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

On 4/24/12, pam wrote:
> 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.
I am owned by a newly blind conure. He seems to be doing well but
I miss his ornery tactics. He still loves to sit on my shoulder
and play with his friend Brutus ,a Chihuahua. I want to make his
life as interesting and safe since he doesnt want to fly anywhere.
Smart Bird! He gets braver and louder everyday but I feel sorry
for him. He seems to be a lot more affectionate. Any ideas to
share? I'd greatly appreciate some.

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.