Is she sick?

[wildheart]

I took her to the vet on the 8th and all he asked me was weather she eats and I said yes. He then said she is cold- thats all.

I am not convinced, please tell me what you think.

1. She shivers constantly - even while she is basking in the sun.

2. The feathers on her head is up 90% of the time.

3. She sits on one spot all fluffed up much more than what she plays - when I am around.

4. When she is on my hand she makes like a baby bird continuously.

5. She sings much less.

.......................

1. She eats like normal.
2. Her poop is normal except for after she drank something.
3. She still cleans herself and baths about every 2nd day.

Yesterday and this morning I could see she wanted to go somewhere the whole time. I made it my mission to find out this morning and it turned out to be her sleeping room. She checked the whole room out and climbed in her cage. She stayed there for a about a half hour and I then brought her back to her play cage.

 

[wildheart]

As I am sitting here she actually climbed off her cage and she walked all the way down the page to the 3rd room which is hers? She is back in her sleeping cage?

 

[antoinette]

Oh poor Steretjie, my poor baby
I am totally confused as to what the problem could be, you read one article, then the next one contradicts the first one.

I came across a link " For Dummies", which describes a few things you have mentioned.

Reading Your Parrot's Body Language - For Dummies
Hope this is useful Linky.

I visited Zazo on Thursday morning, he is doing exactly the same as Steretjie. He was sitting in the sun shivering, from the time I arrived till I left he was still shivering ????????
Linky I know you took her to the vet on the 8th, but I would get a second opinion just to be safe.

Below is a link, re: Dr Brett Russell & Dr Paul Forsyth, (We discussed them) their addresses and telephone numbers etc
http://www.freemewildlife.org.za/index.html?lf=1;pg=6;ai=308

Please keep us posted all the time okay

 

[greycloud]

Your baby is definitely not feeling good. Was this an avian vet you went to? Did they do any bloodwork? If no, I recommend you get a 2nd opinion. Please don't wait.
I recommend you keep a light on her and get the area at about 85 degress till you get her to another vet. It has been almost a week since her vet appoinment and alot could have changed. Please keep us updated.

 

[madparrotwoman]

I would say "trust your instincts" they are usually right.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I'd second the opinion on getting a second opinion

Unfortunately I don't know what to make of this in order to offer any other advice.

 

[brookysmom]

Has there been any changed like a toy from one cage placed in another etc?
Cages moved?
rooms rearranged or redecorated??
If none of these than Please see another Vet. One who is a Avian Certified Vet

Was the one you seen a Avian Certified Vet?

I ask this as recently i have found many are seeing vets that "see" birds but are not in anyway certified as Avian Vets and sadly many see few birds and have limited info.
Heck many of them actually go by what they learn online or from owners who come through their office.
I worked as a vet tech for 8 years before I became disabled and believe me this birdy is not feeling well and needs to see a proper vet.


If you need help locating one in your area I would be Happy to lend a hand if I can in locating one.

 

[Mel]

I'm with everyone else, see another vet, something is not right here

 

[wildheart]

I'll answer later, I've got an appointment now with Dr Brett Russell. Thank you for the link Ant.

 

[antoinette]

I'll answer later, I've got an appointment now with Dr Brett Russell. Thank you for the link Ant.

Praying the news is good
Holding thumbs
mwah

 

[wildheart]

It seems like our SA vets are just brilliant and do not need any tests to tell them what is wrong! No matter how much I complain and ask - they just do not do blood work! Maybe they lack the capability.

If they eat, preen and bath then there is nothing wrong with them and that is the end of the story according to them. It is like the police telling you that you can not lay a charge against a stalker he has to first break in or harm you. So I will have to wait for her to stop eating before they will do anything.

He says that her feathers looks well and she looks healthy and he is guessing that it is just hormones. He did however check her bones and is very disgusted about her leg. He said that her chest bones also did not form right and it was most probable caused by malnutrition. He said he can fix her leg but he can not say weather it will really improve the quality of her live because the leg will be much shorter.

He was also disgusted about the way that her wings were clipped and he fixed it. Remember I told you the first vet clipped her wings so badly that Sterretjie just dropped to the floor every time - and that while she has a eina leg!! He said that it will be painful if she bumps it while it grows out and that I must see in 6 weeks if there is any improvement on her landing ability.

To clarify something important: My house is a reptile paradise - (reptiles do not function if their temps drop below 21%) my house is a controlled environment because they roam free. I have 5 wall heaters that stay on 24/7. The lounge, sitting room and dinning room are combined in one big area with a T shape. Sterretjie shares this room with 2 enormous bearded dragon cages, 2 snake cages and 6 tarantula cages. All these cages has basking lights and heaters plus she has 2 basking lights over her cage. My electricity bill runs between R4 500 and R5 000 a month! There is no way on earth that she can be cold.

