Worried about Mon-chan
Over the last few months Mon-chan’s left leg has become increasingly lame. She can barely use it at all now. She also seems tired and sleepy most of the time.
To make it easier for her to eat I added an extra tray filled with seeds next to the water this morning. That way she can eat directly from the perch.
This morning, all she’s done is just stand there in the same spot without moving about.
She’s getting old, but is still just 6.5 years old. That’s well within the lifespan of Java sparrows, but one year older than Hao was when he passed away.
Anyway, I’m just worried and depressed. She doesn’t seem to be in pain. But she also doesn’t seem to be particularly comfortable or relaxed.
You might want to consider getting her some flat perches to stand on as a supplement to her regular ones. We found out a few years ago that one of our birds had developed arthritis in both legs/feet which made it difficult to stand on curved perches. We got some wooden and rock perches for her and she’s done much better since. She probably uses them 75% of the time. We’ve since learned a lot about the importance of having a variety of surfaces to stand on, just like in the wild, and have gotten similar flat perch options for all of our birds.
It might not help the underlying cause of Mon-chan’s leg issue but it may make her more comfortable.
That is an excellent idea. I’m going to look for some flat perches tomorrow. When I got home tonight, she seemed a little better. Moving around more, and generally more energetic. So maybe it really is just her arthritic leg.
I say no to the square perches. Round is natural, and that’s what she’s used too. Don’t introduce anything new when a bird is sick. They are trying so hard to look normal and that spends a lot of energy.
I can see her leg is red and swollen. Maybe she caught it between the rungs of of the cage. It may take a couple of weeks to heal.
I had a bird that did that. I set her up in a separate cage with all her “goodies” and put a light on her.
When birds are sick they need that extra warmth.
It would also keep Monta picking at her leg.
Now. On the other side, putting her in a separate cage may stress her.
SO! I would attach a light to their cage. But not directly on her or she would bake.
Add Vitamins to her water and get her some oats.
Put a perch down low, with her food and water and of course the light.
I don’t think this the end. I really don’t.
Good luck, let me know what happens!
Nancy
Just to clarify, I don’t mean a square perch. That would be pretty unnatural. I mean a flat surface such as:
http://bit.ly/1RpccYt
This isn’t any different than landing on the ground or another surface. With our arthritic bird, it hurts her to try to grip for any length of time. The flat surface lets her relax her legs and claws.
Right. That’s what I figured you meant. It’s no different really, in concept, as to when she’s sitting in the palm of my hand or resting around my neck.
She already has a pet heater, and if she is cold she sits on the perch over it. Visibly I don’t think her leg looks any different except it tends to be stretched out to avoid putting weight on it. It’s been much longer than a couple of weeks though. It’s been getting worse for months. She doesn’t pick at the leg.
That type of perch would be good. If his foot gets worse , if take to the Vet.
I did take her to the vet. The vets around here are pretty useless when it comes to anything serious about birds.