More Chatboards | Print | Share | Report Post

Re: blind parrot
Posted by pam on 4/24/12

On 3/08/07, Betty Scott wrote:
> Yes, I have a Moluccan hen who is 10 years old named Sidney.
> She adores her squeeky toys & is visibly delighted when I take
> the time to include her squeeky toys to enrich her environment
> when I play with her and handle her.
> She has a definite squeeky toy immitation she makes, too.
> Sidney is in our home with other parrots who are not blind.
>
> We keep The Cartoon Channel on from 8 AM - 10 PM so there is
> always noise & language stimulation. We are the 5th home for
> Sidney. Her first owner threw her against a wall when she was
> 2 & (I suspect) also stomped on her. His girlfriend scooped
> up poor Sidney's crumpled & broken body, & deposited her at
> the closest vet, leaving no identifying information. I am sure
> she figured that the vet would have prosecuted them (him for
> cruelty and her for aiding & abbeting). Sidney has several
> broken bones. The vet kept her in recovery for several months.
> When Sidney's bones healed, she was left with one blind eye &
> one eye that saw shadows & movements. I do not put many toys
> in her cage, because it makes things more difficult when she
> moved around her cage, but she seems to do well. We have a
> 3rd cup that we put a mixture of peppers, seeds, nuts and
> other types of "parrot treats" and she seems to have no
> problem locating that when it is filled. She also loves Pizza
> Crust. Here is the delimma. Now that the vet has "saved"
> Sidney from a fate worse than death, where does one place a
> blind Cockatoo?
>
> Sidney's vet discovered a pet shop owner who specialized in
> birds & was willing to pay her vet bills. She thought perhaps,
> Sidney could be a mascot in her parrot store. It did not work.
>
> So the pet show owner called a friend of ours who raised
> birds, to asked if she could find it in her heart to adopt
> Sidney and give her the attention she needed. Our friend did
> so for 3 years, until her Cockatoo allergies became so acute
> that she could not hold Sidney more than 15 minutes until she
> could not breathe. Sidney's owner then e-mailed me, knowing
> we do a LIVE PARROT EDUCATION SHOW as well as parrot rescue.
> She asked if we would like to have Sidney for purposes of
> educating the public.
>
> Sidney is a true pale pink-peach colored Moluccan Cockatoo.
> She is NOT a plucker and is quite content to sit in her cage
> much of the day without a fuss. She knows however when it is
> 8 PM and time for her to have her 2-hours of one-on-one with
> me each night. If I am not there, she will begin to scream.
> However, Sidney is the gentlest Moluccan Cockatoo I have ever
> encountered & is a trained Pet Therapy bird.
> She coos & responds happily / readily to my touch and time.
> She has a large vocabulary -- most of which reverts back to
> the time in her first home and her demenear reflects it.
>
> After we acquired Sidney, I called The Vet School @ The
> University of Florida to asked if there was any way to test
> her eye sight to see if she had improved over the years. I
> was told that Sidney would have to be placed under anthestic
> and then her optic nerve could be tested. We opted not to do
> that as it risk of losing her was more than we felt was
> warranted.
>
> I will be happy to send photos or answer any questions anyone
> might have regarding Sidney.
>
>
> On 3/08/07, Rose wrote:
>> On 3/05/07, . wrote:
>>> I live with a blind parrot and would appreciate some
>>> advice on how to enrich his environment. Do any of you
>>> live with a blind, or maybe almost blind bird? How is
>>> your set up, etc? Thanks. You can e-mail me at :
>>> [email protected]
>>
>> I don't have a blind parrot but something I do for my birds
>> may be interesting to yours. I have tapes of bird calls for
>> blind people from Cornell Labs. They have a person talking
>> and then the bird calls that match. Mine find this
>> entertaining and they try to imitate the wild birds' calls.
>> I would just try to think about blind people situations.
>> Unlike other birds, I would not move the stuff around in his
>> cage. Keep it the same so he can use dishes, toys, etc. as
>> landmarks and find his way around. Toys that make noise,
>> such as bells, might be interesting, as would crinkly
>> sounding toys. He may appreciate having the TV left on
>> while you are at work to a children's channel. He might
>> also enjoy the warmth of being placed in the sun for a
>> while. If I think of anything else, I'll post again. Good
>> luck with your bird.

Posts on this thread, including this one

• blind parrot, 3/05/07, by ..
• Re: blind parrot, 3/08/07, by Rose.
• Re: blind parrot, 3/08/07, by Betty Scott.
• Re: blind parrot, 4/24/12, by pam.
• Re: blind parrot, 4/24/12, by PAM.