Conure Is Throwing Up, Questions

[MarieAnn]

Hi there. We have a Sunday Conure. He's a bit over a year. Wonderful bird, very active...never had any issues. Sunday evening he threw up on my daughter (he's her bird). I was hoping he was regurgitating. He was fed yesterday morning and vomited again. I restricted food most of the day, allowed him to eat in the evening and he vomited. In between the feedings he was active, calling out, and going to the bathroom.

I was continuing the fasting this morning. Chose to feed him a limited amount and after a couple hours he vomited. In the cage, alone.

He is pooping regularly, but it's changed to a light green in color.

I DO have an appt with the vet, but I'm curious if anyone has experience.

I have no idea what he could have eaten, we keep a close eye on him when he is out of his cage and I do not leave food or other things laying around.

We recently adopted a Cockatoo. They have not had contact and the Too has recently been to the vet and is clear. I was hoping this may be a stress related issue, but it took 7 days to have the reaction.

FYI, I worked in animal medicine with wild animals...I have very little experience with avian medicine. I have owned birds since I was a kid. Thanks All!

 

[SailBoat]

We feed a wide cross-section of veggies and a full spectrum of dry food in the morning. Provide /assure that dry food is available all day and back again to a wide cross-section in the early evening. Dry food is also available over-night. Point being, there is never a time when food is not available.

Behavioral problems commonly develop when a parrot is faced with a feeling of starvation. This can be set into place as early as the breeder not feeding regularly and/or not often enough. Fasting, in my book, is not recommended. Not saying that this is what you are experiencing, only addressing one of the reasons that food should be available all the time. If you have a Parrot that sits at the food bowl, we will select foods that fill but not pound on the weight.

A Parrot that has be forced to fast and presented with food could rapid eat and result in 'throwing-up.'

Seeing an Avian Vet is very important to assure that it is not a medical problem.

 

[EllenD]

I agree with Sailboat, "fasting" is not usually indicated in birds, as it can cause a host of other, more severe issues, and actually make diagnosing what is going on even more difficult...

Are you quite certain that he is actually vomiting and it's not regurgitating? I'm asking because it definitely is the season for hormones; honestly though it doesn't sound like regurgitation behavior due to it's frequency, but since he seemingly is not displaying any other signs of illness like lethargy, constantly being fluffed-up or at the bottom of his cage, sleeping all the time, shivering or shaking, etc. it's always a possibility that it is either a hormonal issue, or a stress issue due to the new bird, especially if you've only had him for a week.

Is it a lot of volume that he is bringing up, liquid, frothy, chunks of visible food, etc.? Or is it just small bits of white solids?

And you've only had the new bird for 7 days, is that right? Is he quarantined right now in another room (standard 30-day quarantine)? Or have they had contact with each other? It could very well be stress-related to the new bird, especially if they are having contact with each other already. Birds don't handle stress well....

Is it a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist that you are taking him to?

 

[GaleriaGila]

To help you find a good avian vet, if you don't already have one...

Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet.

Great advice above!
I'm glad you're here!

 

[MarieAnn]

Marnie gets a full spectrum of foods. Always has dry and we feed veg and fruit am and pm. I took the food away on Monday after he vomited, bc he had a pretty strong reaction to the vomiting and I wasn't sure if the action of vomiting could cause more damage. I also wanted to measure how much vomit to food he was bringing back up. I am weighing him now. When a mammal gets sick, removing the food and reintroducing is always the way to go, but again, I am not as familiar with bird medicine...so thank you for that information.

The birds are separated, but not fully quarantined. I am wondering if this is more stress related, but honestly, he hasn't even noticed the Too is here. Marnie has a very distinct cry when he feels threatened or when someone new is in the house...human or animal and he hasn't displayed that behavior at all.

He has regurgitated on my daughter when he was younger, and it did look similar...but there is more volume to these occurrences and as I said, it really changed his demeanor for a good half hour or so, he was puffed and sleepy; and he did it while alone in his cage, with no one in the room.

The vet I am taking him to is a certified avian vet.

 

[EllenD]

Trust me, he knows that the Too is there...he knew before you brought the Too home, lol.

So you're saying that he was fluffed-up and sleepy when he used to "regurgitate" for you daughter? That actually sounds like he was vomiting then, as they don't usually become fluffed-up or sleepy when they become hormonal and regurgitate.

It could absolutely be stress from the Too, especially if he's not displaying any other signs of illness other than the "vomiting". And they should be fully-quarantined for the first 30-days, regardless of the Too being "cleared" by the Avian Vet. All birds hide all outward signs of illness, pain, etc. for as long as they possibly can, it's a survival instinct that protects them and their flocks in the wild, and unfortunately by the time they usually show any outward-signs of illness that we as people can notice/see, they've already been sick for weeks if not months. That's why you should always do a full 30-day quarantine with any new bird you bring home, in a separate room with a totally different air-space. Even if the Avian Vet doesn't see anything "wrong" with a new bird, that doesn't mean that they aren't ill, and some Avian illnesses/diseases have a long incubation period as well. And this is very important when the bird comes from a Rescue where there are other birds around them. That's just an FYI, as I doubt that has anything at all to do with the "vomiting", it's too sudden.

Just keep a very close eye on him for other outward signs of illness, and get him to the CAV as soon as possible. The only thing that pops into my mind with a bird who is vomiting repeatedly but shows no other signs of illness is that there may be something stuck inside of his crop/stomach that shouldn't be there. That can cause them to chronically vomit, adjust their crops, etc.

 

[MarieAnn]

Hi all, thanks for the responses. To clarify to Ellen, when he regurgitated in the past there was no response in his demeanor. The fluffing and lethargy was the last couple days when he vomited. The Too isn't from a rescue, but I agree with the quarantine rules.

As of yesterday, 5:25pm, he has not vomited again and is in very good spirits. His waste has returned to normal.

Thanks, again!