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Im so sad and angry....


yvette

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Well, my Bently is starting to warm up to us even more and he has learned to climb into his cage all by himself when I ask. This to me is huge!!! Anyhow, my husband noticed something today that I had never seen. My bird is missing a toe on one foot! :ohmy: It makes me sad because I spend so much time with him and it took my husband a glance to notice the problem!:( It is an old injury, I guess. The reason I say that is because the missing toe area is healed well. It is actually smooth, no stump or anything. Like I said , he acts perfectly normal and I never even noticed!

 

The reason I am mad is because I cant believe the store I bought him at didnt bother to tell me.:angry: Would it have made a difference in my purchase? Absolutely NOT! I guess they thought telling me would kill the sale. Then I am also mad becasue I can only imagine what kind of horrible life he must have had before me.:unsure: I spoil him rotten, but I can just imagine some hellish owner abusing my baby then selling him off to a pet store.

 

Is it possible he was just born that way? Could it be some genetic defect, like from inbreeding?

 

I honestly feel sick :sick: and now see my baby as "disabled" even though I know he is capable of doing everything. Its like I now feel sorry for him although I know deep down inside he is in the best home he can be in and will have lots of love and attention form an entire family and will never be abused ever again.:)

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Guest briansmum

yes it is more common than you think for them to have missing toes, it is more likely that his parents chewed it off or it was an accident when he was tiny than an abusive home. being mistreated would lead to a lot more than one missing toe.

 

as you said, you didn't notice, so he's obviously coping well and to be honest he probably doesnt even realise.

 

all that matters is you have him now, and you love him no matter what, so try not to think about what happened to him and focus on the lovely future he has as part of your family :)

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AS for pet store topic, I've worked at them for 3yrs in the past. They not all bad, there are some bad people who just don't care, only care about sales, just be very careful in where you chose to buy birds and other pets.

 

It all depends on who you are buying from and who the sales person you are dealing with, just because they are manager does not mean its any better.

 

Some people will do anything for a sale, use to get in trouble for tellign to much information, becasue people seem to not want to hear, or would change their mind.

 

Just be careful!!!

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Yvette he'll be just fine! Don't let what may have happened in the past get in the way of his future. They can sense there is something wrong. And if your looking at him like he's disabled now than he will pick up on your feelings. Just love him like you already do, and don't worry about it so much. You'll stress the little guy out and we all know you don't want to do that. If he's been able to do everything than you have nothing to worry about! Your a good mommy don't worry!!

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Guest briansmum

it happens during fights and things, greys are not the most maternal/paternal parents. i think, if i read right, its usually the father than punishes the babies if he's not happy... but i could be wrong there, this is why a lot of breeders remove the babies early on.

 

maybe someone else can shed more light here.

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Someone on another board bought a baby grey who was missing a toenail. I don't remember how long he had him (it was a short while I think), but the grey then proceeded to gnaw the rest of the toe off :ohmy:! It healed fine though, and the bird didn't have any problems with the lack of one toe. Why do you think he would bite his own toe off?

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Why would a breeder put it back? Once the baby is pulled they do not go back to the parents. They are kept in a brooder for warmth. Some breeders will keep an adult bird around the babies as a "teacher" but that bird is usually a pet and not a breeder.

 

As for birds in pet stores with missing toes...

My store has a couple of birds that are missing tips. One of our Blue Fronts is missing two tips because one of the girls that used to work there did not secure Ethel (B&G) in her cage and she got out and ended up on the BF's cage and was able to nip at his feet. The other birds that are missing toes got onto other birds cages...mostly due to customers that think the birds want to "visit" each other and let them go on other birds cages. My store takes GREAT care of the birds there but accidents do happen. I imagine that if someone wanted to buy one of our birds with a cruked beak or missing a toe we would bring the price down a little for them, but none of them are disabled and would need any extra help or healthcare.

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One of my parrotlets was missing half a toe one day. He showed no signs, didn't limp or anything. I just came home from work one day and it was gone! The stump was a tiny bit bloody but I could not find the toe anywhere. He exhibits no disability from it whatever and is juuuuust fine.

 

I'm sorry to hear this. Hopefully it was a defect, or it happened long ago and he doesn't remember it. Or maybe it was just an accident and not abuse. No sense in being sad. Just think of how good he's got it now and the lifetime of love you will give him and promise him nothing like that will ever happen in your care :)

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Yvette, the breeder I am getting my baby grey from has another baby with a missing toe. Her toe apparently got tangled up in some nesting material, and was so swollen and ungainly the poor baby was having trouble moving around. Once they had the toe removed, she perked right up and is now hopping up and down onto her perch, playing, and being a happy baby. It is sad when something like that has to happen, but it is going to be ok, Bentley will be fine and probably will never miss that toe at all!

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exactly. My boss at work is missing his pinky finger of one of his hands...bailer accident as a kid...and he is fine without it. He says the only this that still gets him is splashing water on his face after cleaning it...like in the face wash commercials :woohoo: :laugh:

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Thanks guys! I appreciate all the info. Bently is doing great, he now throws "kisses" and like to repeat sounds I make, not words yet, but its close! He still refuses to step up and even though he knows how to climb in his cage when I ask, the other day he just decided to start flying all over the house! He only did that the first time I let him out. As much as I tried to get him to calm down, he eventually few into my kitchen trash can!:laugh: I think he was either happy or scared because my kids were home. I usually let himm out during the day when its nice and quiet. My kids were no where near the cage when he decided to fly off and find them.;)

 

Oh another thing, he LOVES corn on the cob. My question, is it best to give it to him ram or boil it as we eat it? He loves it both ways, but don't want to make him sick.:unsure:

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Thanks guys! I appreciate all the info. Bently is doing great, he now throws "kisses" and like to repeat sounds I make, not words yet, but its close! He still refuses to step up and even though he knows how to climb in his cage when I ask, the other day he just decided to start flying all over the house! He only did that the first time I let him out. As much as I tried to get him to calm down, he eventually few into my kitchen trash can!:laugh: I think he was either happy or scared because my kids were home. I usually let himm out during the day when its nice and quiet. My kids were no where near the cage when he decided to fly off and find them.;)

 

Oh another thing, he LOVES corn on the cob. My question, is it best to give it to him ram or boil it as we eat it? He loves it both ways, but don't want to make him sick.:unsure:

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