BirdChannel Forum / Life With Birds / Bird Health Forum

question about feathers

steptoe91 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:31:50 GMT

just wondering, when i first got skittles her head and neck feathers were red with yellow tips. now those have all molted out and all her feathers are a deep red. i also noticed her bands on her wings are more defined. the colors used to kinda run together. i know the color bands that were on her tail feathers were stress bands. were the other feather colors from stress or poor diet? or maybe just a young bird getting her adult feathers.

Nail falling off.

QuakerLuv127 — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:23:46 GMT

So Cosmo somehow hurt his toe. We don't know how, but he was very sore on it for awhile. We decided not to take him to the vet because we figured it would heal on its own and the vet would probably tell us to keep an eye on it. Well it did heal but now his toenail is falling off. Whats the story? Pip [parakeet] is missing a nail as well and my uncle said he found her with her foot bleeding then a few days later the nail fell off. Cos never bled.. we really have no idea what happened. Now his nail is dangling but I don't feel comfortable pulling it off because its kind of red where it is still hanging on and I know it will probably bleed and hurt a little. So I'm letting nature take its course and just supervising him abnormally much haha. Any input?

Quakers beak fell off!

curly — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:47:01 GMT

My quaker approached my yellow col.macaw and had his beak peeled off. What a nightmare! I held him and comfort him, after calming him down, controlled the bleeding, called the vet, told me to keep him secluded and warm. It was late. I was worried he wasnt going to make it thru the night. Fortunately, he did. I took him to the vet, not much they can do. Gave me advice on handfeeding him and giving him some gerber organic baby food. My other quaker disowned him, i guess he couldn't handle the disfigurement. So, i gave him more attention than the others, fights me when i give him the formula. He is trying to eat the small pellets. So, far he has had oatmeal, apple sauce, yogurt, fresh squeezed juices. any advice?

carecredit

kimiko — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:30:25 GMT

does anyone have the carecredit card? i'm leaning towards getting this instead of pet insurance. i'd like to hear some opinions, pros/cons etc from someone who has it.

thanks!

marley's sharp beak

steptoe91 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:45:22 GMT

i know that birds are compelled to chew wood. marley's beak is deadly sharp but he doesn't chew any wood i give him to dull it down a little. he is 18 months old. is he just not old enough for the instinct to have kicked in? he loves to shred. he loves to hang from toys and do acrobatics. and he loves his bells. but he has yet to chew the first wood toy. oh, and he dismantles the wicker toys, too. i give him real tree branches to perch on and he peeled a little bark but not much. he also has all the usual bright colored wood toys. he has a concrete perch by his water dish. a manu mineral perch by his food dish. and various wood perches around and in his cage.

quaker gained weight

steptoe91 — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:09:44 GMT

just curious if i should be concerned. I weighed my birds pretty regular up to about early dec. then i fell behind in my log book, you know just got busy. well about two weeks ago i weighed them and they all weighed within 1 gram of the last time i weighed them. of course, i didn't write what i got down, so i'm guessing on the exact weight from two weeks ago. i just remember it was either 1 gram over or 1 gram less from before. i weighed them tonite and twiggy has gone from about 118 grams to 122 grams. this seems odd, her diet hasn't changed at all in the last two weeks. will weigh her again tomorrow to see if it is still the same. but in the mean time, should i be worried? i read in one of my new issues of bird talk (very excited about the new reading material ) that it could mean she's 'eggnant'. or did i just misunderstand the article? i double checked the scale and it is weighing correctly. weighed her twice and got the same weight both times.

microwave popcorn

Petey Junior — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:55:16 GMT

Does anyone know if it is safe to use microwave popcorn around birds? I haven't been able to find any information on this.

Thank you,

Should I be concerned?

prettyboy9 — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:42:22 GMT

I bought two parakeets from petco. I have had them for about 2 weeks and they are looking pretty bad. Their feathers are frayed and they have lost quite a bit of feathers. I am new to owning parakeets. Is this normal for them? I have kept their cage clean along with fresh water and food. They have a bird bath. They have a cuttlebone and vitamin treat. They have lost some weight since I have had them, but not much. They don't act like they are sick, but they look.... mangy...for lack of a better term. I have pictures, but I can seem to get the picture link to work.

