Falling

[tabbytai]

Hi. My baby TAG has been home for about a month. Her new cage is considerably bigger than the one she was living in at the shop. I am worried, not about the size but thought it might affect her as she is falling a lot in her cage. I'll be in the other room and BOOM! I hear her hit the floor of the cage. She does this almost every day. I am not sure if she is still getting used to the cage or if the set-up I have is no good. The cage is 3ftx2ftx5ft high. I have a number of different perches at different heights, a swing, a large spiral rope and a bunch of toys. She appears to be cautious when moving about taking slow and deliberate steps when I watch her. I have never seen her fall... I am always in the other room so I don't know from where she is falling.

I am a little concerned because I don't want her to get injured but I don't know what to do about it.

The other piece of the puzzle is that she was clipped, quite severely, without my permission at the shop. They just clipped them! Every flight feather, just after she fledged. My vet said that she should not have been clipped so much at such a young age but I didn't think to ask why. Could this contribute to her falling? I have read that it may. I wasn't going to have her clipped at all right away. I wanted to see how it would work in our home without clipping before I did. I like the idea of a flighted bird. Thought she might be happier that way.

Thanks

[kittykittykitty]

I have read that clipping can cause falling, also. Have you padded the floor of the cage- old well washed,no fabric softener, towels or well washed reversible rugs not rubber backed? At least that would soften the fall. I know it means extra laundry! Others have addressed the time for new feathers, etc.:ohmy: :dry:

[judygram]

I don't know whether severly clipped wings makes them fall more but when she does lose her balance and fall she is falling like a rock. I agree she should not have been clipped so short, it should have been just enough to prevent lift. She needs enough of the flight feathers to allow her to glide down rather than just fall like a rock which could damage her keel bone.

 

I would put her highest perches lower in the cage and lay down a soft towel in te bottom and cover it with some newspaper to keep it from catching so much poop until she gets more proficient at climbing and not falling.

 

I would speak to the people at the shop where she was clipped and tell them how unhappy you are, they should not assume you would want your bird clipped so severly or at all.

[slmclean]

try a piece of cardboard on the bottom of the cage that is what i did when i moved chloe into her big cage it is just a suggestion it should help with the fall plus she wont get hurt by the bars hope this helps.

[prrthead]

After my TAG, Echo, hurt his chest I did put towels on the bottom of his cage to help with any falls he would have. It did take changing towels often but it was well worth it. Nothing is more heart breaking than to see these little ones crash to the floor and hurt themselves. It's been over a month since Echo got hurt and it has been very hard on him and me not being able to have as much outside the cage time together. Hopefully the vet will give him a clean bill of health this Sat. Please be sure that as long as your baby is crashing that you have made the areas were he is as soft as possible. You'll be happy that you did. Good luck and keep us posted.

Mary

[judygram]

Mary I hope you do get a clean bill of health on Echo this Saturday and then he can enjoy more out of cage time, be sure to keep us informed.

[leonidas93]

try keeping the perches at the bottom until he gets more confident with his cage.

[tabbytai]

Thanks for all of the advice. I have been trying to figure out why she is falling. I think the perches were too far apart because I would see her reach out and nearly fall then regain her composure. I moved some things around and it seems a little better. She hasn't fallen since I moved things. (at least not while I could hear) I also put some thick newspaper down so she won't bang into the bars. poor baby. I can't wait for her wings to come back. grr.

[nims]

Hi,

 

I had the same problem with my CAG Indy when I first brought her home. She has a large cage and she was falling off her perch on to the bottom of her cage. We then put her perches lower to the cage floor and her perches closer together. Make sure your AG can reach food/water at all times. Don't be afraid to make changes to the cage and change things around a bit. I also suggest a sturdy ladder from the bottom of the cage to a perch. If she does fall then she can get back to her perch!

 

Hope this helps!!

 

Nims

[lovemyGreys]

Ladder is a great idea nims. karma to you

[nims]

Thanks for the Karma!