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my macaws tailfeather

by Michelle
(long beach ms)

hello i have a 2 year old blue and gold macaw that had fallen and i have taken him to the vet which he has extensive nerve damage so his feet always twitch and he cannot stand or walk or perch so thats some info

he has latly been loosing his tailfeathers and its his long ones too he tries to climb the cage and falls back on them the skin around the tailfeathers is a lil bruised and well his tailfeathers has become loose in some places and just today he has lost his longest tailfeather i am worried that he will loose all his tailfethers and look like a penguin if he looses all of his tailfeathers will he grow new ones back or stay like that and is there anything i can put on his tailfeathers hole where he lost his tailfeathers?

Comments for
my macaws tailfeather

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Mar 18, 2008
 Macaw nerve damage
by: The Vet

It sounds like the tail feather loss is secondary to his neurological condition. Therefore the neurological condition needs to be addressed, instead of his tail feather loss. I do not know enough about the case to recommend a plan to address the nerve problem. If I could examine your bird and get a thorough history, I may be able to help.

The tail feathers will probably grow back, but I don’t know unless I have more info to go on.

What was his original injury? It is unusual for bird’s to just “fall” for no reason. Maybe the original reason he fell is the same reason his feet are not functioning properly. For example, if your bird is not on a good diet (i.e. Pellets), this could be a calcium deficiency or other nutritional issue.

Heavy metal toxicity can also cause these symptoms. Has he been tested for lead and zinc? Any x-rays done...?

What has been done to diagnose and treat this problem?

What does your bird eat?

How much does he weigh?

What kind of perches are in his cage?

What size cage is he in?

Dr B
Mar 18, 2008
 Macaw with nerve damage
by: Tracie

Hello Michelle,

Your bird's tail feathers will continue to grow back unless the place the feather attaches becomes damaged. Sometimes this happens with birds that pluck their feathers.

It seems that you might want to attach Plexiglas to the bottom of the cage so that the bird will not be able to try to climb the wall and fall backwards.

A large open fish tank might even work here. You could place long perches over the top of the tank to hang toys from.

I will also send this to Dr. B. but I thought I would add my 2 cents until he gets back with you.

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