Any advice?

lighting

kazoo — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:51:06 GMT

After much research I have just ordered 2 lighting units for the cages of my macaws and my African Grey. The macaws are no problem as they are always in their cage during the day when I am not home. Kazoo, on the other hand , is free to go from the big cage to the bay window adjacent to his cage at any time during the day. My husband works from home so this is not as unsupervised as it sounds. Anyways, after I order the lights, I am trying to figure out how to expose him to the light that he needs as the window is not adequate. Any suggestions? Thanks, Kris

List of questions- please advise

Che Gilson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:03:42 GMT

Hi! I have some general bird questions, some of them may be specific to PBFD birds but some are genral and I'd appreciate the help before I spring for the vet phone consult.

1.PBDF birds can get overgrown beaks and nails which can lead to fungal infections and I was wondering what these fungal infections would look like.

2. What exactly does a stress free life mean in terms of bird life?

3. So far Igor mosstly seems to eat the seeds out of Abicake, although I'm trying to introduce some other foods, it may take him awhile. So, in the meantime should I give him vitamin supplements?

4. I read that Acidophilous will boost his immune system, important for his disease, is this people acidophilous? Or should I look for special bird acidophilous?

5. Dry skin- I think his skin looks dry but is there anything I can do about it?

6. Do birds act the same every day? Do they have a set level of activity or do they have low energy days and high energy days? Today and yesterday Igor has not been as active as he was two days ago when he was just all over the place- but he continues eating and drinking. But two days ago he was super vocal and running around all over his cage. So will behavior vary from day to day?

7. How much do I have to buy? I see listings for UV Air Purifier filters, and parrot lighting, and I wonder if I should be getting all these things?

I know these are kind of nuerotic questions- some I will probably have to break down and ask the vet. But I just extra worry since he's chronically ill. But I know! Stay positive! He seems to be healthy and interested in people and loves food.

update: ^cheeky^

kimiko — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:44:07 GMT

cheeky didnt get anything from one of my other birds & its not something she can pass to them.

the yeast bacteria that's normally present in their system got too high in number, and that led to an ulcer which ruptured.

crazy quaker landed in oil

steptoe91 — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:06:26 GMT

my crazy quaker flew across the house (have been putting off trimming her wings) and landed in a pan of melted crisco that i had used to fry chicken. the oil was just barely warm, and the pan was cold. she got it on her feet, a little right above her vent, and alot on her tail feathers. we got her right away and washed it well with dawn and warm water. and rinsed it ALOT. of course we had to towel her, she was not into the late nite bath. is there anything else i need to do? besides trim her wings tomorrow. i just cleaned the whole house, it was the only dirty part of the house! talk about bad luck.

cockatiel threw up

kimiko — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:08:37 GMT

my cockatiel threw up this morning, and it looked like phlegm. she only did it once. i'm at work now, and have my hubby keeping an eye on her since he's home.
should i call the vet about this?
she was just there on friday for a follow-up for a bruised toe, and she checked out to be healthy.

thanks

looking for an avian vet in Oklahoma

justmefromnv — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 09:10:43 GMT

My daughter recently moved to Lawton Oklahoma with a green cheek. She is looking for an avian vet in the area. Any recommendations? What about food suppliers in the area?

Senegal's eyes permanently dilated?

amea_gari — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:33:00 GMT

I removed the original post that was here because the story has taken a bit of a strange turn. I will PM anyone who is aching to know what has happened, but I'd rather not post it publicly.

I regret to say that I wasn't able to determine what caused the bird's eye dilation. She will be seen by a vet, and if I hear what might be wrong I will pass that along to the general well of knowledge on this forum, in case it ever comes up in someone else's bird.

As I was telling a friend of mine, this whole bird fiasco is feeling more like a lifetime original movie. <_>

Is apple cider beneficial for my cockatiels?

tiel lover — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:45:27 GMT

I want to know if it's beneficial to add a drop or two of apple cider vinegar to my cockatiels drinking water. Is it good for them? what kind of minerals does it give them? would I do this once a week or daily?tiel lover

fatty tumors

kimiko — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:32:34 GMT

my husband took our parakeet, baby, to the vet today because over the weekend i found fatty lumps while bathing her. it turns out that they're fatty tumors. the vet said they're not interfering with her breathing (and she still acts normal - eating, drinking, singing, playing, flying). they can be removed but there's a chance they can come back.

i'm not really sure what to do...

any advice?

