Rigby Flying

Rigby developed stargazing when he was only a week old. He is now two and a half, and after a few homeopathic treatments from our avian vet, he has enough control to be able to fly! He's lacking speed and finesse, but he is improving all the time!

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• black-cheeked lovebird
• birds
• parrots
• flight

[love4birds]

So sorry to hear that your little girl is having problems:(

My vet used a form of opium to treat Rigby. It apparently has many medicinal uses, including being able to heal neurons (Rigby's stargazing was suspected to be from head trauma but we don't know for sure).

My vet is a big fan of using homeopathic remedies instead of conventional medication if possible, and she's been just great. If you have a holistic avian vet near, I'd highly suggest visiting them with your little lovie:)

[NurseLauraDawn]

What is stargazing? Just curious, love all your birds!

[love4birds]

@NurseLauraDawn Stargazing is a condition where the bird unconsciously swings his head back as if he's looking at the stars. It's more common in finches, and there are several things that can cause it: innner ear infection, genetics, etc. My vet suspected Rigby's was caused by head trauma as a baby resulting in some neurological damage. She prescribed a form of opium (can repair neurons) and it really worked wonders for Rigby. He used to not be able to fly at all and was clumsy getting around.

[zvezdast]

Her had goes backwards usually, or to the side, and then she falls. She has trouble getting around the bottom of her cage.

I just found out about stargazing, and am wondering it maybe that's what she got, although her vet never mentioned it. I was wondering, how did your vet treat your Rigby?

[zvezdast]

I have an 11-year old female lovebird that has been showing some signs of stargazing over the last couple of years. She suffered head trauma (slammed into a glass door) the few days after I got her at 3 months old, and started having seizures at age 5. She started having trouble flying, actually landing, when she was about 9, and completely stopped at around 10. But just in the last couple of months her balance had gotten so bad that she could barely stand without falling.