sore leg/parrot

Question
My 2 year old Green-Naped Rainbow Lory got somehow his left toes tangled while standing in the cage bowl holder. I didn't notice it until I saw him pulling off with no avail, I rescued him opening the nails and toes to freed the leg but he was desperately pulling and twisting and after the incident he began limping and keeping his leg up. I could understand that he was hurt and thought that he will be like that for a few days, but now it is been 2 full weeks and even though he is now limping less, I still notice that he tries to keep his weight to one side and whenever he climbs he still doesn't have his usual abilities and strength on that leg. My question is if it will be much longer to heal? it's this a normal recuperation time ?  I know that he doesn't have anything broken cause I saw him pulling and twisting while caught, but I am worry that it's been 2 weeks and he still is hurt for a simple twisted muscle, so, in your experience, what should I do ?  Thanks a lot for your answers.

Answer
Hi, Doris.  Thanks for posting!

I don't know how long it will take for this bird to recouperate since I don't know the extent of the injuries.  It could be that your lory is injured more severely than you think.  If s/he is limping less, s/he is likely getting better.  However, it might be a good idea to have your lory seen by an avian veterinarian (not a cat/dog vet, but an avian vet) in order to find out the full extent of the injury.  A twisted muscle on a parrot might not be just a simple thing if this, in fact, is what is wrong with your bird.  A muscle pull even for a human can be a severe injury depending on the muscle, and even for humans, this can take a while to heal.  There are too many unknowns here.  

Of course what to do next is up to you.  You can wait a bit longer to see if s/he continues to progress or you can visit an avian veterinarian to find out exactly what's wrong and how to deal with it.  You're the better judge here since you saw the injury happen and live with the bird on a daily basis, see his/her progress (or not), etc.  Parrots often hurt themselves in/on/around their cages and we never even know about it.  Since your lory has been down for 2 full weeks, I'm leaning toward a more severe injury.

Chrys