Tumbler Update

Lorek — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:39:39 GMT

As many of you recall, Tumbler had her beak bit a number of months ago and she had a fairly deep puncture wound that needed to be dremmelled out a few times. Well she has since grown it mostly out but she was developing a strong "fang" on the side of the puncture wound. I scheduled an appointment to have it dremmelled out again, thinking she may permenantly have a slightly crossed beak. As it turns out the last few days before the appt she has started to really wear it down and she still went in for the check up but she got the a-okay she looks great and not to worry! Smiley

and since this is the first time she has seen this vet she also got quite the compliments from the whole crew on being such a well behaved and delightfully cute little bird. most people out here only have large birds so seeing a small bird is almost a unique thing... or atleast seeing a small bird at a vet LOL

and after the visit it was off to work with me where she really charmed the guys i was working with. its like she makes friends where ever she goes LOL a little ambassador for smaller birds.

HELP!

LittleBeaks — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:01:57 GMT

I went out yesterday and came back today to find my male java finch in their nest. When he came out he couldn't move. He was swaying back a forth and could not fly. I have been watching him and he is having trouble moving around.I wasn't home so I don't know what could have happened. Some of the feathers behind his head are gone too.
PLEASE HELP!

Avian lights

bananasmom — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:08:19 GMT

Does anyone have experience with the avian uvb lights? I just purchased one in hopes of having a lovebird I was just given due to the fact that he is a feather plucker in hopes that this might help him stop. I am also attempting to convert him over to pellets and I have given him a ton of toys and foraging items but I figure I might as well try the light since so many web sights say it helps pluckers (that may have a vitamin deficiency).

Bath time

MandaRae84 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:49:29 GMT

Whats the youngest a baby can start taking a bath? We just got a baby Greek Cheeked Conure and i was wondering when we can start letting him take a bath. Punkin our Caique loves her bath times. So we were just wondering thanks!

Few minute loss of balance?

broccoli — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:33:46 GMT

I'm not sure what happened but last night I was in the living room and broc and cin were on cin's cage- just hanging out like they like to do from time to time. All of a sudden broccoli takes off (I was watching them at the time) and flies around the room frantically and lands on her cage. Cin was so startled he fell off the cage and onto the floor. I put him back in his cage and then went to get broc who in the meantime had flown to the couch.

When I got her she was holding up a wing like something was wrong- now she was holding it more UP than out. She was also looking up and I swear it was like she'd seen a ghost or something cuz she was looking UP at something and seemed terrified. I reached out to touch her and she got on my hand. I called to my husband and by the time he came out she was acting like she couldn't balance and was stumbling. She was shaking so badly I thought something must have terrified her so I gave her some water and she drank it.

Then she was totally fine- wing back down, acting normal and playful. Hubby and I had no idea what to do. So we decided to put her back in her cage. She acted totally fine and we went to bed- I checked on her in the morning she was totally fine. She was her normal playful self and when I got home this afternoon she's totally fine also.

Has anyone experienced this? I'm worried that if I take her to the vet they'll poke and prod her and do all sorts of stuff to stress her out. I read a week ago about a person who took their GCC to the vet and the GCC died from complications from whatever they were given for the xray? My husband thinks she had a seizure but she was flying around- I figured if it were a seizure she wouldn't have been able to do that?

My bird has bacteria

carkam — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:19:18 GMT

Hi. I have a GCC who went in for his yearly physical. He is 1 years old now. All of his labs came back good except the mouth and vent swab had 2 bacteria in it. (can't remember the names.) The vet wants me to give him AVC in his water and yogurt for 1 month and then retest. THis is my first bird and this worries me as she said one of the bacteria is rare. Does this kind of treatment sound right? THANKS!!

Young birds and poop

amea_gari — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:41:33 GMT

I was wonder about frequency of pooping and pooping habits for my senegal. His hatchdate is about Nov 26 of 2008, so he is almost a year old now. I don't know if he's male or female, if that makes a difference for this.

He's always pooped very frequently. Sometimes it's well-formed, but he seems to poop even when there's nothing but liquid to expel. It's seemingly random, solid, less solid, no solid, solid, no solid, etc etc. And he goes VERY often, about every 5 to 7 minutes.

Now before with my tiel Flicker, she would go when I held her away from me, or when I just picked her up. I always knew to wait a moment, let her go, then take her wherever. It was so easy I didn't have to think about it.

But Taka is a /mess/. He goes on my shirt, on my head (I know right? :| ) on top of his water dish, everywhere. I was hoping it was a baby thing, but with him being a year old, is the frequency at which he does this, and his indiscriminate nature, something that's likely to change? Since I got him at about 3 weeks old, I have been saying "poop" (like a fool) every time he goes, in an effort to teach him what the word means. Absolutely no use. When he was a baby, I always waited for him to poop after feeding before I would pick him up and give him snuggles, in the hopes this would teach him to poop before being handled. It didn't seem to make a difference.

