Freddie

[Nick007]

Our 27 year old Amazon Red Lorde parrot has recently stopped gripping his perch and loses his balance, falling from his perch a few time every day, he lacks confidence walking along the perch and looks like a tightrope walker. We also noticed around three months ago that his stools have become much more watery. He also now hangs his head below the perch when sleeping, we think this is to help him maintain his balance, tail over one side of his perch and head over the other. I can’t recall the exact moment when these symptoms started but it certainly seems that they started within a short period, rather than an extended period of time.



Apart from this current condition, he has never had an illness in his life. He has always lived with us from being 6 weeks old, we do have small dogs. He’s eating fresh fruit/veg and Harrisons Select Parrot Food and drinks filtered water which we refresh every day, this has been his diet all his life and he still has a good appetite. His cage is cleaned daily. Recently we have had one or two mice in our house but we have never seen any mice faeces in his cage but maybe one or two faeces in our living room where his cage is housed. From a young age, he has spent an hour or two outside the cage and returns back in on his own accord but since these symptoms have occurred he doesn’t leave his cage.



We haven’t visited a local vet. Although he is very comfortable at home, he is a nervous bird and gets very stressed and vocal when his circumstances change, I’m sure it would be detrimental to his health if we were to try to coax him into a transport cage or if he was being handled by a Vet.



We are wondering if anyone else has experienced similar symptoms or can help.

 

[kme3388]

Hi there,

I adopted a parrot who was doing this. He had multiple medical issues going on that needed to be addressed by his vet. They can run labs, and figure out what’s going on.

A lot of different things can cause a parrot to fall of its perch multiple times. It would be hard to speculate on what the cause would be.

Please bring your Amazon to the vet. The avian vets I’ve dealt with know parrots can be rather challenging during appointments. If it’s very bad they can give things to relax them if the vet thinks it’s necessary.

 

[LaManuka]

Our 27 year old Amazon Red Lorde parrot has recently stopped gripping his perch and loses his balance, falling from his perch a few time every day, he lacks confidence walking along the perch and looks like a tightrope walker. We also noticed around three months ago that his stools have become much more watery. He also now hangs his head below the perch when sleeping, we think this is to help him maintain his balance, tail over one side of his perch and head over the other. I can’t recall the exact moment when these symptoms started but it certainly seems that they started within a short period, rather than an extended period of time.



Apart from this current condition, he has never had an illness in his life. He has always lived with us from being 6 weeks old, we do have small dogs. He’s eating fresh fruit/veg and Harrisons Select Parrot Food and drinks filtered water which we refresh every day, this has been his diet all his life and he still has a good appetite. His cage is cleaned daily. Recently we have had one or two mice in our house but we have never seen any mice faeces in his cage but maybe one or two faeces in our living room where his cage is housed. From a young age, he has spent an hour or two outside the cage and returns back in on his own accord but since these symptoms have occurred he doesn’t leave his cage.



We haven’t visited a local vet. Although he is very comfortable at home, he is a nervous bird and gets very stressed and vocal when his circumstances change, I’m sure it would be detrimental to his health if we were to try to coax him into a transport cage or if he was being handled by a Vet.



We are wondering if anyone else has experienced similar symptoms or can help.

Just in case your "local vet" is not an avian specialist, here's a list of bird vets we compiled a while ago that may help you....

Avian Vet Resources

After a suggestion by a member, @Abu Colo, the Mod Team decided to create a list of veterinarians around the world who see birds. This was something we had discussed a few years ago, but the task seemed so large that we didn't get very far. However, the need is there and we decided that the time...

www.parrotforums.com

Hopefully one of these is close to you and is able to see Freddie. Welcome to the forums, it's good to have you aboard!

 

[texsize]

My Orang wing Amazon suddenly started falling off his perch back in 2016.
I took him to my avian vet but it didn’t do any good.
He died within a few weeks (we think from seizures)
So it wasn’t a balance problem for me.

Try.
Lowering all the perches so he won’t fall too far.
Wrap perches in self adhesive bandages to improve grip.
Look for flat perches, they are out there.

Do take him in to an avian certified veterinary.
No one here on PF is a vet so we can’t really help treat what’s wrong.

I know it’s stressful but when the situation demands action you got to pick the lesser of two evils.

I wish you all the luck there is.

 

[wrench13]

Friend all these are excellent advice, especially seeing a CAV. I wish you good luck!

 

[Beepers]

Our 27 year old Amazon Red Lorde parrot has recently stopped gripping his perch and loses his balance, falling from his perch a few time every day, he lacks confidence walking along the perch and looks like a tightrope walker. We also noticed around three months ago that his stools have become much more watery. He also now hangs his head below the perch when sleeping, we think this is to help him maintain his balance, tail over one side of his perch and head over the other. I can’t recall the exact moment when these symptoms started but it certainly seems that they started within a short period, rather than an extended period of time.



Apart from this current condition, he has never had an illness in his life. He has always lived with us from being 6 weeks old, we do have small dogs. He’s eating fresh fruit/veg and Harrisons Select Parrot Food and drinks filtered water which we refresh every day, this has been his diet all his life and he still has a good appetite. His cage is cleaned daily. Recently we have had one or two mice in our house but we have never seen any mice faeces in his cage but maybe one or two faeces in our living room where his cage is housed. From a young age, he has spent an hour or two outside the cage and returns back in on his own accord but since these symptoms have occurred he doesn’t leave his cage.



We haven’t visited a local vet. Although he is very comfortable at home, he is a nervous bird and gets very stressed and vocal when his circumstances change, I’m sure it would be detrimental to his health if we were to try to coax him into a transport cage or if he was being handled by a Vet.



We are wondering if anyone else has experienced similar symptoms or can help.

 

[Beepers]

Sorry your bird is having medical issues. Once a birds is sick, they can go down fast, so veterinarian care is essential as soon as possible. Especially since you noticed symptoms months ago. He will not improve on his own. If he is having difficulty standing, put a towel on the bottom of the cage and let him stand on that. If you don’t have a carrier, and are transporting him in a cage, cover the cage with a sheet or towel so he isn’t overwhelmed by the new environment. Good luck! Hope he is feeling better soon. Keep us updated, we wish him the best.