Nico’s Thread 😊

[kme3388]

Nico is molting… he’s not living his best life right now. He’s one itchy bird!

 

[LaManuka]

Oh poor itchy Nico. Moulting time cannot be any fun - but he's such a lovely boy! And I love his beautiful bright green trousers

 

[HeatherG]

Poor guy. Well, his head and “nose” look more fully feathered. How is he doing now? Is he still taking antibiotics or under treatment?

I wonder if his vet would consider anti inflammatory meds or benedryl? I used to get terrible rashes as a kid and the drs gave me that, or steroids. ??

 

[HeatherG]

How is Mr. Nico doing? He looked itchy in September.

He has such a cute big candy corn beak. I love the male eclectus beak!

 

[peppajoy29]

Hi. What fungal medicine was prescribed for his aspergillosis? How long was he on it? I'm currently going through same issues and doing some research. No avian vets where I live.

 

[kme3388]

It’s been awhile. Nico’s tail is back for now. He’s currently molting. He’s an itchy boy! He ended up back at the vet. He had an over growth of 2 different types of fungus, and was on antibiotics for the last 2 weeks. He’s doing well as far as I can tell.

Charlie the Sun Conure has a sad story. I was able to get him into the vet. He has cryptosporidia. He was much more sick than he was leading on. I had to contact his previous owner for his medical records. Charlie had a huge accident when he was a baby, and had severe head trauma. Which does explain a few things with his behavior. We still love him the same. He’s currently on medications for his illness. We are hoping for the best, and a fast recovery. He was 95 grams, and has started to gain some weight back.

 

[HeatherG]

I was going to ask you about Niko. He looks like he’s doing a lot better. I hope he’s truly feeling better as well.

I am sorry your conure has such issues. Cryptosporidium can be passed to other birds and to humans, so you need to wash up after handling him. It is a worse infection in people and animals that have immune problems. Ask your vet (if you have not already) how to be safe.

I think some people (like me and maybe you) just end up with parrots with issues. Maybe you have some extra love to go around.

 

[kme3388]

I was going to ask you about Niko. He looks like he’s doing a lot better. I hope he’s truly feeling better as well.

I am sorry your conure has such issues. Cryptosporidium can be passed to other birds and to humans, so you need to wash up after handling him. It is a worse infection in people and animals that have immune problems. Ask your vet (if you have not already) how to be safe.

I think some people (like me and maybe you) just end up with parrots with issues. Maybe you have some extra love to go around.

It’s been tough. Charlie was a very friendly little guy, and loved humans. He is now deathly afraid of humans as he’s had to have the syringe forced upon him. I feel awful, but the medications are so important. Yes, I was highly lectured on his crypto diagnosis. That humans, and all animals can get this. Which is why quarantining can be so important. Which I’ll fully admit I didn’t do properly.

 

[HeatherG]

It’s tough to quarantine. I admit when my friend has needed me to care for her birds that I didn’t do so well at keeping them separate from mine.

You do the best you can!

I’m sorry your conure is now having a hard time. Poor little fellow.

Do you think you could mix the medication with a good tasting syrup, like pina colada mix? The vet I worked with years ago recommended that for bad tasting meds so the bird would be willing to take it. I mixed bad tasting meds with fruit smoothie but the syrups are even more highly flavored.

 

[kme3388]

I made Nico some soft collars to prevent self mutilation/plucking. It was fairly easy. The gray one in the top photo I bought off line for about $50. The Minnesota Vikings, and Twins one I made. If anyone has a parrot that needs a collar please do message me. I can either explain how to make one, or work something out to make sure any parrot that needs a collar can get one.

 

[HeatherG]

That collar should give Nico lots of fun cloth to chew on. I hope it works well!

 

[kme3388]

Happy Holidays everyone. Both the conures, and Nico are doing well. Nico’s new thing is dismantling his cage. I’ve bought him many toys. He never plays with them. However pulling screws out of his cage is really fun to him. It’s definitely been a new challenge.

 

[LaManuka]

Happy Holidays to you too, @kme3388! And I hope the New Year is a happy and healthy one for all the feathered and non-feathered members of your flock

 

[Lprice2829]

View attachment 45704
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I made Nico some soft collars to prevent self mutilation/plucking. It was fairly easy. The gray one in the top photo I bought off line for about $50. The Minnesota Vikings, and Twins one I made. If anyone has a parrot that needs a collar please do message me. I can either explain how to make one, or work something out to make sure any parrot that needs a collar can get one.

I would like to try and make a collar Or buy one from you? I also have an Ekie that plucks. Curious how long you leave the collar on?

 

[kme3388]

I would like to try and make a collar Or buy one from you? I also have an Ekie that plucks. Curious how long you leave the collar on?

