Is my lovebird sick? Please help!

[Teacher Ann]

Good eve! I'm from the Philippines. Fell in love with this little baby blue fischer lovebird. Handfed him and he bonded with me. He's about 2 months old. Recently I noticed him doing some alarming sounds as he sleeps or naps. Is he sick?

I have no access to an Avian vet. There's very few of them in our country and the cost is too high in places where they do have such vets. He brings so much joy to me and our family and it really saddens me that I may not be able to get professional help for him.

I will appreciate any help, please. Thanks!

 

[wrench13]

Welcome and be welcomed. Can you record these sounds or noises. Video would be best. Post them on this thread. I have to warn you that none of us here are Vets so there is a minimal amount of medical advice that can be offered. Depending on what these sounds are, you may have to get this little one to a vet. Lets see what is troubling you....

 

[Teacher Ann]

Welcome and be welcomed. Can you record these sounds or noises. Video would be best. Post them on this thread. I have to warn you that none of us here are Vets so there is a minimal amount of medical advice that can be offered. Depending on what these sounds are, you may have to get this little one to a vet. Lets see what is troubling you....

I am having trouble attaching the video due to size limitation. I will find a way... and will post as soon as possible.

Thank you for replying.

 

[LaManuka]

I am having trouble attaching the video due to size limitation. I will find a way... and will post as soon as possible.

Thank you for replying.

I believe the limit on videos that can be uploaded direct to the forum is 10mb. However, you can upload a larger video to an external provider like YouTube and link it from there, the following tutorial might help you to do that...

How To Post Videos

How To Post Videos. Members now have several options when they wish to post videos, with external providers such as YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook likely still being the best option particularly for larger video files. How To Link A Video From An External Provider When you know which video...

www.parrotforums.com

Hope this helps!

 

[Emeral]

Good eve! I'm from the Philippines. Fell in love with this little baby blue fischer lovebird. Handfed him and he bonded with me. He's about 2 months old. Recently I noticed him doing some alarming sounds as he sleeps or naps. Is he sick?

I have no access to an Avian vet. There's very few of them in our country and the cost is too high in places where they do have such vets. He brings so much joy to me and our family and it really saddens me that I may not be able to get professional help for him.

I will appreciate any help, please. Thanks!

Hope he is OK, but let's go through what my avian vet would ask.....

1) is eating in the same amount? If he eat less, increase the frequency of his feeding time.

2) is he active, flapping his wings, walking? Being playful is a good sign of health.

3) his poop, is it the same? Poop is good indicator of health.

4) you mentioned hand feeding him, make sure that the syringe access at the side of his beak. So that the food hit his cheek before he swallow. His airway and his food track are so very close. We don't want food to accidentally enter his airway, aspiration is dangerous.

5) just to be on the safe side, this is a good read on how to hand feed. It also mentioned the weaning for baby bird.

Instructions For Hand-Feeding Baby Birds

6) my avian vet would also ask what time he eat his evening meal. His crop need at least 10hours to fully empty at night. If indigestion happens, sour crop is a serious illness. When I suspect indigestion, I give Emerald ripe papaya. In 3to4 hours, red poop means fast digestion. If not, for First aid at home, I would give yogurt and a teaspoon of chopped fresh garlic to prevent sour crop.

Crop Stasis or "Sour Crop" in Birds - ACVet

Crop stasis is a disorder of unweaned or hand-fed baby birds. While not usually fatal when treated early, crop infections can be serious.

www.albanycreekvet.com.au

 

[Emeral]

I met someone who had handfed and came to see the same avian vet. The symptoms of the baby bird was increased breathing, difficulty breathing, feeding response decreased, and depression.

The vet put him in oxygen chamber and gave him antibiotics. I think it look very serious.

I am glad you did some very good observation. It is safer to detect problems as soon as possible. I hope your bird do not display the above additional symptoms. But if he does, he will need an avian vet asap.

Hope this helps

 

[Emeral]

I hope the sound you heard isn't about aspiration. But if it has to do with breathing difficulty from a flu, I thought you might want to know what I would give my Emerald, if she sneeze or has blocked nose. Home remedies is a first aid that I do before meeting my avian vet. And during the course of her prescribed drugs, it speeds up her recovery.

1) smashed red onions, next to her covered cage at night, the smell should clear her blocked nose.

2) (holy?) basil leaves, since he is a baby and can't take solid food, squeeze the juice out and mix with her feeding. Since there are many varieties and I don't know what it is called in your country, I attached a photo.

3)close observation and no more morning shower, no strong wind.


4) vitamin boost from fresh fruits, freshly cut orange, green herbs, a pot of fresh basil near her perch, a teaspoon of freshly chopped garlic daily in her plate. This usually stop her sneezing in a few days, never get past 3 pots of basil.

You might also find this an interesting read.

One moment, please...

 

[Teacher Ann]

Welcome and be welcomed. Can you record these sounds or noises. Video would be best. Post them on this thread. I have to warn you that none of us here are Vets so there is a minimal amount of medical advice that can be offered. Depending on what these sounds are, you may have to get this little one to a vet. Lets see what is troubling you....

I believe the limit on videos that can be uploaded direct to the forum is 10mb. However, you can upload a larger video to an external provider like YouTube and link it from there, the following tutorial might help you to do that...

How To Post Videos

How To Post Videos. Members now have several options when they wish to post videos, with external providers such as YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook likely still being the best option particularly for larger video files. How To Link A Video From An External Provider When you know which video...

www.parrotforums.com

Hope this helps!

 

[Teacher Ann]

I am now able to attach the be video. Thank you!

 

[Teacher Ann]

Hope he is OK, but let's go through what my avian vet would ask.....

1) is eating in the same amount? If he eat less, increase the frequency of his feeding time.

