I really need some help here

[wildheart]

Sorry, me again, I forgot to say something.

Dont forget to smother him with attention up to a point that he starts begging to be left alone. I promise it REALLY-REALLY DOES work. He must think that YOU have some behavioral problems and that he must just keep quite so that you will hopefully forget about him. (Thats Eddie thinking.)

 

[Aussie Ben]

Thanks Von, yea its hard to read him. sometimes it does look like begging, but other times he actually looks totally stressed out like he is about to be attacked my a puma.

Linky, I can tell you straight up that the pellets are not to blame. Why?.....because he never touches them LOL. I offer them, but he rarely even looks at them.

Eddie gets a lot of Vit A in his diet. Most days he gets a mix of sweet potato, carrot, pease, green beans, brown rice, corn, broccoli and 2-3 other fruits or veg on top (just depends whats lying around in the fridge that day). He also gets small amounts of egg, nuts and seeds. He looooooooooves nuts, could they be doing any damage?

I do not give him any artificial supplements, just too risky I think, especially with an Ekkie.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Sorry, me again, I forgot to say something.

Dont forget to smother him with attention up to a point that he starts begging to be left alone. I promise it REALLY-REALLY DOES work. He must think that YOU have some behavioral problems and that he must just keep quite so that you will hopefully forget about him. (Thats Eddie thinking.)

Believe me Linky, I wish I could smother him with attention all day, but I am limited with time atm and i am having trouble getting anyone else to give him any so....yea. I also want to be careful how much I give him say on weekends. I don't want to give him 12 hours of attention on Sunday and then 2 hours on Monday, that can't help with things.

 

[bogo1]

Hi Ben,
Just saw the video. Gosh that is a beautiful bird. Okay... so I will be interested in vet's opinion. In meantime, regards the screaming, can you get a noisy window fan... not ugly noisy but rather serious white noise decreasing other sounds type of noisy... and place it nearby. Not blowing on Eddie, obviously, but having the effect fans have of deadening what you hear of the rest of the environment. Then play his radio. See if that reduces screaming. Then, if it works, I would use this only when Eddie seems stressed...screaming, flapping madly. Let me know if you try this just what happens. I think the fan part is critical though. Merely putting music by him and turning it up loud enough to deaden other sounds would probably be as annoying to Eddie as it is to any normal being. (teenagers here)

 

[Aussie Ben]

Thanks Barbara I will try that, just gotta track down a fan, I know we have one somewhere. I usually only play his radio quietly, just enough so he can hear it. Today was a terrible day for screaming, one of the worst we have had.

Von, vet trip is booked for tomorrow afternoon.

Anything specific you folks think I should ask the vet?

 

[bogo1]

I would stress the physical changes. Vets often blow off the owner's comments on their pets behavior or personality but do note physical change if described effectively note feathers not having color etc.If you are lucky enough to have a vet who trusts your judgment on your bird's psychological state stress the timeline from happy healthy normal noisy bird to anxious deafening frantic wing flipping bird without obvious trigger. Good luck Ben. You are an excellent advocate for your bird and a knowledgeable and responsible parront. Push for testing.

 

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i do hope you get things sorted with eddie, i could totally relate to the problems you are having as i am going through the same thing with my blue crowned conure, he would do the odd screach of a morning time and that was it, now he is screaching all the time throughtout the day, i still trying to establish what is wrong with him, but to no avail.

 

[wildheart]

Oh well, sorry I couldnt be of any help, I did try though.

About the attention, I gave Sterretjie all the attention I had in one day. During the week it was 2 hours in the morning and 3 hours at night, I get up at 5 every single morning. On weekends it was since I got up until she went to bed. She did not sit and count the hours comparing weekends to weekdays. She looked at the times I was home and did or did not spend with her. Your parrot is clever enough to KNOW when you are home and when not. They learn to get on with themselves when we are at work, but that completely changes when they KNOW you are home and NOT spending the time with them.

