chives?? please help!

[Owlet]

Are chives safe??? I could have sworn I read they are safe somewhere but now I am seeing they are not and I am terrified. I put some in his food and I am not home right now. I told the person taking care of him to immediately stop feeding him the new food. Did I mess up? Should I ask my brother to get him to a vet ASAP? He has 3 different foods right now and only ONE them has the chives in it but I can't remember which. I know for sure which one DOESNT so he can still eat that but I don't have the notecard that has which chop has which foods. I'm really scared please help! There's a chance he hasn't even eaten any yet but I cannot remember which chop had it.

update: he's only eaten type 2 and type 3 of the chop, both of which do not have chives.

edit: nevermind there's a chance he might have eaten type 1 still trying to confirm

edit: I don't know I think the chives was in type 2?? i think my brother misread. I don't know I don't know what to do.

 

[Terry57]

How much did he actually eat? From doing some reading, it sounds like they *can* cause red blood cells to rupture. Can you call your vet to see what he says?

 

[Owlet]

the vet is closed right now but you bet i will be in the morning

he wouldn't have eaten a ton because we didn't put a lot in his chop compared to the rest.

I'm starting to second guess myself if I even put chives in
I wish I were just home so i could check

do you know if I called a store if they could bring up my receipt and see what I bought? rip

 

[Owlet]

what is red blood cell rupture? what does that entail? how do I fix it if it does happen? what do I DO? how do I detect it?

 

[Terry57]

Okay, according to the world parrot trust, it is called hemolitic anemia.
Found this:

https://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/onions.html
Still looking for symptoms.

Found this:

https://avianandexoticvets.com/anemia-in-avian-and-exotic-pets

I think that since it is a form of anemia, there would be signs of lethargy. That is just a guess, however. I am anxious to hear what the vet says.
I hope everything will be okay.

 

[Owlet]

is there anything I can give him that would elevate his red blood count before any symptoms possibly show? I know with humans iron/proteins would help but I don't know how I would give that to a parrot or if it would even help

 

[Owlet]

I told my brother to watch for lethargy and check on him frequently

 

[Terry57]

I wouldn't do anything until your vet has weighed in. Hopefully he didn't even eat any, and if he did it sounds like a small amount.
Maybe someone else can chime in who has experience with this and be of more help.
He is still acting normal? Maybe it wasn't chives you bought. They smell strong when you chop them.

 

[Owlet]

I chopped up a lot of other herbs too and I'm suffering from allergies so it's debatable. My brother said he was acting fine a few hours ago and if it is in the food he has eaten, he would have eaten it for both his meals today.

 

[Terry57]

I'm glad to hear he is acting normally. If Lincoln is like my Ekko, he picks and chooses through his chop so he may not have even eaten any if it was in there.
Please update on what your vet says and how he's doing tomorrow. Sending good thoughts his way!

 

[LeslieA]

In my experience, he wouldn't have ingested enough to affect him especially considering an Ekkie's basic diet. I really think you are blowing this out of proportion.

Even so, in the future, please do not feed any part including the flowers of any alliums to your Ekkie.

 

[Owlet]

I am aware now not to, I get that. I think this thread pretty much spells out "hey I'm not doing this again and it was a mistake"

I think you're unfamiliar with ekkies. They are a lot more sensitive to things like this than other birds may be due to their unique digestive track.

"considering an ekkies basic diet" ask 5 eclectus owners what they feed their fids and I guarantee it will be different from each owner.

If I'm being honest "I think you're really blowing this out of proportion" felt incredibly insensitive to me. Honestly the entire post reads rather insensitive to me. Maybe I'm just being oversensitive because I've had a long, stressful day but I don't really think that's the case.

thanks for the advice.

 

[ChristaNL]

Sorry to sound blunt but...
This whole post really reads a bit like - "oh, they are overreacting again".
If you make chop a lot of everything goes is, so there will nog be huge amounts of whatever in it anyway- and it will not all get eaten...


The whole warning is about (against) feeding massive amounts of anything union-related, a sliver once in a while wont hurt them - unless yours really had a massive reaction...


Ekkies disgestive systems may be wired somewhat differently, but if they were *that* sensitive no ekkie in the wild would survive.
Remember parrots pick up on your stresslevels and it will probably cause them more distress than anything your might feed them in small-small amounts.

