Tangled toes trip up green-cheeked conure

Meet Clover, Joe F.’s lively and loveable South Jersey-based conure.

It’s not always the pet parent who makes the decisions come adoption time. Sometimes, the connection between pet and human is too strong to ignore, and our animal companions take the initiative. Case in point, Clover and her human, Joe.

While in search of a new pet, Joe interacted with a special bird but was pulled away before he could make a decision. But when he returned, the clever conure took the lead and made the decision for him.

“Clover had recognized me, as her and I were just hanging out not too long ago,” Joe says. “And then she actually flew off [another] person's finger, then just came right to my shoulder. And I was like, ‘Well, I guess that’s as good of a sign as any.’ Clover had chosen me as her companion.”

The connection between the two was instant, even in the way they share some quality TV time together. Clover even became a big football fan. Joe continues, “While the game is going on, she's [taking] foot-fulls of pellets and shoving them in her beak—it's almost like someone sitting on a couch with a big bag of chips. If there's stuff that's going on the TV during the game, like referees are blowing their whistles, she wants to chime in.”

Everything was going smoothly, when a rough path involving Clover’s foot led to a surprising and uncommon veterinary call—and a Hambone nomination.

What happened?

Joe knew something wasn’t right when he uncovered Clover’s cage one morning. She stood on her perch at a strange angle and didn’t move elegantly like she normally would.

Joe recalls, “I gave her my finger so she could hop on, and even when she hopped on my finger, she was very wobbly—she couldn't keep her balance. Immediately, I was worried that something happened overnight.”

He took a closer look and noticed that her toes were all tangled. He continues, “I don't know how she was able to do that, but somehow her feet got stuck together because her two toenails had hooked.”

Joe tried to carefully unhook Clover’s toes. The longer it took, the squirmier Clover got—to the point that Joe worried she could get injured in the process if he continued. “I was like, ‘I think right now I have to leave this to the professionals,’” he says. The veterinarian discovered that a recent growth spurt in her claw nails created an awkward nail shape on her back foot—exactly where her other foot's claw had hooked on. Fortunately, it was an easy fix, and Joe and Clover were on their way home.

Things soon went back to normal, though now Clover is a bit more careful about the status of her feet: “Every now and then, she'll decide to just randomly look down on her feet,” Joe adds. “I don't know if she's always checking to make sure: Are my feet stuck this time?”

How Nationwide helped

Joe went into bird parenting with an understanding of how much keeping them happy and healthy can cost. Luckily, his employer introduced him to pet insurance to help manage eligible veterinary expenses. He says, “I know that with birds, things like veterinary bills can be very high. And Nationwide was the one to go with, because they have coverage for exotics like parrots.”

That preparedness came in handy after Clover’s tangled toes mishap. Joe didn’t need to second guess the decision to see a veterinarian. He continues, “For situations like the one that I experienced, knowing that I have Nationwide pet insurance gives me that peace of mind. Should other emergency situations ever happen again with Clover, I can rely on the coverage to help cover the cost.

“It's just nice having that sort of safety net for me to fall back on should anything happen.”