# Walley is hurt I think..........



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

I don't really know what I expect any one to do.......... 
I had Walley out yesterday morning, like always. All of the sudden, something spooked him, I suspect a hawk, because at the same time all of our pigeons went inside the loft. Regardless of what it was, something scared him. He was up on the ceiling fan and took off like a bat outta hell..........he flew around into the living room, hit the window, flew back into the dining room and hit the sliding glass door, at which time he then landed on the carpet. I ran and picked him up and he seemed a little dazed. I looked and he has a very small place on his head where the skin was broken. Mind you Walley doesn't like to be held at all and so as I was holding him and he was wiggling trying to get out of my grasp, I almost had him back in his cage, when he slipped out of my hands and took off again. AGAIN he slammed into the window and the bump on his head was bigger this time. I scooped him up off of the carpet and he was chirping slightly. He let me hold him for about 5 minutes, all the time emitting these pitiful little cry that I had never heard before. I knew he was hurt but didn't know what to do for him. Then he started to struggle and try to wiggle out of my hand again, so I made sure I had him in his cage before I let go. He pretty much sat in one spot in his cage all day. I never saw him eat or drink. I did open his cage one time and he came over and let me scratch his head and neck which he's not done in almost 2 years. Around 7:30 he looked like he wanted to be left alone to sleep so I cut the lights out and covered him up. I was scared to death to look in his cage this morning. I was afraid I would find him dead. Well, he's not dead but he hasn't made much noise this morning. My husband said he said hello one time. He usually says hello 100 times every morning and screams till I let him out. 
So, there are no vets here to take him to until Tuesday but even then, what can they do for him? I don't know what to do. I want to just hold him, but he won't let me. I want to clip his wings now, but don't know if I should stress him out right now. Do I just leave him alone? What if he won't eat? How do you force feed a cockateil? Any suggestions are welcome. Maggie, if you have any advice, if you'll PM me your phone number, I'll call you. Thanks.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Hi Renee, I hope that Wally is only suffering shock. Perhaps he has a concussion? Maybe with time and being in his cage, he will be OK. I sure hope so!

SENDING WARM COMFORTING HUGS FOR ALL!!


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

mr squeaks said:


> Hi Renee, I hope that Wally is only suffering shock. Perhaps he has a concussion? Maybe with time and being in his cage, he will be OK. I sure hope so!
> 
> SENDING WARM COMFORTING HUGS FOR ALL!!


That's what I thought.......a concussion. But I don't know what to do for him. I mean, if we go to the hospital with a concussion, what do they do?? Nothing except tell someone to watch you. 
I don't know how he couldn't have a concussion or least one hell of a headache. It doesn't look swollen this morning though. Anyway, thanks for the good thoughts.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Renee, what I know about cockatiels is bordering on zero but it seems to me that if the initial blows didn't kill him that he just needs time to recover. I think I would put him on a heating pad and put him in a quiet area of the house. I'm going to look up some stuff in some cockatiel books I have and I'll also PM you with my phone number in a bit.

Lord, now I'm worried. Prayers do wonders tho.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Hi Renee...if it IS a concussion, I hope that he only has a bad headache, if that. Do you see any type of neurological damage in the way he moves? That's what would worry me. May take him awhile to recover, especially since he probably hit hard and more than once. He's a lucky bird that he didn't break his neck. Just so there's no permanent damage!

Look forward to GOOD news...


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Oh yeah, I forgot this part. If you've ever seen a teil scratch his head......they actually take thier legs, put it behind thier wing and scratch. He doens't seem to be able to do that. He makes the motion like he wants to, but his leg doesn't go up and over the wing. He just sort of shakes it behind him.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Lady Tarheel said:


> Renee, what I know about cockatiels is bordering on zero but it seems to me that if the initial blows didn't kill him that he just needs time to recover. I think I would put him on a heating pad and put him in a quiet area of the house. I'm going to look up some stuff in some cockatiel books I have and I'll also PM you with my phone number in a bit.
> 
> Lord, now I'm worried. Prayers do wonders tho.