 

[Terry57]

Okay, enough of the overreaction comments.
The forum is a place for everyone to feel free to ask their questions, and they should not be judged for being concerned about their bird.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Owlet, I'm 100% behind your reaching out. I'd do the same. The most important thing? OUR BIRDS! I don't mind admitting to lack of knowledge, or mistakes, or even over-reaction. The Rb (yes, even the Rb) is worth it.

 

[LordTriggs]

take a deep breath! Like you've already done so, remove the new food for now and ask his current sitter just to keep an eye out. If he acts different they know to take him to the vet. Just as you would do if you were there.

I'm sure he'll be fine, he's a strong boy so he'll if anything maybe have a bit of indigestion or similar but considering how much different stuff goes into chop and how you yourself believe there's only a small amount of chive in there it shouldn't be enough to send him to the doctor's.

 

[Taw5106]

I consider chives to be an onion so I stay away from them BUT in sharing with my little feathered pigs they have eaten a tiny bit in my food at times and they are fine. Like it’s been said they pick through their chop and eat what they want, make a mess throwing out the rest. My biggest food thief was my Ekkie Venus. I think as long as he is eating the chop with no chives at this point you are good but if he shows signs, ring the vet.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Anansi]

...Ekkies disgestive systems may be wired somewhat differently, but if they were *that* sensitive no ekkie in the wild would survive...

I see your line of thought, but there is a flaw in your reasoning. Most pet ekkies do not eat in captivity what they do in the wild. So perhaps their sensitivity to foods simply is not an issue in the wild, as their diet consists of foods they have evolved to ingest.

Think about it. We feed Eclectus parrots veggies because the nutritional content therein most closely mimics what they would eat in the wild, but in truth they are obligate frugivores. But the fruits we have here just wouldn't be enough, nutritionally speaking, to serve as more that an accent or supplement to a diet of veggies, grains, legumes and sprouts.

Further, consider this: it was commonly believed up to even a decade or so ago that eclectus parrots only live between 15 and 20 years. But now the actual lifespan is seen as potentially over 60. That suggests that these parrots were only living out between a quarter and a third of their lives - in captivity - before dying. Why? Because people were misinformed about their diets.

So this begs the question of why eclectus parrots were so much more significantly affected than other parrots. To me, the answer is obvious: a greater food sensitivity than other parrots. Or, at the very least, a greater sensitivity to foods commonly found outside of their home regions than other parrots.

Owlet, I'm hoping that any amount ingested by Lincoln was insignificant enough to have left him unharmed. I'm just glad you learned the truth sooner rather than later. Please keep us updated on how he is doing, okay?

 

[Owlet]

Honestly, I'm sad some of you believe I am over reacting (again??) when I am worried I had seriously screwed up and possibly cost my parrot.

mods I would appreciate it if this thread could he locked or just straight up deleted. It has damaged my trust in this forum.

Thank you everyone who has been genuinely supportive and helpful and not just belittled my panic.

Lincoln is my child and I would be devastated if anything happened to him.

And to note: all ekkies are different, and I don't know if it's bad genetics or what, but Lincoln seems to be extra sensitive.

 

[ChristaNL]

Of course there is a flaw, but since no-one actually knows what 2 mg of chives do with the insides of an ekkie -> there is no use panicking about it.
(I am not even sure if Ekkie actualy ate it or just shoved it aside)

It has happened - nothing we can do about that anymore: now we can only sit an wait (and NOT panick - because that really freaks out the parrots and is also *proven* not good for them).

I do not want to bash Owlet for caring - I am an admirer of the huge level of care (and love) this bird receives, but sometimes a third party has to step in and say: hey... chill!

We all make mistakes with our birds and lose sleep over it - and most of the time it was not the end of the world.
==


Owlet: I get it, you are reacting like every new parent in the world *ever*.
Nothing wrong per se- but plze don't get mad if others don't understand.
(most young parents get mad too, especially at people "who will not understand their child is ...." )
Yes, your fid has already had a lot going on, and you are hyperaware of everything that could possibly go wrong.
I am looking at the other side: you are a great parront and I have faith it will be okay.
But this fid needs his parront to be calm.
.