I also want to be careful how much I give him say on weekends. I don't want to give him 12 hours of attention on Sunday and then 2 hours on Monday, that can't help with things.

So you are saying that you only spend 2 hours on weekends with him because that is all you have during the week? Be glad you dont have my girl as your parrot because she will not stop screaming for one moment while you are at home.

 

[Aussie Ben]

I also want to be careful how much I give him say on weekends. I don't want to give him 12 hours of attention on Sunday and then 2 hours on Monday, that can't help with things.

So you are saying that you only spend 2 hours on weekends with him because that is all you have during the week? Be glad you dont have my girl as your parrot because she will not stop screaming for one moment while you are at home.

I think you miss-understand a bit. Its not that I don't want to spend as much time with him as possible, but I have noticed he will get a little more stressed on Mondays if I spend all day with him Sunday. Please don't think I go ignoring him on the weekends or anything .

 

[wildheart]

I think you miss-understand a bit. Its not that I don't want to spend as much time with him as possible, but I have noticed he will get a little more stressed on Mondays if I spend all day with him Sunday. Please don't think I go ignoring him on the weekends or anything .

How do you know he is more stressed and is it only when you leave or the entire day?

Sterretjie looks unhappy on a Monday morning when I leave, but believe me the moment that the car drives through the gate she is back at playing like always. I know this because my work is only 5-8 minutes drive away and I watch her the whole day on camera.

Therefore I do not agree with your point of view on this one. Eddie knows when you are home and he knows you are (in his eyes) ignoring him. Like I said, he does not count the hours that you are away, but he sure does count the hours that you are there and not spending it with him.

How is it going with buying a smaller cage that you can have in your room while you study?

 

[Aussie Ben]

I think you miss-understand a bit. Its not that I don't want to spend as much time with him as possible, but I have noticed he will get a little more stressed on Mondays if I spend all day with him Sunday. Please don't think I go ignoring him on the weekends or anything .

How do you know he is more stressed and is it only when you leave or the entire day?

Sterretjie looks unhappy on a Monday morning when I leave, but believe me the moment that the car drives through the gate she is back at playing like always. I know this because my work is only 5-8 minutes drive away and I watch her the whole day on camera.

Therefore I do not agree with your point of view on this one. Eddie knows when you are home and he knows you are (in his eyes) ignoring him. Like I said, he does not count the hours that you are away, but he sure does count the hours that you are there and not spending it with him.

How is it going with buying a smaller cage that you can have in your room while you study?

Well atm my primary concern is keeping his stress levels down and if keeping the hours consistent helps, then i will keep doing it. I have increased the time I spend with him every day significantly, but keeping it relatively consistent. Parrots like routine and I try to stick to one. Linky, it sounds like I may have put this image in your head, that I sit in the same room ignoring him all weekend, this is simply not the case. I do give him a few hours extra out time on the weekends, but I fill in the rest by providing enrichment activities like foraging toys, fresh gum leaves and giving him things to rip up. My weekends do have a habit of filling up with commitments too so some weekends are just like weekdays. I have been going at this problem for a while so I have tried a few things. They may not have solved the problem, but they have helped to stop it from developing too far

Yea, cage hunting is going okay...ish. I went to the local bird store today to see what they had available. Unfortunately nothing that had would suit. I have one other bird place that may have a cage I want so I will go check them out later this week, otherwise its going to be a catalogue or internet order. Any one from down-under know of a good place to buy cages online? I can get them shipped from international dealers, but the shipping will probably cost as much as the cage

 

[Aussie Ben]

Okay, so I had a pretty disheartening trip to the vets. The vet looked over Eddie and I explained the situation to him. He was very concerned with the condition under his wings where I said he had been picking. He was also very concerned with the yellow/black patches that have developed. He is very suspicious of PBFD , however he wants to do some serious testing before we can be sure. He says the new feathers that are coming through are not developing and positioning properly. He also suggested that it could be a nutritional thing, but after I explained his diet, we ruled that out. Poor liver function was another possibility. So, I have to take him in on Friday, where he will be given a light anaesthetic. He will then pull one of his feathers to harvest a good specimen so he can test for various feather diseases. At the same time he will also take some blood and check up on that. I am so worried the news is going to be bad .