I use mixing bowls from my kitchen to get a bunch of different sized circles in the fabric. I just use scissors to cut around the bowl. Once I have 5 different sizes I fold the fabric in half, and cut a hole in the middle. I always go smaller because you can always expand the size of the circle in the middle. Unfortunately if you go too big you can’t go back from that. After I do this exact same hole size in the middle on all 5 circles I cut out, and determine that they fit Nico. I use a sowing machine to sow around the middle circle. I sow about a 1/2 inch out from the hole in the middle so I can cut the middle for more room if need be. I myself cut a bunch of frays in the collar because Nico preens them. It’s a cheap collar, and sense it’s soft it doesn’t appear to bother Nico at all.

I only use this at night, or if he’s in his night time room alone. I’ve never had him really feather pluck in front of me. It’s generally always when he is alone.

I was informed that I need to take this off him during the day to get his wings flapping, and so he can preen his feathers. I consulted with a vet about what I was doing, and the goals to help Nico.

I’ll attach photos below for reference

 

[kme3388]

Nico is still… well being Nico. We hadn’t feather barbered, or scissored in a long time. Now it’s spring, and he’s done both lately. It’s just a frustrating process. I wish I knew how to help this little guy! I’ve learned not to over stimulate him. Loud noises, and changes seem to over stimulate him which results in feather destruction. Over the holidays with the company we had it seemed to of triggered feather destruction as well. I caught it in time so I was able to collar him for a few days until things calmed down, and I was able to prevent a worse situation (self mutilation).

On a positive note Nico loves pine nuts, and has learned some new tricks!

 

[Cottonoid]

Hi Nico!!!!! Happy Spring!

 

[Terry57]

I'm so glad I finally got caught up on Nico's thread! You are such an amazing bird parront and your flock is so lucky to have you.
What beautiful green feathers peeking out from the fluff on his chest! And those tail feathers, fingers crossed that he leaves them alone.

Ekko has also let a few tail feathers grow in, although I'm almost afraid to say it out loud and jinx it.

I use mixing bowls from my kitchen to get a bunch of different sized circles in the fabric. I just use scissors to cut around the bowl. Once I have 5 different sizes I fold the fabric in half, and cut a hole in the middle. I always go smaller because you can always expand the size of the circle in the middle. Unfortunately if you go too big you can’t go back from that. After I do this exact same hole size in the middle on all 5 circles I cut out, and determine that they fit Nico. I use a sowing machine to sow around the middle circle. I sow about a 1/2 inch out from the hole in the middle so I can cut the middle for more room if need be. I myself cut a bunch of frays in the collar because Nico preens them. It’s a cheap collar, and sense it’s soft it doesn’t appear to bother Nico at all.

I only use this at night, or if he’s in his night time room alone. I’ve never had him really feather pluck in front of me. It’s generally always when he is alone.

I was informed that I need to take this off him during the day to get his wings flapping, and so he can preen his feathers. I consulted with a vet about what I was doing, and the goals to help Nico.

I’ll attach photos below for reference

Thank you so much for sharing how you make collars for him, would you mind creating a thread in the Plucking, Feather Destruction, and Mutilation forum with the instructions? That would be a lot of help to others, the collars you made are amazing! They're so much better than the one you bought

How is Nico feeling now? And how is Charlie doing?

 

[kme3388]

I'm so glad I finally got caught up on Nico's thread! You are such an amazing bird parront and your flock is so lucky to have you.
What beautiful green feathers peeking out from the fluff on his chest! And those tail feathers, fingers crossed that he leaves them alone.

Ekko has also let a few tail feathers grow in, although I'm almost afraid to say it out loud and jinx it.



Thank you so much for sharing how you make collars for him, would you mind creating a thread in the Plucking, Feather Destruction, and Mutilation forum with the instructions? That would be a lot of help to others, the collars you made are amazing! They're so much better than the one you bought

How is Nico feeling now? And how is Charlie doing?

I can do that. I’ll wait until I make Nico a new collar to take more detailed photos, and explain the process.

Nico, and Charlie are doing well. It’s spring so I’m going through molts, and hormones. Charlie & Kiwi (Jenday & sun conure) still aren’t getting along. I don’t think they will ever be sharing a cage. I still try! Maybe one day they will change their stance on one another.

Sorry to hear that Ekko feather plucks like Nico. I’ve came across articles of you talking about your Ekkie, but I’ve never heard you go into great detail on the things you’ve experienced with Ekko. It could be that it’s so far back as you’ve been on here for awhile.

 

[kme3388]

Hi Nico!!!!! Happy Spring!

Happy spring to you, and the flock! I hope Cotton is still doing well. He’ll always have my heart. He’s too cute for his own good.