Post by misplacednotlost on Sept 15, 2019 16:58:02 GMT
So I don't really know whats going on with Little Bird. A quick background- He landed on my porch in early May, I tried to find his owners for a solid month but then resigned to being the new owner of a parakeet. I have done a ton of research since then and have tried to get to know this little guy and make friends with him. I used some online resources and from his stripings and the lack of color in is cere, I figured he was around 4 or 5 months when he found me. Which means he's probably 8 to 9 months old now. About 5 weeks ago I started noticing this odd behaviour.. (See videos) its almost like he's chewing or mouthing a lot. I have scoured the internet and different forums to see if anyone knows what this is about, and haven't found much like it. The first video is what it progressed to, where it seemed to become an actual crop issue.... he started to stretch his neck and seem like he was struggling there. When I saw that I immediately took him to the vet, and they did a crop flush. That seemed to take the problem away for about a week, but then I noticed the chewing behaviour return. I returned to a different vet last week to see if they could do a more thorough exam. (Note: I live in a small town, we have no specific avian vets, but 2 vets that have experience with small birds and can do basic care and check ups. The first Vet I went to I wasn't a fan of, he didn't really exam LB, he just listened to my symptoms, watched the video, and gave him a crop flush with mineral oil. I found out this second vet i took him to this last week has a little more experience with birds, and is the local vet that gets called when any wild birds have issues.) Anyway, I took him in again last week, and unfortunately came up with no answers. This Vet agreed there is definitely something going on, as this isn't a behavior she has seen in any of the birds she's worked with. I guess I'm hoping to get some opinions from other Budgie owners, has anyone seen this behavior in their birds? Know if it is indicative of some issue going on?
Other things worth mentioning.....
1. For the most part he is a friendly little guy, but there are days where he seems to be more agitated and aggressive, nips more and wants to be left alone. My guess is it has to do with whatever is going on??
2. The reason I took him to the vet this last week is he started sneezing a lot. I don't know if it has to do with the changing of the seasons, but I'm worried that whatever this issue is might be weakening his immune system. They are wet sneezes, but he hasn't had any discharge or build up on his cere, or nostril area. The vet last week thinks that if seeds are caught in his crop or throat that it might be causing the sneezing.
3. Another concerning behaviour is when we are playing and he's tapping his beak on my nails, occasionally seeds will just fall out of his beak. He's not regurgitating or vomiting, they just sort of fall out. It even seems to surprise him a little!
Final note, There is an actual Avian Vet that I have an appt with on Tuesday. He is almost 3 hours away, but based off what my local vet said, and when I called their office, there definitely seems to be something going on. I'm really concerned because 3 vet visits in the last month has made it really difficult with building trust with this little guy. I'm worried what a 5 hour roundtrip vet visit would do to our relationship. He's already avoiding me more, and doesn't like to play with me as much.... Any tips on how to make this process easier for him? And how to help rebuild that trust with him? Thank you for taking time to read this and any advice would be so amazingly helpful!!
Melissa and Little Bird
Other things worth mentioning.....
1. For the most part he is a friendly little guy, but there are days where he seems to be more agitated and aggressive, nips more and wants to be left alone. My guess is it has to do with whatever is going on??
2. The reason I took him to the vet this last week is he started sneezing a lot. I don't know if it has to do with the changing of the seasons, but I'm worried that whatever this issue is might be weakening his immune system. They are wet sneezes, but he hasn't had any discharge or build up on his cere, or nostril area. The vet last week thinks that if seeds are caught in his crop or throat that it might be causing the sneezing.
3. Another concerning behaviour is when we are playing and he's tapping his beak on my nails, occasionally seeds will just fall out of his beak. He's not regurgitating or vomiting, they just sort of fall out. It even seems to surprise him a little!
Final note, There is an actual Avian Vet that I have an appt with on Tuesday. He is almost 3 hours away, but based off what my local vet said, and when I called their office, there definitely seems to be something going on. I'm really concerned because 3 vet visits in the last month has made it really difficult with building trust with this little guy. I'm worried what a 5 hour roundtrip vet visit would do to our relationship. He's already avoiding me more, and doesn't like to play with me as much.... Any tips on how to make this process easier for him? And how to help rebuild that trust with him? Thank you for taking time to read this and any advice would be so amazingly helpful!!
Melissa and Little Bird
