Hi Nancy,
I’m sorry to hear about your bird’s injury. The good news is that Cockatiels can do just fine with only one foot, since they are a light bodied bird. They can easily compensate with their other foot. I actually had a Cockatiel who lost both legs due to an attack from a large bird. She was left with stumps that barely extended from her body. However, she learned to climb in a special cage I had for her, plus I never clipped her wings. She also figured out how to sit on a perch! She was a happy bird and lived into her late 20’s, eventually dying from old age.
While your guy is healing, you should probably restrict his activity, so moving indoors to a cage should be fine, since you said he is a pet. A wild cockatiel that is used to being in an aviary would do better to return directly to the aviary. But as long as your guy is a tame pet, he will be best indoors with you. There is a product called Vet Wrap that you can use to wrap the perches to make them softer, but still provide some grip, until his leg heals. You may need to use this for the rest of his life – it just depends on how much he uses the injured leg and whether or not the perch causes sores without using the Vet Wrap. It comes in a lot of colors, but go with the most neutral color – probably black or white, or a dark green or brown – as a bright color might scare him or make him want to pick at it. You might try to find flat, wood perches, or a platform or even a rope perch if you can find the stiff type. Do not buy anything that has a rough surface added – these typically are sand based and can cause foot issues as well as digestive problems if the bird eats the grit.
I think he will end up being just fine. Birds are resilient and I have seen some horrific injuries that didn’t even seem to phase the bird that was injured. Most likely this is more traumatic for you than for him. He will probably adjust before the leg heals. 🙂 But we are here to help so please do not hesitate to post again if you have more questions or concerns.
Take care,
Brenda