So my questions are-- is this normal for a young senegal? And secondly, if it's not, should I be concerned? He is otherwise healthy. He did just sneeze on me twice but otherwise he is bright eyed, active, and since I got his wings reclipped the other day, he hasn't even been biting.

Olivia was under the weather

wordybirdie — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:26:29 GMT

My little Olivia began vomiting on late Friday afternoon and also had runny poops which had me concerned, although her appetite was good. So took her to the vet on Saturday to get her back on the mend. She had a large amount of bacteria in her droppings so I am giving her liquid meds via a syringe in her mouth...never knew what a challenge that was. She had lost a couple of grams also, so the last couple days I increased her treats and TLC. I think she's really improving, although I think I get as much medicine on me as in her. I am really thankful for my avian vet.

Air Purifiers

Kodie — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:42:58 GMT

Hey guys,

The time has come to close up all the windows and prepare for the "harsh" winter we're about to get here and I was wondering what you guys think about getting an air purifier because of the lack of fresh air.

Is it worth heading out and picking one up? if so, does anyone have any suggestions for which one to get or anything specific i should be looking for in one?

Also, placement of the purifier... My girls are all in one room - this is where they spend the majority of their day but do come out to play on the computer with mom for a little while before bed. I assume it should be in the bird room because thats where they spend most of their time?

Thanks in advance

"he" Layed an egg

ernie — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:14:23 GMT

I adopted a Green Cheek Conure about 10 months ago. Jasper was in a home that could not keep "him". A breeder friend of theirs took Jasper for breeding but liked Jasper's personality and wanted Jasper to be someone's pet. The breeder told us Jasper was a he, Figured they knew.

Now Jasper just laid a egg. I knew something was up when she started showing breeding behavior and then gained 10 grams. So the question being... What do I need to do for her? Special nutrition? Could there be more eggs? Do they all lay in a short time or.....? She lost 5 grams after egg was laid, but that is a afternoon weight and not a morning weight that I use as a standard. Thanks.

Molting..pfthhooiii!!!

Filippo&Debz — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:59:38 GMT

Little pippo is having a really long and severe molt. Just when I thought it was over, He starts up again. today, I didnt know if he was preening or plucking! I gave them both a nice little spritzy shower and it calmed him down a bit. There was a post here not long ago about long molts and too much protein being consumed. I'm not sure if it was ever explained as to why too much protein promotes long molts. Anyone catch that?

parakeet losing feathers

keetlovebird — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:31:30 GMT

Hey everyone just a question about my parakeet. We have noticed that there are feathers missing around her neck... Could this be faeather plucking or something else?

Favorite cleaning products?

steph13055 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:25:19 GMT

What does everyone use to clean their homes that is bird safe? We are moving into our first home in a couple of weeks, and the floor plan is a lot more open than what we have now, so it's not as easy to isolate Taffers in another room while I am cleaning. The upstairs is on a different AC/heating unit, but I don't think I would enjoy moving him up and down the stairs all the time.

I am looking for recommendations for bathroom/kitchen cleaners, tile floor cleaner, and something to use on our hardwood floors.

Also, are crock pots harmful (we haven't used it yet)? And what about if we rented a rug doctor to clean the carpets with? I wasn't sure about the cleaning product used with the machine.

Thanks!

my bird fell/flew into the cage door and stunned itself!!!

critter crazy — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:00:25 GMT

has anyone else had to deal with something like this??

he had a bit of blood coming out of one eye and couldn't move at all for about 20mins... can this cause perminent damage??

this happened yesterday about 5:30 ish(sat) we jumed in the car, raced to the vet and they were closed, so we rang around only to find out no avian vet could look at him til monday... he has since livened up but he doesn't seem himself abit wobbly, should i still take him to the vet tomorrow??

He is a indian ringneck, about 3 yr old...

Stargazing help for my lovebird

LilLemon — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:17:14 GMT

I just wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions on things that i can do to help my 3 week old lovebird get over her stargazing...i heard that sometimes they can grow out of it as she was hatched with this so called disease...but is there anything i can do to help her?? Also can i buy vitamin b 12 to give to my lovie??? if anyone has any suggestions please let me know...times are tight with money and i have to have the vet be the last thing possible but i'm only going to hold off a couple of weeks for that since i really dont know what the cause is....

Conure and AC....

