# Disabled Cockatiels



## Jess (Jun 20, 2010)

Just wondering if anyone else has disabled cockatiels and what there disabilites are?

I have a couple with leg issues, and a couple with beak issues.

It would be good to know what other people do/any special care they have to give and any tips!


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## Jess (Jun 20, 2010)

Am I really the only person with disabled cockies? feeling a bit lonely now.


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## Hemlock (Aug 1, 2010)

Nope, you're not alone! Rio has a partially amputated wing!


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## Jess (Jun 20, 2010)

Awww. I guess he can't fly or is he able a flap around? I also have two that can't fly due to damgaged wings.

Are there any members here with cockatiels or other birds with beak issues such as paritally missing top or bottom mandibles?


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## brittbritt (Oct 25, 2008)

I don't have any with beak issues but I do have a lovebird named Angeli who is splay legged so badly she cannot walk at all. Her first owners didn't want her since she was disabled. I adopted her from a wonderful lady who had taken her in. Angeli fell in love with my other lovebird Jackson. I leave her flighted and she can fly anywhere she wants to go. 

Some days I forget she is disabled since she gets around so well. I have them in a large flight cage with ladders at angles and special perches she can hold onto. 

I have another budgie named Cookie who came to me unable to fly. I've never clipped her but I feel her being in a small cage for the first 6 years of her life she was never given the opportunity to fly. I have ladders, rope perches and flat perches set up so when she falls to the bottom of the cage she can just climb up easily to the top.


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## Hemlock (Aug 1, 2010)

Well, contrary to what we all thought would happen, she's able to glide a bit. She somehow managed to grow some flight feathers almost directly out of the end of the amputated section essentially extending the wing section that still exists. So, no she can't fly, and has become more dexterous with her feet, but she can glide!


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## Jess (Jun 20, 2010)

It's amazing how they can cope with disabilitys isn't it. One of mine was born with severe hip dysplasia. The vet tried to fix it when she was a couple of weeks old by tying the lower legs together with stiching material, after just a couple of hours in was obvious it was causing her discomfort and the top of her legs started going puffy and red so we cut the stuff off and she was happy again. Another vet tried setting them foward with a pipe cleaner in the figure of eight, it partially worked but then a while after she got a break in the hip area. I found a way of keeping her comfortable with paint trays filled with a pet blanket and kitchen roll over the top which I constanly change to keep her clean, she has very shallow dishes as well which she can eat and drink from although she likes me to offer her a drink and feed her veg by hand! She is quite happy, even has a companion, he has a slightly splay leg so prefers the rope perching.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Shiro would be considered disabled, I guess. He cannot fly properly, and never will be able to. But anyhow, story below:

In March 2009, mum and myself went to our huge local shopping center to do some shopping - before we started browsing shops, I asked if we could quickly pop into the pet store just *"to have a look".* Well, as we were walking around the pet store, mum came across a cage with I think it was 3-4 Cockatiels in it, she called me and we stood there looking at these Cockatiel and mum asked the price and our jaws dropped, not just ours, but a couple of other people who were also looking at these Cockatiels. There was one mum spotted, a white one, he was sitting there singing 'pop goes the weasel' to a big toy bell that was in the cage. We all stood there cracking up at him and mum kept saying she wants him. After standing there for awhile looking at the Cockatiels, mum wanted to go, so we left the pet store and started walking and browsing the shops, mum kept on saying "I want that Cockatiel" over and over again, but for the price, she didn't really want to pay THAT much for just a Cockatiel that we didn't know if was hand-raised or not, they didn't say. After mum repeatedly saying she wants him, I ended up going back and getting him!  