She definitely has strange hormones if nobody else can identify with her behavior. Yesterday she slept on my chest for a whole hour during the middle of the day. How can that be normal?

 

[wildheart]

Question: I avoid all products with vitamin D for my reptiles because they get loads of sunlight each day. A vitamin D overdose is just as bad as lacking it. They also do not get any supplements because I grow their food myself and feed them in the correct ratio calcium to phosphorus. Sterretjie eats the same salad as them each day and she loves it.

Sterretjies pellets AVi-Plus, well all the pellets contain Vitamin D. She also gets an abundance of sunlight.

Can she be receiving too much of the vitamin?

 

[antoinette]

Wildheart I am dumbfounded, that they refused to do a blood test.

One question, when a bird is sick, and they take blood, is it not taken the same way as when a bird is dna. I have never been present when a blood test is taken. Reason I am asking, my ex husband took Gigi, (my last parrot that died 4 years ago) and his parrot for dna testing, at the same place you took Steretjie today, and they took blood immediately.
Why refuse a blood test when a sickness is suspected.

 

[wildheart]

Why refuse a blood test when a sickness is suspected.

The sickness is just MY suspicion - he says that she is healthy. She has all the signs of a healthy bird and he did look at her from each and every angle. He even picked her up and held her chest against his ear for a long time. She also stayed on the table and he observed her for about 15 minutes.

He said that I must bring her back in 6 weeks so he can look at her wings again.

I cleaned her cage yesterday, she was on her swing outside watching me. Maybe that caused her to be upset and looked for comfort?

Maybe she is hormonal - I read that birds quiver during this time and I suspect that she only does this when I am around?

This is the second vet that cave her a look and said she is healthy, regardless, I will take her back to him if I see no improvement by the end of this week. I have to say - she eats like a pig?

I dont have my dictionary with me - What exactly does quivering mean, is it the same as shivering? According to what I found on google, it sounds as if she does this due to excitement. Maybe I am the cause?

 

[antoinette]

Why refuse a blood test when a sickness is suspected.

The sickness is just MY suspicion - he says that she is healthy. She has all the signs of a healthy bird and he did look at her from each and every angle. He even picked her up and held her chest against his ear for a long time. She also stayed on the table and he observed her for about 15 minutes.

He said that I must bring her back in 6 weeks so he can look at her wings again.

I cleaned her cage yesterday, she was on her swing outside watching me. Maybe that caused her to be upset and looked for comfort?

Maybe she is hormonal - I read that birds quiver during this time and I suspect that she only does this when I am around?

This is the second vet that cave her a look and said she is healthy, regardless, I will take her back to him if I see no improvement by the end of this week. I have to say - she eats like a pig?

I dont have my dictionary with me - What exactly does quivering mean, is it the same as shivering? According to what I found on google, it sounds as if she does this due to excitement. Maybe I am the cause?

He did exactly the same examination for Mishka in January this year.

Zazo is now 6 years old, my sister suspects that he is hormonal. He is doing exactly what Steretjie is doing. If I am correct Steretjie is 4 years old now. I'm sorry I am no expert with birds, I wish I could assist you further.

What exactly does quivering mean?
To shake with a slight, rapid, tremulous movement

Linky the link below is fantastic "hormonal in birds"
http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-magazines/bird-talk/2008-april/signs-hormonal-birds.aspx

 

[wildheart]

Oh, I forgot, he even smelled her breath! Thank goodness we did not eat garlic last night!

Ok so quivering and shivering is the same thing then.

Well, I guess that eating normal, pooping normal, pruning and bathing is then the main signs of a healthy or sick bird. Maybe I am just crazy.

At least he did fix her wings. It is sad about her chest bones, the poor-poor girl.

Maybe I am spoiling her too much and hold her too often - but with her history she needs ALL the love I can give.

 

[wildheart]

Thanks for the link, like all the websites that I have read they say decrease the daylight and take away anything that they can see as a nest. Sterretjie gets 12 hours of unbroken sleep out of her own choice - she will 'fly' to her room until I take her.

Dr. Russell said the opposite about nesting. He said that I must leave her boxes if she really loves them so much. He also said that if she lays eggs then it is fine. I must only remove the boxes if she shows aggression about it. If she does lay eggs then I must remove it when she loose interest or becomes aggressive.

Maybe his point of view is that nesting is normal and it does not help we fight against it, just let nature takes its course. Why try and trick them into not being normal? It is like people decreasing the heat and daylight hours to get an iguana out of breeding season, this is done to please the person and the method never works in anyway. I feel that we must just let them be who they are and wait till it passes.