Pipers wing

[Talon]

As many of you know, Piper came to us with one wing clipped severely and the other not. It has been 8 months, and I see no sign of any flight feathers growing. Could it be possible that it is just deformed and not clipped? Or if it was clipped, wouldn't it have grown out by now?

 

He won't let me hold his wing for inspection, so it is only a visual I have.

[judygram]

It is entirely possible but give it more time and then if you don't see any new feathers coming maybe a vet visit is in order to determine just that.

[murfchck]

My first thought was the short chopped off feathers are still there. Bubba chewed his wing down to nothing darn near before we got him. Those icky feathers are still in place and until the are ready to fall out new ones won't come in. The vet can remove them but i don't care to add stress to him. It also took Bongo a long time to start losing his badly clipped feathers. Been a year and he still has quite a few to go.

[Ray P]

If the clipped feathers are still in place than just hang in there. When the old ones come out than the new ones will come in.

To clip just one wing I think is cruel, but that's just me.

[Greywings]

One of those times that patience is a difficult virtue, primaries take some real time to replace.

[Talon]

Ray, I agree, it s very cruel to clip any wings, but especially one.....

[Jayd]

Hi, Penny, Janet and everyone with a Canary. I found this while researching...http://robirda.com/faqs.html

[Talon]

Hi everyone, just wanted to do an update on Pipers wing. My daughter gave him a big shower with a spray bottle, hewas pretty soaked. Once he was wet, we could see that his wing looks like it was chopped off, there was a bone sticking thru what is left of his feathers on that side. It appears that it is deformed either from an injury, or cutting perhaps. It does seem to bother him when he tries to fly and ends up with a thud on the floor. He runs around waving it and squawking like he is being murdered...... So it seems to be painful when he bumps it.

It has been a year, there is no growth whatsoever with feathers on that side.

At some point we will have the vet look at it when he needs to go in for a checkup. But until the we are careful as he likes to jump to his cage when we get close and he doesn't judge distance very well..

[katana600]

Penny, have you seen any feathers molted from the other wing? The reason I ask is that when we got Java, she had a brutal cut, both wings to the bone. There was only a tiny little bone on either side, it still makes me tear up to think of the person who could do such a thing. It took at least eighteen months to two years for her to molt and regrow enough feathers to regain flight. She is a red bellied parrot and they may molt at different intervals than a cockatiel. I was just thinking if Piper was molting out one feather at a time on the opposite side, they should molt and grow on the other side simultaneously. That may help you as you watch for change in his But in the scheme of things, there isn't much you could do differently than you are doing now. We did get the anti-fatigue gel mats to put near Java's cage and floor stand so if she did startle off a perch, she had a cushioned landing because she is heavier stocky bodied parrot and it was a hard landing that made me fear she would break her keel bone or split her chest. She also squawked and thrashed when she fell to the floor and Gilbert is flightless and does the same thing. I haven't seen Piper so I don't know, but I do think my two were shrieking out of the indignity and fear of being on the floor.

[Talon]

Oh my goodness! Yes, you ave given great advice. I avent really seen a molt, a feather here or there, but nothing else. He does fall hard ans squawk and shriek like he's going to die. It's my daughter who can calm him, if she's not home, he hollers and spits at me for about 5 min or so yelling at me as tho I did it to him....maybe in another year, there will be some growth, but I don't know. We've had him for a year. I will go out and purchase those mats cause Nilah the bully sometimes goes to his cage and chases him off....

[katana600]

Bless his little heart, I wish for his wings to regrow today! I got my gel mats way cheaper from our local Super H Korean grocery store (about twenty dollars) but I also have the inexpensive foam ones from Wal-Mart. I wish I had a nickel for every new idea I get from this forum. I feel like I am getting to be a seasoned parrot owner when something works for someone else. As for Piper thinking you caused his plight, I actually have read that somewhere (back in the day, when I was first searching for help for Java). The red-bellied parrot is prone to have "night frights" and if you go right to them, they associate the terrors with the well meaning owner and sometimes get neurotic. So the recommendation is to see if they can calm themselves first and not rush to pick them up or rescue them during a fright. I don't know if that would apply to Piper but every little thing we can do to calm the little guy, the better. If only you could do "face-time" on your cell phone with your daughter and he would accept his mama bird in cyber space, but I think he is wise enough to know the difference. If I could stand on my head and recite the alphabet backward to give Gilbert the smallest relief from his own demons, I would do it and it sounds like you would do the same for Piper.