Januaril — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:21:37 GMT

We live in upstate NY and have suffered the first real heat wave of the summer. I've been keeping the central air on between 76-79. Kelley (our green cheek conure) loves to be outside on the enclosed porch. My concern is the temperature difference between the porch and the house, and if it will effect him if I continue to put him out during the day and bring him in at night. I've only done it for the last 3 days and everything in his behavior and habits seem normal. I usually give him some fresh fruit to keep him hydrated while he is out there too. The porch is mostly shaded and doesn't usually even get into the 90's, but I just read the article about heat exhaustion. I thought tropical birds liked the heat and humidity.

endless molt

arman — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:49:55 GMT

i have this canary that has been in a constant state of molting! for months now he has been molting and his feathers look horrible. what is wrong with him? can i make him better?

also he doesnt seem to sing anymore, is there something that i can do to make him sing?

thanks for any input

My birds attacked eachother

SLuSHee — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:26:12 GMT

I was out of town for the week of my birthday when my husband called me one night to tell me that my two birds had attacked each other. They are both green cheek conures, one is a pineapple. We knew that they did not get along and tried everything we could when we introduced the younger one (Kiwii-the pineapple) into our home with our older (by two years) bird named Cheerio. Despite our efforts, they never grew to like each other so we have dealt with that in various ways, such as separate but equal playtime.

Anyhow, my husband had accidently left one of the side doors open on Cheerio's cage when he left for the store. He was only gone about 15 minutes but when he came home Cheerio was on top of Kiwii's cage and they were viscously attacking each other's feet. He later described it to me as a "bloodbath". He got Cheerio off when he noticed the amount of blood and cuts that they each had. He cleaned Cheerio with running water and there was no problem of continual bleeding on his feet, but there was on Kiwii. He managed to stop her bleeding by packing her cut toe with water and baking soda, which he had to repeat several times before it finally stopped.

It was late on a Saturday night, and he could not get ahold of any vet that could give him advice, so he stayed up the whole night and watched over them, to make sure they were both okay. Since then, and now that I am home, both the birds are healing correctly and do not seem to be that affected by the fight other than their healing wounds and the fact that they are more snugly with us.

Kiwii, the one who was the most hurt and lost the most blood, is okay now. She has a few scabs on her toes but they seem to be healing just fine, and thankfully she leaves them alone. Cheerio, on the other hand, has lost nearly all of the skin (I am not sure of the correct term, but the scales on one of his toes are all gone). No bone is showing, it was just the outside layer that was damaged.

What I would like to know is if there is anything I can do to further help his healing and actually, if that skin will grow back or not. I suppose that it will, but I am concerned about possible infection as it does. I have removed all of the concrete perches in their cages and replaced them with either wood or rope ones, which I clean along with their cage bottoms on a daily basis. I also make sure that they bathe everyday, so that their feet stay clean. The nearest aviary vet is a few hours away from us, and as of right now I do not think it is necesarry to take them into the doctor. Does anyone have any other suggestions for me?

Thank you!

SO I need to know about cockatoos and peanuts???

brighteyes2143 — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:12:57 GMT

Is it bad to give them peanuts? Mine really loves them and I heard somewhere that they are bad for them?

SO I need to know about cockatoos and peanuts???

brighteyes2143 — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:11:31 GMT

Is it bad to give them peanuts? Mine really loves them and I heard somewhere that they are bad for them?

Help!

cockatiel lover — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:13:28 GMT

My parakeets stomach is bloated and missing feathers, does anyone know whats wrong with him?

Nature's Miracle Disinfectant

CriminalistW — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 09:13:43 GMT

I recently bought a bottle of Nature's Miracle 3 in 1 disinfectant to clean my tiel's cage. However, after reading in a book that cleansers are dangerous around birds and nothing but diluted bleach should be used, I'm a little weary about using it.

Has anyone heard of this being dangerous for birds? I don't particularly like using bleach because I'm very sensitive to it and get headaches from being around it. However, if this disinfectant I bought could harm my bird, I'll gladly use diluted bleach. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Change of behavior in my 10 year old female Cockatiel

john g — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:47:14 GMT

My tiel stays at the bottom corner of the cage to sleep

or when I go out. She is out of the cage when we are home. She is fine, not puffed up, eats, and acts fine. When you put her in the cage is when she gets mean, acting like she did at times if she looks in a cabnet or dark place.I will be taking her to the vet this week. She has a fatty liver.But other than that she is fine,I think she is just wanting to lay eggs. 2 years ago I added a green cheek conure to the house. of course they don't like each other. The Tiel is always looking for my attention. Can such an increase in what looks like a bird is horny be a sign of illness? If anyone has had a problem like this please let me know.I am concerned that she is at the very least getting to stressed out, causing her to become sick.