Tiny Takes a Walk on the Mild Side

by Dr Susan Orosz

Susan E. Orosz, Ph.D., D.V.M., Diplomate ABVP, Avian Practice, Diplomate, European College of Avian Medicine and Surgery, Professor. Dr. Orosz is a Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, specializing in Avian Medicine

They were unusual roommates—two women in their late 40s. The slim lady with the Pekinese was sitting on the small exam room bench, while the other woman, heavy-set, was standing. Sitting on the exam room table was a small, brown parakeet cage filled with innumerable plastic toys, plastic perches (some wrapped with sandpaper), and a small twig arched over the plastic ware. Framed by all this paraphernalia was a lovely little blue parakeet, Tiny. Tiny had recently been purchased from a pet store. Unfortunately, efforts to tame Tiny had only led to frustration. The seated lady, June, had had several parakeets throughout her life. Armed with a wealth of first-hand, personal experience, she kept telling her roommate, Kathy, how to hold the bird, what to do, and when to do it. Meanwhile, Tiny just kept biting down with a vengeance on Kathy’s fingers. Kathy desperately wanted this small, feathered creature to be her friend, but the advice given by June left her fingers sore and her heart bruised.

Our exam room team could tell from the history that they had spent several months trying to tame Tiny, to no avail. In the meantime, a few of Tiny’s feathers had grown out and now he was flying from the homemade stick jungle-gym in the cage. While the owners had brought him in for a wing trim and a physical examination, it was clear they also could benefit from a little help with training.

After finishing the observational portion of the physical exam, we caught Tiny to palpate him, listen to his heart and lungs, and inspect his mouth. After completing the physical examination, which appeared normal, it was now time to trim Tiny’s wings. Looking at the feathers, it was clear that most of his primary feathers had been trimmed too long. In addition, two primary feathers on each side had fallen out during molting and been replaced with full-length, "ready-to-zoom" primaries. No wonder he could fly! A quick trim of all the primary feathers and Tiny was ready to start acclimating to his desperate owner-to-be.

Our technician, Gerald, gathered Tiny into his big, gentle hands. As he did so, my mind drifted back to a lecture hall filled with eager vet students and a large group of budgie parakeets in paper sacks. A tall, slender fellow with a bow tie stood at the front of the classroom and asked the students to reach into their bags and to pick up their parakeets. He showed them how to hold their parakeet with one hand while stroking them with a finger from the other. The students naturally tended to hold the birds up close to themselves over the area of their hearts. Meanwhile, the bow-tied figure, Dr. Lafeber, talked to the students about parakeets, their care and maintenance, and much more.

As their instructor, I would learn over the course of the following months just how much the students had absorbed. The personal session left them with an abiding interest in caring for their budgies, and a feathered friend that they now cared for. Most of the students, after holding their budgies for only 15 minutes, were bonded to the little fellas.

Gerald gently held Tiny as I drew a breath to explain husbandry concerns to Kathy. That gave me time so Tiny could settle in an experienced hand. I then had Kathy hold Tiny, as I wrote down and repeated the instructions again. I let the 15 minutes crawl as we talked and watched the miracle unfold in the exam room. Just like that day with Dr. Lafeber and the vet students, there were those first tentative looks by the humans, followed by the budgie looking around as if to say, "Hey, this isn’t so bad, maybe I don’t need to bite that finger next to me." Kathy became more and more ecstatic as time ticked on. She would ask, "Should I put him down?" "No, not yet, just pet his little head and keep him close to your body," I would reply.

Her whole body smiled as she nestled him in her hand. When I finally said it was time to step him up upon her finger, she was tremendously eager and happy. This time, there was no biting by Tiny. Kathy was so absorbed with her new friend, she didn’t even hear June’s advice. She continued to hold Tiny as I removed the sandpaper perches and some of the plastic items. Kathy placed Tiny back into his cage and grabbed hold of its handle. Then, smiling broadly, she floated out the exam room door, with Tiny close at hand.

Copyright 1999 Susan Orosz