I don't have any way of putting him on a heating pad. He's moving around some and I believe that if I tried to pick him up, he would fight with me. I also don't know if it's a good idea to move him from where he's used to being to a strange place. If I put him on a heating pad, I'd have to put him in a box or some kind of container so that he didn't have a choice of being on the pad or not.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Do you ever cover his cage? Perhaps that will keep him calmed down. 

Continuous LOVE and HUGS and WARM being sent!

Sounds like time will be the key factor here. Is there any type of "aspirin" that can be given, maybe in water, that won't harm Cockatiels? They are small birds and I would tend to think not but just a thought...


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

mr squeaks said:


> Do you ever cover his cage? Perhaps that will keep him calmed down.
> 
> Continuous LOVE and HUGS and WARM being sent!
> 
> Sounds like time will be the key factor here. Is there any type of "aspirin" that can be given, maybe in water, that won't harm Cockatiels? They are small birds and I would tend to think not but just a thought...


Yes, I cover his cage every night. But I never cover it during the day. It may seem like I'm being overly "silly" but I don't want to do anything to him that I would't normally do. He's a sweet little bird, but very set in his ways and pretty much does as he darn well pleases. He doens't want to be held, he only wants out of his cage in the AM and usually screams till I let him out and he expects to get out every night at the same time and if he doesn't get out for what ever reason, he hisses and lets me know that he's very unhappy. I haven't gotten him out this AM because I don't want him getting injured any more. He won't be allowed out any more until I get his wings clipped, but I don't want to do that to him right now because I'm afraid it will just stress him out to much.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Well, I just saw him drink some water and now he's sitting on a container that has a mirror eating a few seeds and he even did the little head bobbing thing, spread his wings and chirped at his self in the mirror.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Renee, I have tried to call a lady I know who is in the cockatiel business but she isn't answering the phone. In the meantime, this is what I found in the "Cockatiels for Dummies" book:

SETTING UP A HOSPITAL CAGE:

"One of the best, most nurturing things you can do for your bird when he's ill or injured is to keep him warm and comfortable until you can see an avian veterinarian. One way to do this is to turn the cockatiel's cage into a hospital cage.....Preparing a hospital cage is easy. Start by making food and water easily accessible. Put the food and water on the floor of the cage, especially if your cockatiel is not feeling well enough to perch. Keep your bird in a darkened and warm environment. You can create a lowlight situation by keeping the bird in a darkened, quiet room or by wrapping the cage in towels. A light bulb or heating pad can supply warmth. Be sure that your bird also has an area of the cage where he can get away from the heat source and adjust his own comfort level.'"

They go on to say you can put them in a cardboard box or fish tank but I know you don't want to do that. Then they quote "Watch for signs that he's too hot or too cold. If too hot, he will pant, slick down his feathers and hold his wings out to the side. If too cold, he'll fluff up, sit on his feet to keep them warm and shiver. If he is just right...he'll perch naturally with his feathers neither puffed out nor slicked to his body."

I will keep trying to get this lady. I have no idea how to hand feed one but you may want to try holding his very favorite food in your hand and see if he'll eat that way.

Please let us know how things go. I'll check in often and will definitely contact you when I can reach this lady.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Renee, we were posting at the same time and I just read your last post about him eating. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!

They can scare the daylights out of us, can't they? Little devils.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Renee, just noticed Jazaroo (Ron) is on. I hope he sees this because I believe he has some experience with parrots and can probably give some advice.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Thanks for the info. I've pulled the blinds by his cage, we do that every day anyway cause he doesn't like the sun a little bit!! I've also covered his cage but only the back and sides. I'm going to go out to the loft and get him some safflower seeds cause he loves those, but he has eaten a little in the past 30 minutes. Right now he's in the floor of his cage eating his millet spray. He didn't touch that all day yesterday. Maybe it's just going to take a few days for him to get over knocking the crap out of hisself. You can bet after this, it wing clipping time around here. My heart can't take this.............