2) is he active, flapping his wings, walking? Being playful is a good sign of health.

3) his poop, is it the same? Poop is good indicator of health.

4) you mentioned hand feeding him, make sure that the syringe access at the side of his beak. So that the food hit his cheek before he swallow. His airway and his food track are so very close. We don't want food to accidentally enter his airway, aspiration is dangerous.

5) just to be on the safe side, this is a good read on how to hand feed. It also mentioned the weaning for baby bird.

Instructions For Hand-Feeding Baby Birds

6) my avian vet would also ask what time he eat his evening meal. His crop need at least 10hours to fully empty at night. If indigestion happens, sour crop is a serious illness. When I suspect indigestion, I give Emerald ripe papaya. In 3to4 hours, red poop means fast digestion. If not, for First aid at home, I would give yogurt and a teaspoon of chopped fresh garlic to prevent sour crop.

Crop Stasis or "Sour Crop" in Birds - ACVet

Crop stasis is a disorder of unweaned or hand-fed baby birds. While not usually fatal when treated early, crop infections can be serious.

www.albanycreekvet.com.au

Thank you so much! I will check out the references you provided.

He is eating ok and quite active. He flies a lot -- out of cage most of the time. It's this sound he makes when he is sleeping or napping that worries me.

 

[Teacher Ann]

Welcome and be welcomed. Can you record these sounds or noises. Video would be best. Post them on this thread. I have to warn you that none of us here are Vets so there is a minimal amount of medical advice that can be offered. Depending on what these sounds are, you may have to get this little one to a vet. Lets see what is troubling you....

 

[Teacher Ann]

I met someone who had handfed and came to see the same avian vet. The symptoms of the baby bird was increased breathing, difficulty breathing, feeding response decreased, and depression.

The vet put him in oxygen chamber and gave him antibiotics. I think it look very serious.

I am glad you did some very good observation. It is safer to detect problems as soon as possible. I hope your bird do not display the above additional symptoms. But if he does, he will need an avian vet asap.

Hope this helps

Thank you for replying. So far, it's just the sound he makes while sleeping or napping a couple of times a day that really bothers me. Otherwise he is active and free-flies a lot.

 

[Teacher Ann]

I hope the sound you heard isn't about aspiration. But if it has to do with breathing difficulty from a flu, I thought you might want to know what I would give my Emerald, if she sneeze or has blocked nose. Home remedies is a first aid that I do before meeting my avian vet. And during the course of her prescribed drugs, it speeds up her recovery.

1) smashed red onions, next to her covered cage at night, the smell should clear her blocked nose.

2) (holy?) basil leaves, since he is a baby and can't take solid food, squeeze the juice out and mix with her feeding. Since there are many varieties and I don't know what it is called in your country, I attached a photo.

View attachment 32106

3)close observation and no more morning shower, no strong wind.


4) vitamin boost from fresh fruits, freshly cut orange, green herbs, a pot of fresh basil near her perch, a teaspoon of freshly chopped garlic daily in her plate. This usually stop her sneezing in a few days, never get past 3 pots of basil.

You might also find this an interesting read.

One moment, please...

Thank you so much for taking the time to give additional info. Truly appreciate it.

Will post update soon. Thanks. Thanks.

 

[wrench13]

If that's not napping, then I would get this one to an avian vet asap. By the time parrots show symptoms, they are really sick. You know the bird best. If this is new behavior .......

 

[Terry57]

I hope the sound you heard isn't about aspiration. But if it has to do with breathing difficulty from a flu, I thought you might want to know what I would give my Emerald, if she sneeze or has blocked nose. Home remedies is a first aid that I do before meeting my avian vet. And during the course of her prescribed drugs, it speeds up her recovery.
1) smashed red onions, next to her covered cage at night, the smell should clear her blocked nose.

2) (holy?) basil leaves, since he is a baby and can't take solid food, squeeze the juice out and mix with her feeding. Since there are many varieties and I don't know what it is called in your country, I attached a photo.

View attachment 32106

3)close observation and no more morning shower, no strong wind.


4) vitamin boost from fresh fruits, freshly cut orange, green herbs, a pot of fresh basil near her perch, a teaspoon of freshly chopped garlic daily in her plate. This usually stop her sneezing in a few days, never get past 3 pots of basil.

You might also find this an interesting read.

One moment, please...

I'm glad to hear that your bird is active most of the time, that's a good thing.
As wrench mentioned, none of us are vets, and I'm sorry you don't have a vet available. I hope your baby will be okay.

I personally would not put any onions near my birds' cages, and I wouldn't feed them garlic. I just consider that too big of a risk as both repeatedly show up on toxic lists. An orange should be fine in small amounts, but only in small amounts because of the acidity.

I recommend Googling anything before you use it so you can make an informed decision on what to try.

 

[Teacher Ann]

If that's not napping, then I would get this one to an avian vet asap. By the time parrots show symptoms, they are really sick. You know the bird best. If this is new behavior .......

He only does this when he is napping. Is it normal?

 

[Teacher Ann]

I'm glad to hear that your bird is active most of the time, that's a good thing.
As wrench mentioned, none of us are vets, and I'm sorry you don't have a vet available. I hope your baby will be okay.

I personally would not put any onions near my birds' cages, and I wouldn't feed them garlic. I just consider that too big of a risk as both repeatedly show up on toxic lists. An orange should be fine in small amounts, but only in small amounts because of the acidity.

I recommend Googling anything before you use it so you can make an informed decision on what to try.

Thank you. Will do as recommended.

 

[Chrishel]

I watched your video and your baby seems quite normal to me. It sounds like he is making normal, contented lovebird sounds. Mine makes the same sounds when in their cages. It sounds like you are doing a good job. Don't worrry!