Can a Cockatiel choke ?

[texsize]

I wasn't going to write about this but changed my mind due to a post of a similar nature.

Monday morning when feeding the Tiels Angel acted very strangely for about 1 1/2 minuits.
Her neck was extended up, her head was tilted slightly up and her beak was open. There was no bobbing of her head/neck this position was kind of frozen. I could hear her breathing and it sounded restricted as if she was choking on something a little to big to swallow.
I have seen my Tiels adjusting there crop and it's mostly looks like a very tired Cockatiel that can't stop yawning.

She went back to normal right after and was eating normally.

Well after loosing 2 Cockatiels just recently I was not going to take any chances and I made an appointment with my Avian vet for later that afternoon.
He only found what he always finds, the wrong kind of bacteria in her mouth/crop. So I got to give her the antibiotics and I am sure that bacteria had nothing to do with what happened.

Been keeping a close eye on her all week and she has been fine with no repeat of what happened Monday.

 

[noodles123]

yes- birds can choke in general. I actually know someone whose Grey had to have to toggle from a bell surgically extracted from his throat after he mistakenly swallowed it during play-- mind you, it was extracted from his throat (not his intestines/stomach). Certain toys and even foods can be serious choking hazards.
The fact that you lost 2 recently does make me wonder if there could be some sort of viral disease at hand, but that can be trickier to diagnose without specific panels etc (a gram-stain isn't going to show that) and some viruses do impact the nervous system.

 

[texsize]

I should have remembered that I saw Bella chock one time on the skin of a grape.

My other two Tiels that died from very different symptoms.
Sunny died form liver failure. She had like bruises all over her skin (visible only after removing her feathers). She died at the vets office.
Pinky just fell over dead. Best guess is heart attack but I never new how old she was.

Anyway I have been feeding the Tiels the same pellet mix I give my big birds. They are kind of large for a tiel but they crunch them up without trouble. In fact they all like to hold a pellet in there foot (something unusual for a tiel) and munch away.

The pellet mix's I have found for smaller birds are like crumbs and they would not eat them.

 

[noodles123]

I have heard that food size can be a choking hazard--including food that is too small for a large bird. Some people don't see how it could be, but if they swallow something w/o chewing, it can be an issue (big or small) depending on their size