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Got to get off line for a while. I'll check back in later, with an update.


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## jazaroo (Jan 1, 2006)

Hi Renee,

Sorry I am late to this thread.

Yeah, Cockatiels can get to a panicky level real quick, as can other birds, and sometimes can hurt themselves while they are panicked.

It's real good that Wally made it through the night, the first few days are when the most concern is for flight/concussion injuries. That he is drinking and eating a little is good, but you may want to supplement him with some re-hydration fluid for the next few days with a syringe, if you feel he is not getting enough fluids, and keep him in a warm spot with his cage covered on all sides, but the front, to add to a feeling of security for him.

About the vet in this situation, a few years ago one of our budgies hurt himself somehow in his cage, never did figure out how. Came home to find one wing dropped and him not able to fly when we let him out of the cage, as we do when we are home to supervise our birds. Took him to the vet the same day and the vet did a thorough exam and said he could feel no breaks, but an x-ray would be needed to confirm this and he would need to anesthetize him in order to do the x-ray, turned out nothing was conclusive on the x-ray. He thought he saw what may have been a hairline crack, but was not sure. Our bird was very stressed through all of this, we took our bird home, where he went up to the top perch and remained there until bed time. In the morning he was dead.

It retrospect a few things, one was that since no obvious breaks were found, even if there was a hairline fracture the ordering of an x-ray was questionable, as my information on these, and they confirmed, there is not much to do, but let it heal on its own. I always think that the added stress of all the handling after a traumatic shock of injury, added to the stress of being anesthetized was not the best decision for this bird. Since then I am not so quick to rush right to the vet with injuries, especially with our smaller birds, as sometimes all they can do is confirm the obvious and they find it so stressful there.

I guess what I am trying to say is, unless there are obvious injuries you cannot deal with yourself, or he does not continue to improve, taking him to the vet right now may add stress to him that may be unnecessary. You know your bird the best and will do what is best for him.

I hope that Wally gets well real quick,

All the best,

Ron

_I just wanted to add, that there are times you have to rush right to the vets, in when you have traumatic shock happening, as they can administer dexamethasone and oxygen which may help pull a bird through when other measures won't._


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

SOOOO glad to hear Wally is eating and drinking! I'm sure he will be fine but I know you will keep a close eye on him and trim those feathers when you think the time is right!

Yeah, they CAN scare the dickens out of you! Knowing one's bird REALLY well always helps. You immediately know when they aren't feeling up to par.

WHEN you can, give Wally a (quick ) scritch for me!


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

I hear and understand what Ron says about taking Wally to the Vet unless absolutely necessary.

My former Vet boss would examine Cockatiels and those little guys were always frantic. They sure don't take well to change - especially a Vet!


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Thank you everyone for your support. Although MUCH MUCH quieter than normal, Walley seems ok I guess. Yesterday he barely moved from one spot in his cage. He's not moving around alot now, but is moving some. Still haven't heard more than a couple of little squeaks out of him but he responds to me when I go over to say hello. I think I'm just going to leave him alone today, let him stay in his cage and see how he is tomorrow. If I feel like he'll handle it ok, we'll cut his wings. Never done that before. The few times I had it done, a pet store did it for me. They have since gone out of business, thank god!!! and so no one here would do it except the vet. I found pictures of how to do it on line, so we'll give it a whirl. Can't be THAT difficult. I've always been afraid he would hate me for it, but I guess he'll just have to get over it. I'd rather have him mad at me and alive than happy and dead.


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## Rooster2312 (Mar 8, 2006)

Hi Renee,

Sorry to hear of Walley's accident with the window. It really is a scary time when they fly into windows, mirrors and walls when freaked out. I don't recall having had this problem with my tiels, but one of my young budgies has abnormal (asymetrical) flight feathers on one side and is prone to having flight accidents as he is still not any more tame than when I first got him in February. He is such a nervous bird and really freaks out when I change the food and water/ cage cleaning etc. The budgies are not out often, but I have had to scoop young Angus up from the floor a few times now.

