jojo's leg

[wicanwitch]

hi my African Grey jojo is about 14weeks now he was born with a deformed leg which turns outwards, he is able to use it with climbing, standing on his perches and walking hes isnt in any pain and is happy and healthy, im just wondering if anyone has any ideas about getting him to hold some of his food as he is wasting a lot of it as it is falling on the floor all the time, he is very intelligent and is already learning colours etc i have tried holding the food to his feet but he just try's to bite me and doesnt seem to have a clue, or i dont know if he can even hold the food with his foot. any suggestions would be great
thanks
wicanwitch

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Can he grasp with that foot at all? The only thing I can think of would be to gradually shape the behavior through training. Michael and others might have a better way to do this, but I suppose I'd start with putting an object or pellet on a table near the foot and rewarding any motion of that foot towards it. Then reward for touching it. Then reward for starting to grasp it. Then for grasping it. Then for picking it up. Then for bringing it toward the beak. I can imagine the process, but I think it would take some time, patience and talent for training!

[Rrrma]

He doesn't have to hold the food, not all parrots do. You can try smaller pieces so he can eat right out of the bowl. Also he is quite young... so he might just be making a mess because babies are messy, haha

You can attempt with treats to get him to hold it in his foot, but I wouldn't push it. He is still quite young and off balanced naturally.

[wicanwitch]

thanks for your replys i think i will try the slow process of trying to train him and see if it works i dont mind the cleaning up all the time its part of having a parrot and i also have 2 kids that make just as much mess lol
thanks again
wicanwitch

[birdvet]

Two of my fids are amputees and they obviously can't grasp food. Johnny will sometimes position food under his good foot to hold it in place and then lean over to munch it. Your bird may never be able to grasp food, inspite of training. Good thing you're ok with cleaning up the mess (as am I )