Sick or normal?

[JPercopo]

Hi, we adopted 2 (allegedly) 6 month old female cockatiels Saturday, and we’ve all been getting along great. However, the personality of one has changed the last 2 days, more so today. She seems to be trying to regurgitate a lot with the head/neck bobbing with her mouth open, sometimes little sounds but nothing ever actually comes out. She is sleeping a lot, and looks all fluffed out and a little disheveled and has been preening a lot. She’s also sitting on her feet more than past days. She has been sleeping on the bottom of her cage on and off which I read isn’t good, tho not all the time- she had a huge cage and goes down there to eat the seeds she drops, so I think she just chills there sometimes. She was the hyper one the first few days, but seems really mellow more and more lately. These are my first tiels so I don’t know if I’m just overly worried over nothing. She seems to be eating good but I haven’t caught her drinking much. Neither will eat any sort of treats- no veggies, no fresh or dried fruit.

I’m hoping maybe she’s getting ready to molt? I’m only seeing a few small fluffy feathers tho. I’m not sure what warning signs to look for other than what comes up on google. I know they’re both still getting used to a new environment, she just seems so off compared to a few days ago. I’m concerned about her sleeping so much and her trying to regurgitate with nothing coming out. I can’t find anything about that anywhere, just what consistency to look out for, nothing about NOT regurgitating. Could she have food/seeds stuck? Thanks in advance, and I apologize if I’m being a worry wart! I just want what’s best for these girls. Google scared me, saying sleeping a lot and being all fluffed out more than not is a bad sign. Maybe they’re not both girls and are getting a little too friendly and hormonal? They’re preening each other a lot, it’s the sweetest thing ever to see! I’ll try to get photos of her from a few days ago vs. today. Tiels are new to me (only ever had budgies) so I’m hoping I’m just overreacting! I love them already and just want them to be OK.

 

[texsize]

Without being able to see this behavior it's impossible to be sure.
It could be she is adjusting her crop and not trying to regurgitate.
What does her poop look like?
Young birds can sometime be unsteady at perching and will spend more time on the floor of the cage.

All that being said if there is any doubt taker her to an avian vet quick as you can.
By the time your bird shows symptoms of ill health it may be to late to help.

 

[SailBoat]

As my good friend suggestion of pictures /videos will help greatly.

Is there a strong color difference between the two, i.e. one having duller coloration and the other being bright colored?

As suggested, young Parrots can make odd choices on perching locations and puff-up for no good reason beyond they can.

Taken as individual occurrences, kind of normal. But as a group, they suggest that something maybe off, especially the change in behavior (very active to quieter). Worth having a discussion with an Avian Professional early today, as we are at the base of a weekend and if your Tiel is ill, it could be a long wait until Monday.

 

[JPercopo]

I was actually able to catch it on video today. She has been doing it a lot. Mostly after eating but also when she’s just sitting there. As far as changes in behavior, it’s hard to tell as she’s only been here a day shorter than a week, but we do notice a difference in look and energy from the first few days to the last few. I think I attached the video clip, of not I’ll try again! I’ve been calling around to vets since yesterday, no they’re all not seeing anyone (our state is shut down) so I’m about to take her to the ER.

 

[noodles123]

I do not see a video. If you upload to Youtube and then attach that link (private, public...whatever) then we can see it.

 

[JPercopo]

Sorry, it kept failing. Sorry it’s been a few days, but it’s been a rough few days. I ended up taking her to the animal ER, as no vets would see her due to the shutdown. She was really sick, and they Rx’d antibiotics, anti fungal, and anti inflammatory meds... it’s SOO tough giving them to her, I’ve got it down to a science but hates it, and hates me after. For a few days we didn’t think she’d make it through the night. But she seems SO much better, I’ll sit with her at my desk for a while after her meds and let her chill out, I don’t want to put her back all stressed, and usually she’ll come around and want to play a bit, which is GREAT! She even asks to come out of her small cage, so she’s on the mend! My question though, how long do I need to keep her quarantine from her buddy? We thought they were bonded girls, but I walked by with Lemon to give her meds, and Pikachu started SINGING and dancing, heart wings and all! They REALLY miss each other and I want to put them back together, and the vet isn’t returning my calls

 

[noodles123]

Don't put them together yet. GLAD she is doing better!!

 

[JPercopo]

Thank you!!! So are we, we were really expecting the worst for a few days. But she’s looking great, except when I miss with the meds, then she looks like she has a porn-stash lol... how long should we keep them apart? Till the meds are done? We have 5 days left.

 

[noodles123]

Keep them apart for as long as possible I would say...I mean, what did she have? It is possible that she could have gotten it from your other bird even if he seems healthy...plus, you need to find a way to safely clean the cage with an avian safe cleaner (don't use chemicals in the same house with a bird unless they are approved---but there are avian-safe disinfectants like F10 SC that could be used on the cage if you could just move your other bird to a travel cage or something while you clean. Definitely separate them through the entire course of treatment but honestly....if they are doing okay separate, I would keep them that way (as they will prob end up mating if you keep them together and that is no good either)..just my opinion

 

[JPercopo]

Pikachu ended up getting sick a few weeks after she did, he was MUCH, much worse. The vet said he wouldn’t make it, but he did they had him on doxycycline and it made him SO SICK and would vomit for about an hour straight after each dose. The vet is convinced we bought them both sick and it just took a while to show. He went from 76g down to 58 in about 3 days, but now is back up to 78. Since then, we adopted one more tiel, and a rescue 9 year old GCC fell in our laps! So our happy flock just keeps growing! The tiels hate the GCC, and she doesn’t like them either, so there’s that lol... she “claimed” me and will try to knock the tiels off is she sees them on my shoulder. But we are working on it! Thank you guys for your advice, I’m sorry it took so long to respond!

 

[noodles123]

So glad they are all doing well and that there are both doing better! How scary!