I would tend to agree with Little Bird re bird-proofing the room when walley is out rather than clipping his wings. I have no experience of clipping, but I think it would be kinder and much less stressing to allow him his full flight potential in a protected environment. I would also agree with what you are already doing by leaving him in his cage for now until he fully recovers. I know how hard it is to keep them in their cage when they are screaming at the top of their lungs to be let out. I am sure he will be well on the road to recovery when he is becoming more vocal again. It is nice when they are quiet, but when they are unwell you miss that loud healthy scream!

I'm so glad he is eating and drinking again, that is an encouraging sign. Hoping Walley is feeling much better soon.

Hugs and healing prayers, 

Lindi, Jax, Parsley (tiel), Angus & Jerry (budgies)


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

I'm glad Wally's feeling better.  I've noticed with cockatiels that they do get stressed easily, and act very out-of-character when they're upset. My cockatiel likes to be spritzed with warm water (especially if I have to move the cage or vacuum, and she seems troubled over it). It seems to calm her down every time. Also, crushed lavender leaves around the cage help birds calm down almost every time. I hope he keeps getting better and better.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Well, now the big question.......clip wings or not??? There is no way for me to "bird proof" the room where Walley is. We have 18 windows in our living room, cathedral ceilings and the windows are at least 10 feet up. There is no where in my house that I could take Walley and him be absolutely free to fly and be 100% safe. If I picked him up to carry him into another room, he'd freak out anyway. When I get him out of his cage, he hops on my finger, I bring him out of his cage and he takes off. Usually he does about 2 or 3 laps around the kitchen/dining room and then lands on the ceiling fan. From there he goes to the counter tops, top of fridge, back to top of cage, short little flights. He does enjoy "buzzing" my husbands head. But it's not like he takes these long flights or flies for a long time. He's is used to flying from one place to another though when he's got somewhere he wants to go. My husband even said a while ago, that when we clip his wings, he's going to be crashing, because he doesn't know he CAN'T fly anymore. So.......now what do I do?? I certainly can't keep him in his cage forever. I've got to let him out but he hasn't been out at all today. Now, I'm really confused.............

One other thing........I've had Walley for 4 years. When he was a baby, his wings were clipped. He was a much nicer bird then really. I could scratch his head and kiss him. Then I decided it was cruel to not let him fly, so I stopped clipping his wings. Once they grew back in and he was free to fly, he became a little ornery. Not wanting to be touched at all other than to ride my finger or my shoulder, but then, only if that's what HE wanted to do. I thought maybe if I started clipping his wings again, he would calm down and let me handle him more.


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## jazaroo (Jan 1, 2006)

Hi Renee,

I would tend to lean toward clipping. In most of the Parrot magazines I read the majority of opinion goes to doing this. The thought is we are entrusted with these beautiful birds and one of our prime responsibilities is to keep them safe. Our houses are very much different than an aviary, where wing trims are not generally done. Our homes can be a very unsafe place for birds to be. Wing trims help keep birds safe by preventing accidental escapes to the outside and from incidents like what happened to Wally today.

We have 6 hook bills, 3 Amazons, 2 Budgies and 1 Cockatiel. We do trim the Amazons, but not the others. The reason being is we have a bird room, a safe room where we keep the Budgie's and Cockatiel cages and where they are allowed out once we are home and have free domain of this room. This is a bird safe room, small enough not to allow them to get any speed up to hurt themselves if for any reason they become panicked, but large enough to feel free. It has no ceiling fan, soft window coverings, no sharp objects, nothing poisonous to nibble at and floor coverings. There is only the wife and myself now and we are very aware of the opening and closing of any outside doors and this room remains closed at all times. Since it does not sound like this is your situation, trimming may be in the best interests of your bird.

