Clumsy Baby

[Gears]

Hey guys... i've had a new Alexandrine for 4 months now. He (Hamlet) is now 7 months old.
Can you guys tell me what your Alex's were like as babies. Hamlet is very unstable & clumsy when walking across flat surfaces. He's fine walking across perches and climbing up the bars of his cage or climbing cotton ropes, but on a flat surface he will fall flat on his face when he walks. He LOVES sitting on the handle of a basket & being carried around (we go out a lot that way) and he is fine with that, but just walking flat is a problem (I always make sure he isn't on any slippery surfaces so it's not a problem with slipping).
I've been researching & had a comment that Alex's are notoriously foot clumsy as babies until they're approx 6 months.
I never had this with Othello (IRN) or Pericles (Sun Conure).
Hamlets feet also don't seem quite right because his rear facing toe easily slips to the forward position when he sits on a perch (it's very easy to lift his foot & his toe goes back to the rear where it should be). Is this just normal "flexibilty" of a baby bird?
How were your guys as babies?

[vankarhi]

My birds are a bit wary of the floor at first as the floor is slippery and it does take time for them to learn how to walk on the floor until they are used to it. I do remember some of the babies having problems until they felt more secure.....or got used to the slippery floor.

If he is having no problems with walking around on perches and stuff I would say he is fine.......just not feeling too secure on a slippery floor.

[meandem]

That big beak might be weighing him down a little! No just joking, Trace would know what she is talking about, she has had plenty of experience with those little darlings.

[vankarhi]

oh it is not just the alex's ......... I was just talking "birds" in general finding the floors slippery. We don't have carpet......just floating wooden floors (tiles in bathroom) and all of my birds were not comfortable on the floor until they got used to it. Erik has only just recently decided he doesn't mind walking and playing on the floor. I can remember a couple of birds actually "flattening" themselves on the floor and too scared to stand upright because they slipped around.

[vankarhi]

when I said "flattening" ......... I did not mean damaging themselves, just trying to make themselves closer to the ground rather than upright.

[Gears]

Thanx guys... but... what if he is tripping over even on non-slippery surfaces (like on the couch) or walking across a towel on a bench?

[vankarhi]

I think you will find he is just very young......he sounds normal to me in every thing else you have said.

[Robyn]

Could his toe nails be catching on the couch or towel. Or he still isn't confident walking on slippery surfaces, so he actually is using his beak to balance himself. If he is tearing around the cage without a problem i don't think i would worry.
I know my baby eccies are very clumsy, some more so than others. But by the time they are 6 to 9 months old they start to get more sure of themselves. I have 6 at different ages and they look so funny trying to walk on the tiles. Some clench their feet, others do the splits, and like mentioned some even lie flat on the floor.
Hope this helps a bit.