces as much as possible, and not put him up on your shoulder or any height until he is healed and able to fly a little better. It does sound like he wasn't clipped properly. His feathers need to grow out somewhat so he can land safely. You can usually tell when they are going to jump or take flight. They tend to bend (for lack of a better word) their legs, and put their wings out a little, then go. I hope you find the advice you need here from all of us, there is a lot of knowledge here. So keep at it, and don't give up, you'll get past all this, and be able to enjoy your bird with out as much worry soon! Please keep us updated on how he's doing.......:dry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeasarsDad Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Hi Verena, First off let me welcome you to our family. As you can see above, and what Judy said is true. We care about what happens to everyone here... and yes, that means to the birds too.. You pretty much got all the advice already. I heard 1) wings clipped too short 2) keep him in his cage 3) keep him at lower heights. 4) watch body language 5) get a harness with a short leash. Your other question about the feathers growing back on the wounded area.. Unless there is scar tissue the feathers will grow back in a couple of weeks. Even if there is scar tissue the surrounding feathers will cover it... Don't worry... but you do have to watch him carefully because you were lucky so far.. He could have really hurt himself... CD<br><br>Post edited by: CeasarsDad, at: 2007/07/07 16:28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 I second Talon's advice, way to go girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 CD is right also, as always, unless there is scar tissue the feathers will grow back and all will be ok. Keep us informed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verena Posted July 8, 2007 Author Share Posted July 8, 2007 thank you all very very much for the advise. in all likelihood the wings have been cut too drastically. but, time's gonna have to sort that one out, hey! and yes, it's back to keeping a really really close eye on levi again. but will discuss with the vet also tomorrow, those stitches have to come out anyway... will be back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Hi Verena, It sounds like Levi will be fine under your watchful protection. The way you handle and take Levi with you, He must be a very loving and fun Grey to have! :-) Perhaps as time permits, you could post a picture up of him. We would love that here and also to hear some more about you and Levi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tari Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 I must agree its sounds like you got a bad wing trim. Until the feathers grow out all you can do is keep him low. Keep him on your lap with pillows around you when you have him out. Can you put some towels or pillows in the bottom of his cage? Babies tend to just fall. It well be a while before the feathers come back but with luck they should come in just fine. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest briansmum Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 aww the poor little thing. i wish you both all the best. as every one has said, keep him low with lots of padding around until his feathers grow in. did he ever learn to fly in the first place? or has he always been clipped? if he has never flown, when they grow back, let him learn before you clip him again, you will probably find then that he is less clumsy and less likely to keep just leaping off things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trina Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 That sounds like some good advice... My grey is not flying yet but flapping a lot. I bought the aviator harness in the hopes that it keeps him off the ground. I wish your birdy a speedy recovery! Trina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Verena, Please keep us updated on how your vet visit goes. We care very much about all our extended birdie's!! :cheer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verena Posted July 9, 2007 Author Share Posted July 9, 2007 thanks again for all the interest and advise, it's highly appreciated. we've just come back from the vet. she originally clipped his 1 wing to match the length of the other wing, since when we got levi, only 1 wing was clipped. and she agrees that we should now let the feathers grow out and let him learn to fly, before clipping them again. until then, we just have to watch his 'diving to the ground' habit, heee heee. because of his jump on saturday, she couldn't remove all his stitches, we'll be back on friday for the rest. here's a photo of him, very unimpressed with life, and an earlier one, where he's stealing the doggies food.... cheeky little bugger, but we love him!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verena Posted July 9, 2007 Author Share Posted July 9, 2007 thanks again for all the interest and advise, it's highly appreciated. we've just come back from the vet. she originally clipped his 1 wing to match the length of the other wing, since when we got levi, only 1 wing was clipped. and she agrees that we should now let the feathers grow out and let him learn to fly, before clipping them again. until then, we just have to watch his 'diving to the ground' habit, heee heee. because of his jump on saturday, she couldn't remove all his stitches, we'll be back on friday for the rest. here's a photo of him, very unimpressed with life, and an earlier one, where he's stealing the doggies food.... cheeky little bugger, but we love him!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest briansmum Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 thats great to hear! there no picture though :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verena Posted July 9, 2007 Author Share Posted July 9, 2007 the pictures..... maybe you can tell me how to get them here. i couldn't so i posted them on the Photo Album, you can search for Levi.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest briansmum Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 i'll see if i can find them. i can't be much help with the picture thing, im not very good at it either. CeasarsDad is the best person to ask about things like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now