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My female cockatiel "Frida" somehow managed to seperate the wire ring that held her swing in the cage & it pierced her lower jaw & went into her mouth. I removed wire & watched het through rest of night; she went into shock around 6:30 a.m. Called vet & brought her right in. She's going to be o.k. He gave her a shot to stop her being in shock, then a tetanus shot under her wing & I have liquid pain/ antibiotic meds. to give her for 5 days. My problem is that i've only had her for about a month & she's just now starting to trust me a little bit....still won't let me touch her. Will my administering her meds. (which will upset her a LOT) un-do the little bit of trust she's shown so far? Would it be better to let another person put the drops in her mouth with syringe? Also, vet said keep her on soft diet 'till her mouth heals. He suggested mashed potato, yam & yogurt. Any other soft foods she might like? She's not feeling very well; just sits on her perch with her head under her wing; don't think she really has much appetite for anything, right now. Advice, please. Thanks, Bea

Bea, hafta rush, so please forgive my brevity. All the 'tiels I've medicated have ended up tamer for our ordeal. After 2-3 doses, they've seemed to realize what's happening and don't get so scared. I try to be quick, tho gentle, talking soothingly, but not restraining them any longer than I must. After squirting the meds, I usually give a quick kiss, a little love talk, and tell them they're gonna be okay.

Sorry it happened, but so very glad you were watching and saved her.

Healing light all around the little one!

Poor baby!! For soft foods try scrambled eggs!! Dino loves his scrambled eggs every night. It's a good way to get other foods into them also I add peanut butter, assorted veggies such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, and assorted greens. I'll add pellets also and add a jar of baby food , maybe beef or lamb. I'll make about 5-6 eggs with this other stuff added, mix it in a blender and cooked well so its fairly dry, let it cool and freeze it so I don't have to make it very often. I'll defrost about 1-2 TBL at a time and it lasts 2-3 days in fridge. I make it different every time, depends what veggies I have in the house and he loves it all the time.

Jo

Soon after I got my female cockatiel Boss, she also had an injury to her keel from flying into something. I not only had to give meds, but I had to use a cleaning solution they gave to me on it each day. She's always been somewhat of a timid bird, but she did realy well all of it and the handling. I always had the feeling that she knew that I was trying to help her get better. She never held it against me and none of it ever had a negative effect on our relationship.....I almost felt like it helped us become friends.

I had just the opposite experience. My baby had to have meds for several weeks and far from getting used to it, she got worse and worse. Biting hard!, locking her jaw closed, burying her face in my chest so I couldn't get to her beak, she did it all. And she always knew when I was coming for med time no matter how hard I tried to hide my intention. But the good news is that it didn't harm our relationship otherwise. She was just as trusting and friendly as ever as long as there was no syringe in sight! As for food, I can second the suggestion about scrambled egg. It was her favorite food in the whole world. I just cooked it in the microwave. She also loved fish of all things. Maybe a soft fish like sole or salmon mashed up a bit would work. I know that over time too much protein is not good, but in these circumstances I think the most important thing is to get as much nourishing food into her as possible.

Thank you all for the good advice & feeding tips. I tried the scrambled egg & BOY did she love it! Even with her very sore jaw she went nuts for it! As a matter of fact I had to give Diego (my male tiel) a bit of it as he was also going nuts for some! On the bright side, Frida is sooo much better today. She's using her beak to climb all around the cage, she's chattering at me & being a bit playful with Diego. No longer hiding her head under her wing all day. Thank goodness! It was so pathetic to watch. I've had very good luck by wrapping a soft, small terry towel gently around her, talking quietly to her while giving her the meds. She isn't happy but isn't trying to bite me, either. She gets re-checked this Thurs.

Thrilled with this update. I suggest backing off the eggs (and fish!) as soon as possible. My 'tiel flock loves brown rice. I use a food processor to mince greens I grow all summer, no toxins I stir the raw, minced greens into the cooled rice and have happy, green-pooping birdies soon after

Don't forget a small ammount of cooked pasta as well. You can check your local pet store, they usually have an assortment of cook and serve foods for birds.

How is Frida going today?

OMG what a story..I'm glad your tiels is eatting. that is always a good sign. keep us updated.

How is the little tiel doing?