Hello! Owned by an accident prone 'tiel

[Pipsqueak]

Hello everyone,

I'd like to start off by saying this is my first post here. This looks like an excellent place to meet other parrot owners and share advice. I am currently owned by a sweet little male cockatiel who talks up a storm and brightens my day with his silly antics.

My little guy has a crazy personality (don't they all?) although he is quite clumsy. I have been to many vets and behavioural consultants to try and see what I can do, but so far I've had no luck. My 'tiel has frequent night frights. We've tried everything to stop these frights from placing him in his own quiet room, to adding a night light, to covering the cage and everything in between. Right now we've settled for moving all of his perches lower at night and giving him a smaller sleeping cage. His current cage is quite large.

He is also incredably clumsy and I have to set up his cage special so he doesn't fall and hurt himself. We've tried clipping his wings and leaving him flighted but nothing seems to make a difference. He's been evaluated by a few vets and they can't seem to find anything wrong with him. I've had to drive him out to the emergency vet at 2 am for 4 broken blood feathers after he had a fright. All 4 of the feathers were broken too far up the feather shaft for me to remove on my own (the vet had to do some digging...*cringe*). Most recently, last weekend he had to have a bandage wrapped around his wing because he split the skin open. I love the little guy and I hate seeing him get hurt like this. I would love to know if anyone else has an accident prone bird and whether they have an tips for me. Feel free to ask questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Shelby]

Wow! Poor little guy! I'm not really sure what advice to give since I've never been in your situation and I don't think it's very common for a tiel to have that many night frights. It's really good that you're adapting his cage setup to make it safer for him.

I'm not usually a fan of those nesty things, but maybe you could see if he would sleep in one of those fleece hanging nests or tents. That way if he had a fright he couldn't fall off it the way he would a perch. And maybe if he slept in a nest he would not be as likely to crash into the sides of the cage. Also, if you padded all the horizontal, flat surfaces of his cage with fleece at night, that might reduce his risk of injury. Fleece is machine washable and doesn't fray.

[Pipsqueak]

Thank you for your response, Shelby! I love your idea of lining the cage with fleece. I think I might actually go buy some fleece and do that. I've actually put a camera in my room and recorded it all night to see what it is that freaks him out (kinda weird, I know). I thought it might be the train, or maybe I talk in my sleep but no...it's absolutely nothing! He just panics for no real reason.

My vet thinks my 'tiel is quite unusual and even the breeders are stumped. I've had to re-paint my one wall 'cause it got so stained with blood from all of these blood-feather fiascos! I think I might get him a tent. We purchased one for him once but wound up throwing it away because he got way too hormonal the last time we let him sleep in it. My vet isn't a fan of the tents and told me she wouldn't recommend them to anyone but for my little guy the risk might be worth the benefit.

[Shelby]

I don't usually suggest tents either, because they tend to trigger hormones, territorial and nesting behaviors. If the bird turns out to be a girl, they can end up laying eggs, which then makes them at risk of becoming egg-bound... but this is the one exception where I think it might be worth a try.

Also, you could try taking some fleece, folding it kind of in a cup shape, and tying it in the corner of the cage. I've seen some conures roll themselves up like a burrito like that!

[Pipsqueak]

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Also, you could try taking some fleece, folding it kind of in a cup shape, and tying it in the corner of the cage. I've seen some conures roll themselves up like a burrito like that!

Aww! That sounds too cute! I can't see my 'tiel rolling himself up, but I think I might try draping some fleece in the corner of the cage. He's definitely a male though - 100%. He's pearl-pied and has lost pretty well all his pearls. He's quite the talker, and he does the heart-wings thing whenever he vocalizes. Thank you for all of the suggestions! I'm going to have his cage accident proof soon!