I took our little guy in to the vet today (named him Nemo because of the gimpy leg). I've been proceeding very carefully with him all week ~ sitting beside his cage talking softly as often as possible. I was so pleased when he stepped up to my finger for transfer over to the travel cage, after only a few minutes of trying. He also stepped onto my finger at the office, and sat patiently for being weighed (74g). He hated the rest of the appointment (of course), but got a full manicure, and wing trim, as well as removing the broken tail feathers. His wings had been SO poorly trimmed, one side had 5 feathers cut, and the other side had 12! None of it was evenly clipped. Blood work and cultures ordered, and lastly I held him for the band removal. No sweat. I shouldn't have been so worried that he couldn't handle the removal of the band!He was declared the picture of health, aside from the birth defects on his foot.
Now the BEST part - Removing that band has changed his life already! He is many times more stable on his perches, he was able to preen for a long time balancing on the bad foot, and he even held on to a toy to play while standing on that leg. He looks so much more relaxed this afternoon, and doesn't jump at every little noise. He keeps his crest at a nice relaxed position - for the past week, he has kept it half raised at most times.
Here is a photo of the band. The edge on the right is one of the original edges, the edge on the left is where we cut today. It's no wonder he was terribly uncomfortable, the metal is SHARP all along the top, bottom and inside edges.
- Nemo's band
- DSC_0123.jpg (78.75 KiB) Viewed 96 times
So, now I'm sure little Nemo will make great progress! He definately built some trust for me during the trip, and he is dramatically more comfortable. YEAH!
