Is my Macaw poorly? Strange noises..

[EloiseAndMonty]

Hello,

Monty (my 30 year old b&g rescue macaw, have had him about 10 days) has started breathing in funny? It sort of sound like a gasp more than a wheeze he does it mostly when he's eating and then at night time when we do our night time routine where he preens and purrs and then occasionally makes the gasping breathing in sound.

I took him to an "avain vet" who was $#%@ in my opinion. He clipped his tallons and made him bleed profusely, had to cauterize it 5 times. And then charged me £59. (I live in South Yorkshire and can not find ANY good avian vets so please feel free to tell me if you know of any)

I'm going to buy a humidifier as other than his Monty seems very happy and is quickly settling in. I think he knows how to play with a ball and ride a bike too as when I said to him don you want to play he said "throw ball" and "ride bike" and the lady I got him from said his prevoius owners (had him for 29 years then passed away) had trained him to ride a bike, but she also said they had left him a small cage in a dusty kitchen all his life and case and point in that he can't fly or fully extend his wings so I don't know what to think!

So do parrots make wheezing noises normally (he has sneezed 3 times since I've had him too) or should I start with the humidifier and see how he goes??


Thank you so much

 

[GaleriaGila]

I hope this helps...

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.
International contacts, too.

Can anybody nearby help you?
I'm glad you're reaching out.
Parrots are so complex and need such special care.

The gasping sound scares me, truly.

After he is stabilized, there is a lot you may wish to learn about as far as diet, exercise, housing, etc...

 

[noodles123]

For some reason, I feel like this is a behavioral thing...but the fact that it also happens when he is eating does seem a bit odd.

Either way, I would get blood-work done and a gram-stain-just because he is new. It's the only way to have a baseline-- a CBC and then specific tests for the sneakier diseases (like PDD and PBFD) that birds can carry without symptom (just because he is a rescue)--I would tell that to anyone who had gotten a new bird (with or without symptoms).

In terms of the breathing, you aren't using any sorts of cleaners, air fresheners, or Teflon/scented products in your home, right? No scented anything or products that could be giving off smoke/gas?

 

[EloiseAndMonty]

Thank you,

I am getting bloods and fecal done in about a month's time as the avain vet told me to leave it a month so he can settle in?

As for diet, exercise and housing I have done loads of reading up but there's no many contradicting opionins and so much to learn!

I currently give him access to a 'healthy' mix of seeds (he is a sunflower seeds junkie so slowing trying to wean him off) and every morning I give him a big plate of safe veg and a little bit of fruit as a treat here and there.
He is not fully tame (only just started letting me tickle his head) so I can not do much in the way of exercises but I do ask him to move about the aviary and climb things which he does. I also play throw the ball with him and I'm training him to press a little button which makes noise which has taken him about 10 attempts and now he can do it.
His aviary has 3 safe tress wityblarge stones on the compost (not that he even botheres with the trees) and is large with ropes and woods for him to explore but he stays in a small corner and only vetures about for food, water or if I ask him to come to me.

 

[LaManuka]

Your Monty sounds quite wonderful, and yes that vet sounds like #%£€¥!!! I hope you’re able to find a better one for his next check up - I’d recommend mine but the commute would be awful!