 

[Von1983]

Ben.....

I'm lost for words.

I am crossing EVERYTHING that the indications are wrong. When will you get the results?

Big, big hugs to you and I am wishing so hard for a better result.

Take care xx

 

[bogo1]

Oh Ben...
We wanted answers, but not this kind of answer. I am hoping this turns out to be something manageable. In meantime, see if you can rig up that white noise machine as that may reduce some of his distress. Thinking of you.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Thanks Von

I should get one lot of results when I pick him up on Friday (can't remember which results, I was kinda in a haze myself at the time)

Tonight, after he had a little rest from the vet trip (bout 1 hr 45min round trip) he was ready to come out and play. I took him onto the back veranda where we did some training and played around, he had lots of fun. He is such a good bird and deserves his health, I hope he will be okay .

 

[Aussie Ben]

Oh Ben...
We wanted answers, but not this kind of answer. I am hoping this turns out to be something manageable. In meantime, see if you can rig up that white noise machine as that may reduce some of his distress. Thinking of you.

Thanks Barb

Had a look today, couldn't find the old fan. Just asked my dad and apparently it ceased up a few weeks ago, so it had to go....darn it. So I will pop out and buy one tomorrow morning, we need a new one anyway, summers around the corner .

 

[wildheart]

Oh Ben that is sooooo sad. My heart is truly going out to you and Eddie.

Lets pray that it is nothing serious and that meds will fix it. I am just glad that you have a good vet and that he did listen to you. I cant imagine that it can be PBFD cause you've had Eddie for a long time, how would he have contracted it? Wont Buddy also show symptoms? I dont think it is PBFD.

You will be in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Thanks Linky,

Regardless of what it is, something is very wrong with the way his feathers are growing, and it needs to be seen to. Yes, if it is PBFD, then Buddy is at high risk and will need to be tested, but lets just wait and see. For now I am just taking precautions and washing my hands well between handling them both. I am no expert on PBFD, but I think it can be delayed and doesn't necessarily show up when they are just chicks, it can also develop when they are Adults (I don't know though). I am hoping it is not Beak and Feather and is something treatable. I will just have to wait and see.

I was under the assumption that Eddie was molting, but when I started to see no improvement, I knew something must be wrong. Perhaps it is causing him pain, which may contribute to some of the screaming. He was screaming in discomfort while the vet was examining under the wings and he has grown oddly uncomfortable with me holding out his wings over the last week or so.

 

[wildheart]

I am just glad that you had the sense of taking him to the vet, somebody else could have easily overlooked it. It is sometimes so hard to establish whether they are sick or if it is behavioral problems. I am so paranoid with Sterretjie after her ordeal that I stop at least once a day and look at her strangely, thinking, "is she sick?", just because she pulled her head in a funny way etc. It took a month before the metal was completely out and the vet said that he thinks that it was in there for a very long time, even before she came to me. We are still looking out for liver and kidney damage. So I know how it feels to worry all the time, it is physically and mentally draining.

My shoulder is ready when you need it.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Thanks again Linky

Actually, speaking of Sterritjie's ordeal, the vet also asked if Eddie has access to any toxic metals. So tomorrow, I am going to double check all his toys to make sure they are all stainless. I think there may be one or two zinc plated components amongst his masses of toys, i will have to check. Even if there are, Eddie rarely sits and chews the metal bits (apart from the bells) so don't think that would be the cause.

Should also add that yes, my vet is AMAZING and he does listen to me. There are actually two avian vets at the same clinic that I see, it just depends who is available as it is a very busy clinic. They are both incredible when handling my birds. Not only do they tell you that something is wrong, they also tell you why and how to go about fixing it. At least I know my fids are in good hands.