noblemacaw
New member
- Sep 23, 2011
- 1,056
- 3
- Parrots
- Valentino - Red Fronted Macaw - Hatched August 12, 2012
Hello fellow bird lovers. As some of you may know I had an Illiger's Macaw for 9 years. Diego was from a breeder in Southern California and he was always very healthy all his life. On June 8th 2011 Diego collapsed and I rushed him to the vet right away. He died at the vets while his doctor was attempting heroic attempts to save him. Because Diego's right side was paralyzed and he went into distress with breathing it was diagnosed that he had a stroke. I was devastated by his sudden death and am still trying to come to terms with it.
Diego's yearly check ups were always great. The only thing he did not score high on was that his papilla was stunted or not very developed. He did have a sinus issue when he was younger but he never had any more issues after the first one. Diego was fully flighted and trained to fly to me or back to his cage on command. I was working on recall from the lower to upper part of my house. (flying to me without being able to see me with just the sound of my voice) I flew him every day to make sure he got enough excersize to keep him healthy. I feed my birds a wonderful diet consisting of my homemade soft mix, goldenfeast, and pellets. My homemade mix was very nutritious and can sustain a parrot with just this food. My Eclectus lived on this and was nutritionally balanced.
Diego's blood work was always normal. Nothing was elevated even his cholesterol was normal. His doctor told me that sometimes a bird can be healthy and still have a stoke. I guess this can happen to us too.
Anyway I am attempting to figure out if Illiger's are prone to heart problems. I attended a Susan Clubb seminar a couple of weeks ago and learned that African Greys sometimes will have heart problems. A breeder of African Greys explained she lost 7 out of 28 birds to heart issues. My vet does not see many Illiger's so she could not tell me if she saw this trend within the Illiger's. I do know that she felt very bad she could not save him and she and I cried together while holding Diego's body.
I would love to hear from other Illiger's owner, breeders or people who know of others who have the Illiger's macaw.
Thank you for reading and responding.
Noblemacaw
Diego's yearly check ups were always great. The only thing he did not score high on was that his papilla was stunted or not very developed. He did have a sinus issue when he was younger but he never had any more issues after the first one. Diego was fully flighted and trained to fly to me or back to his cage on command. I was working on recall from the lower to upper part of my house. (flying to me without being able to see me with just the sound of my voice) I flew him every day to make sure he got enough excersize to keep him healthy. I feed my birds a wonderful diet consisting of my homemade soft mix, goldenfeast, and pellets. My homemade mix was very nutritious and can sustain a parrot with just this food. My Eclectus lived on this and was nutritionally balanced.
Diego's blood work was always normal. Nothing was elevated even his cholesterol was normal. His doctor told me that sometimes a bird can be healthy and still have a stoke. I guess this can happen to us too.
Anyway I am attempting to figure out if Illiger's are prone to heart problems. I attended a Susan Clubb seminar a couple of weeks ago and learned that African Greys sometimes will have heart problems. A breeder of African Greys explained she lost 7 out of 28 birds to heart issues. My vet does not see many Illiger's so she could not tell me if she saw this trend within the Illiger's. I do know that she felt very bad she could not save him and she and I cried together while holding Diego's body.
I would love to hear from other Illiger's owner, breeders or people who know of others who have the Illiger's macaw.
Thank you for reading and responding.
Noblemacaw
