Sour crop or just the smell of digesting food? and what about kisses on the beak?

[WingDing]

Our eclectus breath smells like vomit after he eats breakfast. It seems a little more stinky the last couple of days. He has watery droppings in the morning but look normal later in the day. That is pretty normal for him during molting.

I've taken him to the vet earlier this year when his breath was noticeably "off" and tests showed no infection. The vet gave him a clean bill of health. Going to the vet is an hour drive and super traumatic so I want to be sure the trip is warrented.

Also, Toby loves kisses on the beak. Is a dry kiss on the outside of the beak a no-no due to germs?

 

[ctwo]

Eskimo kisses. I kiss mine too though.

 

[Laurasea]

My burds breath doesn't smell. But sometimes after they just ate something it smells like what they ate. The yuck one is broccoli! If they ate broccoli I don't want that beak near me for a little while!

Sour smell would worry me also. Plus watery droppings...but I don't know what is normal fir yours after veggies

If it was me I'd offer a teaspoon of plain Greek yogurt, try 3 days in a row and see if it helps I have found it helps..I've done for many years. Most baby burd formula has probiotic, so you could also try offering a few cc made up a few days in a row.

 

[WingDing]

Eskimo kisses. I kiss mine too though.

Yeah. My thought too. He likes beak-to-nose kisses, too. We'll steer towards that. He's a serious hands-off bird but face to face he is always a sweetie.

Sour smell would worry me also. Plus watery droppings...but I don't know what is normal fir yours after veggies.

It's tough for me to discern because his droppings change throughout the day: usually watery after breakfast and they generally look normal later in the day.

I'm thinking that I have been leaving his chop out too long. I try to stick with less than 3 hours, but I sometimes lose track of time and it may go 5 hours, very occasionally. Not good.

I've been reading various forums about feeding schedules and I've been taking notes. In general, I haven't offered pellets to Toby except in his cage in the evening. Now, I will try bridging the gaps between fresh breakfast and dinner with Tops pellets. Something like this:

Chop: 9am to 12pm
Pellets: 12 to 3pm
Chop: 3pm to 6pm
Pellets: until bed time
There will also always be snack time in the afternoon when I share bird-healthy snacks with him, like sweet peppers and chick peas.

As far as his current condition, he's eating, pooping and behaving like his normal self. If he continues to smell sour, I'll take him to see the vet.

 

[HeatherG]

I’ve definitely smelt old chop go sour. I wonder if that’s the issue.

 

[WingDing]

I’ve definitely smelt old chop go sour. I wonder if that’s the issue.

Yeah, that has been exactly my concern. There have a few times when his chop stayed out for more than 3 or 4 hours because I couldn't be there to change it out.

After my post a month ago, things got worse and I took him to the vet. The crop swab revealed bacterial and yeast infections. The vet sent droppings into the lab for analysis but the results are not back yet. In the mean time, Toby is on Baytril.

Two days after the vet trip, Toby had the worst diarrhea, a big puddle on the floor. He also had milky liquid dripping from his mouth. That seems very serious to me. The vet took my phone call and said that if he is eating and drinking and not lethargic to keep him home but watch him closely. Toby started acting more like his normal self the next day and his excrement started to firm up. It is still a little too dark to call it normal. He's only been on the antibiotics for 5 days.

When folks talk of only feeding their birds fresh food, I wonder how they keep it fresh all day. Do they replace it 4 times a day? That a lot of work to wash bowls and seems wasteful. I may ask about this in a separate thread.

-Jorns

 

[Laurasea]

Please let your vet know right away about poop! Baytril makes yeast overgrowth way worse! He might want to add nystatin

Please click abd read both

Ornithology: Share and discuss scientific articles on parrots!

That's soooooo helpful, thank you!

www.parrotforums.com

Ornithology: Share and discuss scientific articles on parrots!

That's soooooo helpful, thank you!

www.parrotforums.com

 

[HeatherG]

I wouldn’t feed chop if I wasn’t going to be home. I take fresh stuff out after 2-3 hrs. Plain veggies might not matter as much, but cooked stuff needs to be very fresh. Think about what YOU would eat yourself. If you would be afraid to eat it yourself, should your bird really have it? Stick to food safety rules for parrot food as well as for people food.

 

[SailBoat]

Not a big fan of pellets as the off-set for Chop based on appropriate diets for your species of Parrot. But, I am not an expert by any means.

Dry kiss very high on the Bill, but not low.

 

[WingDing]

Please let your vet know right away about poop! Baytril makes yeast overgrowth way worse! He might want to add nystatin

Please click abd read both

Ornithology: Share and discuss scientific articles on parrots!

That's soooooo helpful, thank you!

www.parrotforums.com

Ornithology: Share and discuss scientific articles on parrots!

That's soooooo helpful, thank you!

www.parrotforums.com

Laura, thanks for the links. I promise to read them tonight.
The vet had me send pictures of Toby's droppings. He said that it would better to keep Toby at home than stress him out again coming to the office. Toby is a high-strung bird and every visit to the vet takes a major toll on him. Like I said, his poops are looking much better and the vet agrees.