KatLeigh11
New member
- Mar 15, 2021
- 1
- 0
Please help. I'm a very concerned bird mom. I myself am physically stressed about the well-being of my little baby.
Dylan is a peach-faced lovebird I got at 5 weeks old, and hand-weened him on to a pellet diet. He got an infection at about 7 weeks, and I took him to the vet, had him on antibiotics, and went in for a follow up visit. He was cleared as good to go during the follow up; gram stain was fine. But, even at the follow up which was like1.5 weeks after we had finished the antibiotics, I still felt like he was preening a lot and fluffing a bit.
He's seemed sickly off n on ever since. I change his cage bottom at least 3 times a week if not more. He gets fresh pellets each day and fresh water. He gets veggie trimmings of some sort each day. I give him seeds as treats to reward him during potty training (he's got like a 50% success rate) and when we're doing other training. He gets sink baths like 2 or 3 times a week if not more, and joins me in the shower nearly daily. I sit next to his cage all day while working (im a grad student), and let him out to play with toys on a towel next to me throughout the day, but every time he does something he's not supposed to (fly on to the TV or on top of the fridge, chew my laptop) he gets a 5-min time out.
He's started to scream more often when I leave the room, and on occasion even when I'm there. Which I then ignore his screams and if he keeps up, I leave the room until he quiets down. Takes between 5-10 min usually.
He's always been really curious, and especially interested in metal. It's getting rarer and rarer that he will just calmly play with things while out with me; he seems to always be wanting to bit my buttons, climb in my hair, or chew my laptop even though I have never allowed these things. He used to like to snuggle under a little towel every night and fall asleep on my lap, but he hasn't done this for over 3 weeks now.
He still eats very well and drinks water. He will chatter and fly and be active, yet also suddenly go into fluff, one leg, and sleep for like 20 min.
He preens a lot. In particular, he'll kinda pick his butt sometimes, seems to scratch his under beak area with his foot before he comes out of his cage, and his nares with his foot too. I started to notice some potential spots around his neck lacking down feathers over a month ago. About a week ago I started to notice a little faint tuft of white sticking out on his chest. And I've seen him preening near there on occasion. I'm worried he's starting to become a feather picker and I don't know why!!!
I think he's either sick, or stressed out by something I am doing, but I'm trying to do everything right. I feel like maybe the fact that I'm constantly having to gently pick him up n shove him away from my laptop or hair or shoulders etc. is stressing him out? But he wants to be out of his cage all the time to hang out with me, so I don't want to keep him in there all cooped up.
Is it possible that giving him unfiltered water is a problem? Like maybe SoCalifornia water is bad for him? Do I really have to scrub down every perch and his cage bottom every day so that he's not sick? Is it possible he was still sick and the vet check just didn't pick up on it? How can I get him to be calm with me, and not so frantic? He clearly wants me around cuz he starts calling out to me even if I get up to the far area of the room, and flies to me immediately. He lets me scratch him and hold him and give him kisses. So it's not like he's afraid of me... but I feel like at the same time something is causing him to be stressed out. Please help.
Dylan is a peach-faced lovebird I got at 5 weeks old, and hand-weened him on to a pellet diet. He got an infection at about 7 weeks, and I took him to the vet, had him on antibiotics, and went in for a follow up visit. He was cleared as good to go during the follow up; gram stain was fine. But, even at the follow up which was like1.5 weeks after we had finished the antibiotics, I still felt like he was preening a lot and fluffing a bit.
He's seemed sickly off n on ever since. I change his cage bottom at least 3 times a week if not more. He gets fresh pellets each day and fresh water. He gets veggie trimmings of some sort each day. I give him seeds as treats to reward him during potty training (he's got like a 50% success rate) and when we're doing other training. He gets sink baths like 2 or 3 times a week if not more, and joins me in the shower nearly daily. I sit next to his cage all day while working (im a grad student), and let him out to play with toys on a towel next to me throughout the day, but every time he does something he's not supposed to (fly on to the TV or on top of the fridge, chew my laptop) he gets a 5-min time out.
He's started to scream more often when I leave the room, and on occasion even when I'm there. Which I then ignore his screams and if he keeps up, I leave the room until he quiets down. Takes between 5-10 min usually.
He's always been really curious, and especially interested in metal. It's getting rarer and rarer that he will just calmly play with things while out with me; he seems to always be wanting to bit my buttons, climb in my hair, or chew my laptop even though I have never allowed these things. He used to like to snuggle under a little towel every night and fall asleep on my lap, but he hasn't done this for over 3 weeks now.
He still eats very well and drinks water. He will chatter and fly and be active, yet also suddenly go into fluff, one leg, and sleep for like 20 min.
He preens a lot. In particular, he'll kinda pick his butt sometimes, seems to scratch his under beak area with his foot before he comes out of his cage, and his nares with his foot too. I started to notice some potential spots around his neck lacking down feathers over a month ago. About a week ago I started to notice a little faint tuft of white sticking out on his chest. And I've seen him preening near there on occasion. I'm worried he's starting to become a feather picker and I don't know why!!!
I think he's either sick, or stressed out by something I am doing, but I'm trying to do everything right. I feel like maybe the fact that I'm constantly having to gently pick him up n shove him away from my laptop or hair or shoulders etc. is stressing him out? But he wants to be out of his cage all the time to hang out with me, so I don't want to keep him in there all cooped up.
Is it possible that giving him unfiltered water is a problem? Like maybe SoCalifornia water is bad for him? Do I really have to scrub down every perch and his cage bottom every day so that he's not sick? Is it possible he was still sick and the vet check just didn't pick up on it? How can I get him to be calm with me, and not so frantic? He clearly wants me around cuz he starts calling out to me even if I get up to the far area of the room, and flies to me immediately. He lets me scratch him and hold him and give him kisses. So it's not like he's afraid of me... but I feel like at the same time something is causing him to be stressed out. Please help.