So, I went back and got him, they gave me some bottle with crap in it that they said he must have, but I didn't end up giving him any and they also said if I have any problems with him (i.e he gets sick) you get to see the Vet for free, since you purchased from them. . little did we know, there was something wrong with him, he was so happy, chirping away in the box and as soon as we got him home, we put him in a cage and he was eating and singing his pop goes the weasel song. It wasn't until later on that when he started banging into things that we noticed his wing kept bleeding every time, on close inspection, when I took him out and found out he is indeed hand-reared, they had cut one wing far too much, I think they managed to get a bone. . so, every time he flew into something or thrashed against the cage (which he done a lot), his wing would continue to bleed and bleed. Whenever it bled, we'd have to get a truck load (not literally) of flour to stop it, and sadly, there's nothing the Vet can do, only hope that his wing feathers grew back properly and that they'd then not bleed. I'd have to watch him when he was having out time, I'd chase him around the room making sure he lands on something soft and not on his wing, the other bad part? he can't fly, he flies very short distance, but it's lop-sided which is really sad. Months and months and months later, his flight feathers grew back, but. . he STILL cannot fly properly like a normal Cockatiel should, he tries so hard, and it's so heart breaking to see him not be able to fly like my other Cockatiels can, and he really wants to be able to fly like they can. Despite having his flight feathers, it hasn't helped the slightest and now we have a bird who is lop-sided when flying, but he can only fly a very short distance - if he see's the other birds in a high spot, he can't fly up there, he has to sit low and suffer because of some moron (I reckon the pet store) who made him like that. His wing hasn't bled for a LONG time now, he has had a few crashes, but no bleeding wing, thank god. 

This is the day we got him



Other photos of him
















*Photos below may be a bit yuck for some, if you don't like seeing blood then don't look further. .*

These are a few photos of Shiro after & when his wing bled


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## Jess (Jun 20, 2010)

He's beautiful isn't he. That's really awful what they did to his wing sounds like they butchered it. Is there authority you can complain to about the petshop?


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## AlbyPepper (Apr 3, 2010)

It is absolutely disgusting what they did to Shiro. Poor little thing. That must have been so traumatic for him. He is such a stunning looking tiel though.

As for this thread, I have the greatest respect for people who care for and love little disabled ones. They need a loving home just as much as a healthy bird. My little ones are all healthy and able bodied, but my heart and home would always be open to any tiel who needed it.


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## kfelton0002 (Mar 12, 2010)

I don't have one, but my sister's cockatiel is disabled. She purchased the bird from a local breeder who dropped the bird off at her house. The bird was in a box and the man told my sister to leave the bird in the box until the morning so that it didn't get "freaked out" so my sister did. The next morning when she let the poor little guy out of the box, my sister found the bird to have severe deformities of both feet. Cole's deformities are so bad that he can barely perch in his cage. He sleeps in his food bowl like a cradle and when he perches he has to use one of his little crippled feet to grip the bars of the cage so that he doesn't fall off. He is a lovely little heavy pied cockatiel, but I assume his condition is due to poor breeding because he only weighs 70 grams. My sister called the man the next day demanding another bird or a refund and he told her that the bird did not have any problems prior to being put in the box, but that is a lie. The reason he didn't want my sister to open the box right away is because he knew there was something wrong with the bird and he wanted to "get away" first. People like that are such *bad words*.

Anyway, she kept the poor little guy and he is now 3 years old. Despite his disabilities and pint size, he has a large personality and is very independent.


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## Jess (Jun 20, 2010)

That's awful isn't it. You wonder what state his breeding birds are in as he's obviously in it for the money. Glad your sister kept him, sounds like he's doing fine there.


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## cinnamon (Jul 16, 2009)

We have a budgie with one leg. He broke it in the shop so they took him to the vet who removed it. He lives alone so the others won't stand on his tail and peck at him, but they all get along when out. I have 7 budgies total and out time is fun for our Hopalong. he flies better than the others. He has rope perches and a little platform to lay on. All the other bugs invade his cage when I let them roam, they think its fun in there I guess! He lays on the bottom of his cage all the time. He looks like a dog with his leg up!


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## Jess (Jun 20, 2010)

Just goes to show doesn't it. I guess the break must have been a bad one for the vet to take the leg off. I have a couple of cockies break their legs over the years but they've managed to mend, you wouldn't know they ever broke the leg, the vets told me to let the leg heal itself, wouldn't even put a splint on.


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