Help With My Umbrella Too Please!!!

[Dove]

Hi I have a 3 year old UToo female her name is Sundance, I got her in Jan. of 2005, whew we have come a long way. She has been really abused this will make you cry. When I went to look at her she was in a rusty old cage it was late at night and she looked to be stoned on something. She was not very alert or did she seem to want to be. So I went home not buying her thinking she might be sick. After sleeping on it awhile I could not stand it I called the lady back this time I went in the late afternoon.They had her out of the cage and she was more alert. I could tell right away she had been abused so I bought her. Her lock on her cage had long lost its key they were taking the bottom off and shaking her out then to replace her would just drop her back in. There were German Roche's living in her cage with her and she was really dirty and smelled. I brought her home we had to get a hack saw to cut the lock off the cage. She came out of the cage in a flash and said "No Lock" It took me about a month after that to convince her that when I put her in the cage and locked it was just for a short time, so at night we started telling her it was night night time and we loved her,would see her in the morning. First thing in the morning I would let her out, We now call her night night cage which by the way is a new and better one the old rusty one went to the dump, she did not miss it She would bite the blood out of me when I would try to lock her up at night and in the morning when I would let her out it took her about a month to get used to the new way of doing things. I also took her to an avarian vet, she checked her out and said yes she has been very abused and is very lucky to have you but you have a lot of work to do with her. She bonded to me really well and calls me mommy. The vet said she was to be taken off seed and put on pellets which I have done, she did not even seem to mind, she loves the pellets. She also, had a broken wing that had already healed, the vet said she could operate on it would mean re-breaking, causing her more pain. if we leave it alone she does not have to have her wings clipped so we opted to go with out the surgery. She also has a crippled foot which was either caused by her mother sitting on her at birth or abuse I am thinking now it may be abuse, her leg appears to be out of place, her toes all turned back, she walks on her knee. She does wonderful you would not know she was so crippled. This is all on her right side which to me suggest she was kicked or squashed in a door. The lady said her grandson was abusive to animals crushed a kitten in the door, and sprayed Sundance with window cleaner the only thing I could get them to admit to.
She had a plucking problem the vet did not see any mites on her, but she kept plucking, so I bathed her with flea shampoo for cats, since cats lick their fur I figured it would be ok to use on her I rinsed her real well and then bathed her with baby shampoo, then on to a blow dry, you should have seen the mites come off her she was covered, everyone that had looked at her could not see them the vet. me, and several of my friends but they were there.
She now only plucks when she gets nerves today we had some siding replaced on the house and she really freaked out! We live in Florida and will be moving to Oregon soon,, I am really worried about the trip stressing her.
is there any medication or herb that she can be given as a tranquillizer for times like these. She now has two cages one is called bed, and it is only used for night night, or if the weather is bad when we have to go out other wise she spends most of her time with a large pearch I have fixed up in the living room were we are most of the time she also has a giant cage outside on rollers, she enjoys that on nice days. I am disabled from multiple autoimmune illness so am home all the time and spend lots of time with her I have made a tape recording of my voice saying words over and over again her vocabulary was real gargled when we got her, But we have her saying lots of things now. She will come looking for me if she can't see me, also loves to eat out of my plate. and for the bad leg it is getting some better she now uses it to step up, and her toes are some times turned right. She still has her moments of screaming, and bites on wires. We are still working on these. But she is happy now does not even act like the same bird we got a few months ago she has not bitten me hard in about 3 months now. Hope to hear from some of you out there. I am not new to birds we had 8 cocktails for about 6 years, they have all been placed in nice loving homes with other members of our family. Thanks for letting me share so sorry this is so long, but I just wanted you all to know my baby SunnyD as we call her.
Thanks so much
Dove

[KimBear]

So far it sounds like you're doing all the right things for this bird. It never ceases to amaze me at just how ignorant people are and how cruel they can be to animals. Why these people didn't seek to place their obviously unwanted bird sooner is beyond me. They sound like they shouldn't be allowed to keep any pets at all, and I wonder what their son will turn out to be. It's a well-known fact that many of our society's most messed-up criminals abused animals when they were kids. Maybe these parents can do something for their son before it's too late. It's great that you got that bird out of there!

As far as some sort of sedative for traveling with your bird, that should be discussed with your vet. You can get a parrot used to riding in a car by taking short trips at first, then increasing the duration over time. Some parrots really enjoy car rides, especially if they can see out the car window. It's best if they ride in a stable cage rather than loose in the car. You can make or buy a travel cage and secure it with a seat belt.

Now that Sundance is on the mend, she can start to learn some rules and get some guidance on how to behave, since it's a good bet she's had very little training. One thing that sometimes happens when people adopt parrots that had been in neglectful/abusive situations is that they are hesitant to lay down rules, and let the bird end up doing whatever it wants, and that's not a good thing. Parrots, especially cockatoos, need limits placed on their behavior--where they can play, for example. Don't worry that she will hate you if you try to instill some sense of structure in her life.

Once you've had her for a while longer, you may see some specific problems crop up, so be sure to let me know if there are any issues you need help with. Otherwise, it sounds like you're doing fine. She can probably go on to live a long and happy life now thanks to you.