With the Amazons, they get trimmed in the spring so they can come outside to the back patio with us and spend time, they love being out during the summer, and we allow their wings to grow in over the course of the summer. Right now they are just starting to be able to fly again and we let them become fully flighted again during the cold months indoors. When we trim their wings, we do do it ourselves, then we just take them into our bedroom and give them a few gentle tosses onto the bed and they immediately realize after doing this real flight time is over and do no attempt to make but only the shortest of jump/flights, say from the coffee table to the couch for example. They are pretty smart this way. I am sure Wally would soon realize his new limitations.

This is really a personal decision to make, and not always easy, as there are a variety of opinions on this. However, if this were ever to happen again with a much worse outcome I know you would be second guessing yourself.

All the best,

Ron


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Renee, I would still opt for clipping. You said earlier something about a clipped bird being better than a dead bird. I agree, wholeheartedly.

We have clipped two cockatiels. In Molly's case, the vet left the 2 outer flight feathers long to enable her to glide down if she became spooked. In Dean's case the vet cut all his feathers. Of course, his situation is a little unique in that he stayed in his cage always so any time out is a treat for him. I am very careful when I take him out of his cage and don't let him get too high up (like on my shoulder) because a couple of times when I was lowering him about 10 inches or so to the floor, he jumped off and went down with a slight thud. 

In both cases, they knew they couldn't fly and made no attempt to do so. They are pretty smart little birds. They become easier to handle and sweeter.


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Good morning Renee and all,

I just read this thread this morning...somehow missed it yesterday. I am sorry Wally and your family went through this bad ordeal with Wally. He reminds me much of my most recent pigeon-a former racer in the early 2000's , named Paris. He will allow contact like during feeding time and will happily take Canada peas and unsalted sunflower seeds from my fingers, but he just REFUSES to allow me to garb him or touch him, so I respect his personality and give him his space. I only hope that in time, he will be more trusting...or maybe not? Wally probably should not be stressed out any further than he already has been...poor baby.

How is he doing today Renee?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

I was hoping that Walley would be better today, but he's still being very quite, not moving around much. I offered to let him out of his cage this AM. He got on my finger but got off on the door of his cage and hopped right back in, so I didn't push it. I was going to clip his wings today, but may put it off another day. If he doesn't feel like coming out of the cage, there's really no need right now. I'll just take it a day at the time for now. My husband is running the vacuum and Walley usually gets really loud when the vacuum is on. He's not making a sound. Just watching............


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## jazaroo (Jan 1, 2006)

Hi Renee,

I would think it will take at least a week before Wally starts to act like his old self or it could even be a little more, but lets hope for less. In the meantime, be patient with him, and I would hold off with the wing trim until he has come back around to his normal self.

Thanks for the update and all the best,

Ron


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

I hope hekeeps feeling better.....as Jazaroo said, it may take longer than a few days (when I brought my 'tiel home, she didn't make a peep for the first two weeks, and now she has a lot to say).


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Renee, how is our boy doing?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

LOUD 
He's doing fine. Back to screaming and chirping and whistling.......LOL
I haven't clipped his wings yet. When I get him out in the AM, I pull all the blinds so he can't see out as well as he used to. He's upset today cause he didn't get out this morning. We had two birds come in from the race yesterday and as soon as they started to land a hawk dove down at them. He continued to harrass them for 1 1/2 hours before they could finally land and trap. So, I knew it could mean diaster if Walley was out and saw the hawk. He'll get out later though when it starts getting dark.


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## jazaroo (Jan 1, 2006)

Loud is Good!

Thanks for the update, I am so happy he is feeling much better.

All the best,

Ron

PS: Good idea not letting him see the hawk.


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

I'm so glad he's doing better.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Many thanks for the update, Renee! 

SO GLAD WALLEY IS FEELING BETTER!!  

If you can get one in, give him a scritch for me!!


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Renee, thanks - I'm still thinking of him and I'm so glad he's doing better.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

That is good news. I'm glad to hear Wally is back to his familiar vocal self.


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