My cockatiel is 6 months old. My husband accidentally half-stepped on his right-wing a few weeks ago. There was no blood. I have taken him to 2 avian vets and both said that he most likely had soft tissue damage. No x-rays were taken. He was prescribed Meloxicam and Gabapentin (one from each vet). He is doing great other than being able to fly as normal. He is eating well, enjoys regular attention, whistling, and even learned how to say "Peek-a-boo" since this happened. He can do short mini flys but doesn't have good accuracy due to the injury. He can completely extend his right-wing but can't put it up all the way. Both vets seem unconcerned and said to give him a few weeks or more to heal. I'm worried that he may not fully recover and be able to fly as normal. Any insight would be appreciated.
Tiels have very delicate bones like all birds. I am more experienced, like 20 years, and would have insisted on x-ray on day one. On saying this, like any bird, have to be lightly sedated for xray which you make the possible choice of rare death from light anesthesia. I am thinking perhaps, your vets didn't want to take the risk. If has been a few weeks since your baby's wing was injured, too late to fix a broken or disjointed wing bone.
Love him for what he is now as he/she is still loving you. Might come right but unlikely after a few weeks. Will still function with loving, but just not quite the way he/she was.
I have an 11 year old yellow tiel which I rescued from a bad place. She flies badly (wings cut hard to the bone) and crash lands even worse on her cage, but she is what she is. She is with me because I knew she could not have a better home than mine. My Mollie of 6 inches of separation. I can't touch her without her stepping up onto a spare bird ladder. My hands are a no go for any reason. She will live out her days being cared for by me. At least your baby is tame and will get it. Just with your love to the tiel 🥰
