Story Bird: Moya

       This is another toy warning.  As always, this is one of those issues where you have to make the decision for yourself.  Most likely, this was a freak accident, but it
did happen, and I think the potential danger is still  there.  The toy involved is one of the round, side of the cage mounted, nut/treat mazes.  The bird is supposed to  rotate the maze to make the treats/nut roll through it to  the spot where they are able to get the treat.

       This event occurred last night, after hours of  course, to my friend Mark, and his Timneh African Grey, Moya.  Mark had been working late, decided to go get some dinner, run by the house, then go to the gym and stop back by work to reset the servers.  When Mark got home, at first he didn't realize anything was wrong, because Moya gave him the usual greeting of a click when he opened the door.  Then when he looked towards her cage he realized her tail was sticking out through the bars at an odd angle.  As Mark walked over, he realized that her leg was caught between the bars of the cage and the toy.  Mark doesn't know how  she managed to get her leg wedged in there, but he suspects  that she was standing on top of it, the toy rotated somehow, and that is how she became trapped.  Moya had no feathers on the trapped leg, probably from struggling to free herself, and had a deep and bleeding gash on her leg.  Mark is pretty sure the gash came from a relatively sharp edge on the acrylic. 

         Mark got Moya's leg free, and started trying to find a vet to see her last night.  At first, he was not having any success finding any one to take Moya to, so he called up here to ask me some questions about the Texas A&M Vet School Small Animal clinic.  He said that if he couldn't find anyone in Houston who could see her, he'd drive her up here (about 90 miles).  After we'd hung up, he did find a board certified vet who was willing to meet him at 11 to see Moya.  Poor Moya wound up having to be anesthetized while the vet gave her four stitches to close the gash.  The vet said there might be some ligament damage, or bruising.  Moya *is*, however, able to use her foot to grip a little bit at least, so hopefully any damage
is not too bad.  

        Today, Mark says Moya is pretty subdued, except for occasional efforts to remove the bandage.  He brought her to work with him to keep an eye on her, and asked me to pass the word around about the potential danger of this toy.  We, unfortunately, cannot protect our babies 24/7, and this was one of those times.  Thankfully, it looks like Moya will be ok, and maybe this will prevent another parrot
from becoming trapped in a similar way.

Written by Katherine for Mark