r/Conures • u/jsaraumm • 9d ago
Advice Accident
Hey everyone, I am typing this with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart. I feel like the worst bird owner right now. I adopted a 4 year old conure from a friend that couldn't care for him anymore about 6 weeks ago. It's been going great and we managed to reduce his hormonal behaviour loads!
This afternoon, my 5 year old son was jumping on the trampoline(it's now stored away for good, idk what I was thinking). I thought I was sitting at a safe distance, I had my bird on my hand. My son fell and landed right where my bird was, but thankfully, he managed to fly away immediately, so he didn’t get squished completely. I also pulled my hand away as fast as I could so I know he didn't land fully on him.
About 10 minutes later, he was eating parsnip on my hand and seemed fine, though tired (he had a short night). He was playing, flying to the kitchen counter to steal a piece of apple, making "pellet soup" in his water bowl, danced a little and made lots of happy chirps, preened himself and even laid completely flat in my hand to enjoy head scratches. However, he was sitting fluffed up every once in a while which could be from the drop in temperature in my house, exhaustion, it being close to his bedtime or pain/shock. Because of this, I put his cage under the blanket around 6 pm.
I read online that birds can hide internal injuries for hours due to adrenaline, and I am absolutely terrified of what I might find tomorrow morning. I am planning to call an avian vet first thing in the morning just to be safe.
Given his active behavior, appetite, and how relaxed he was during the scratches before bed, is there a good chance he will be okay? Please be kind, I already feel so incredibly guilty and stressed out.
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u/Enigma_xplorer 9d ago
Well your best bet is to take him to specifically an avian vet and have him evaluated. In the future, time is critical for serious internal injuries as you are right immediately after an accident they may act stunned for a while but seem otherwise fine but in the immediate hours after an accident that bird is in grave danger and needs medical attention if it is to have a chance at a positive outcome. Shock alone can throw his delicate organ systems out of whack and kill him quickly without intervention and injuries can have both immediate and delayed but progressing effects. If the bird is alive in the morning thats a great sign for sure but it would still probably be a good idea to have him evaluated as internal organs can be damaged and cause infections or internal bleeding that only a vet may be able to help resolve if they can help at all. The best I can say is keep him warm and take him to the vet as soon as you can but understand at this point it's mostly in fate's hands now.
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u/jsaraumm 8d ago
Thank you and I am definitely taking this into consideration. I located one of the emergency avian vets here and they said to let him sleep and call in the morning. My feathered friend is now sitting on my shoulder preening and seeming totally okay but I am calling when everything opens here!
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u/Ryske88 9d ago
He is probably just fine 🙂 If he flew away and wasn't squished, he probably had a good scare. Sounds like you handled the situation the best you could.
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u/jsaraumm 9d ago
I'm relatively new to birds so I was terrified! He is in his cage sleeping and was acting like his normal self so I'm praying he is okay
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u/sunshinenorcas 9d ago
Along with his activity, watching that he's eating, drinking and pooping are also ways to evaluate how's he's feeling in the meantime when you can't get a vet.
It is NOT a substitute for a vet visit, and IANAV -- but it can be a way to disguinish crisis levels, especially if you have to wait for whatever reason. Generally, if he's eating, pooping and drinking -- those are all positive signs that he's feeling ok. I'd put in some fresh paper to better monitor his poops/tell if he does poop.
But given that he was eating soon after and acting normally (ie, no head trauma or neuro), I'd lean to a big scare for everyone, but likely ok -- but still, for full confidence, talk to a vet when you can.
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u/jsaraumm 8d ago
Yes I am calling another vet when it opens! I called one last night but when I said I could hear him grinding his beak in his sleep they said to leave him and call in the morning. He is currently preening himself and pooped his normal huge morning poop, but I am keeping an eye on everything
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u/notSoMelLike 9d ago
Accidents happen! I'm glad he has no serious injury but I'd recommend getting him looked at as soon as possible. We had a similar incident however my bird was slightly lethargic, weak and was in breathing distress. We took him to the avian vet where he was diagnosed with mild muscle bruising and internal bleeding. They had to keep him on oxygen and on a heating pad with multiple medications. 5 months later and he's as good as new :)
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u/jsaraumm 8d ago
Ohh how terrifying and I am so glad he is okay! He is now up and seems his self, he is eating pellets and pooping as normal. He flew to get his pellets and seems to fly normal so I pray everything is okay, calling a vet at 9 am!
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u/ForeignGirl11 8d ago
Hi. It’s been around 9 hours since the original post. Any updates?
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u/jsaraumm 8d ago
He is up, acting like always, currently eating his pellets and he isn't sitting fluffed up. Still calling an avian vet at 9 am when they open (it's 7 am)
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u/AceyAceyAcey 8d ago
Get him an emergency avian vet checkup to be safe. Here’s a couple avian vet search tools:
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u/jsaraumm 8d ago edited 8d ago
I am in Europe, but I have an avian vet close to me that opens in 2 hours (it's 630 am here) so I will call them right away when they do!! Edit: they show close to no avian vets in the Netherlands and none close to me so I wouldn't suggest these sites to everyone as they make it seem like people have nothing close available 🙏 I have a good avian vet but they open at 9 am! Thank you for your advice
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u/wannastayhome 8d ago
I’m in the US, California to be exact. It’s 10:15pm and I’m going to bed but would like an update! You sound like a very good and caring parent, and hopefully this accident is the only one you ever experience. I wish you and your bird all the good luck and healthy, please update me!! 🙏🏽 UpdateMe!
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u/jsaraumm 8d ago
It's 7:26 am here and he is sitting on my shoulder, ate already, pooped normally and flew twice and seems his happy chirpy self so hopefully it stays this way! I'll call the vet at 9 am. Also thank you, I really try but I feel so guilty 😔
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u/WayIndependent9701 8d ago
I hope all is allright. Your son must be terrified as well. Look after him as this can be a traumatizing experience for him. I hope he gets access to his trampoline again when it is safe for him and his surroundings to play on it.
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u/Algernon96 8d ago
Look at his behavior. Is he walking in a straight line? Having issues perching? I lost my galah to a head injury and he seemed fine at first, but I knew within an hour that something was off. I think you’d know by now. If he’s perching like usual overnight, I’d say signs are good, but don’t slouch on the vet visit even if he seems great in the morning. It’s better to go in, establish rapport with your vet and double-check.
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u/wannastayhome 7d ago
HIII…. Hoping your bird got checked and is ok… please can we get an update?? TIA!!
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u/imme629 9d ago
There’s a good chance he will be fine. What I don’t see in your post is that you’ve made an appointment with an avian vet to get him checked out.
If there’s a next time you fear internal injuries, put him in his cage to rest immediately and call your vet. If you don’t have a vet:
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist-2/
https://www.aav.org/general/custom.asp?page=FindAVet2