wing flipping??

[moni.k]

I noticed this evening that Nalani has been flipping her wings rather constantly while on her perch. No signs of toe tapping, but she flicks either a single wing or both every few seconds to a couple minute. So far it's been going on for the past 2 hours. She isn't trying to fly off, but sitting on the perch relaxed (on one foot).

Her diet used to consist of: breakfast (fresh fruits/veggies/sprouts), lunch (cooked mix of Fancy Soak and Simmer from Volkman and more fresh fruits/veggies/sprouts), dinner (a small portion of fruits/veggies), overnight (small spoonful of seeds with a couple of TOP pellets). She doesn't really touch her pellets but LOVES her seeds. She refused to eat her fruits/veggie mix (only eating the volkman soak and simmer mix) so I slowly stopped giving her the cooked mix over a span of a month and a half.

Currently she is on a full fresh fruit/veggie/sprout mix which contains: apples, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, carrots, papaya, corn, peas, soy beans, green beans, blue berries, black berries, celery, cucumber, zucchini, parsley, guava, mango, bell peppers (red, green, yellow), fresh garbonzo beans, dandelion leaves (human grade), cactus (human grade). This list is of the most recent batch that I chopped and froze into portions for her. It's pretty consistent almost every time with a few changes to the fruits (depending on what season)

She is in the middle of her first molt and I notice a bit of irritation with the new pin feathers coming in, but flicking her wings this much constantly is a first. Could it be the diet change? Is she getting too much fruits/veggies (vitamin rich foods), should I reintroduce the cooked mix?

Volkman Fancy Soak and Simmer Ingredients: soy beans, paddy rice, whole weat, alaska green peas, yellow corn, white peas, popcorn, pearl barley, oat croats, red lentils, green and yellow plit peas, white corn, green baby lima beans, small red beans, black turtle beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, black-eye beans, buckwheat, white northern beans

 

[U2gal]

Could she be asking to be handfed? Your pic of her in your siggy is a young eclectus. How old is she?

 

[Chikoo]

Moni.k, my female does the same thing. She will be very relaxed on her perch, one foot curled in, and will flick her wings, one at a time, periodically. I don't think this is wing flapping, I think she is just adjusting her feathers. She especially does this in the evening. No toe tapping in evidence. She only eats organic fruits and veggies and some seeds.

Btw, is the soy non-GMO? Most soy is GMO unless it is indicated as being non-GMO.

 

[moni.k]

Sorry, that's a pretty old photo of her. She's actually hitting 1 years old on July 4th. She's been weaned for a while now.

It's not the begging behavior, she sits comfortably on the perch looking like she's about fall asleep at any moment. But she keeps flicking her wings as if she's trying to adjust her feathers. I looked at a few videos on wing flipping and it looked pretty much the same, except Nalani doesn't toe tap and the other ekkies did. Maybe I'm over reacting? Who knows, it could be something else or nothing at all. It's just something I noticed out of the ordinary today and the constant flipping is what makes me worried.

 

[moni.k]

Btw, is the soy non-GMO? Most soy is GMO unless it is indicated as being non-GMO.

I buy a frozen organic mix at the local health store that contains the precooked corn, soy beans, and bell peppers. All the corn and soy beans are organic in her diet aside from the Volkman mix. I'm not sure if their soy beans and corn is non-GMO.

 

[Wings]

Here's a great link to eclectus parrots if you haven't seen it already. I would take her to the vet just to make sure, you never know with birds. So, here's the link.

Eclectus Parrots (Electus roratus / Lorius roratus)

ww.avianweb.com/eclectusdiseases.html

 

[sodakat]

Her diet seems fine. Some adjustment before roosting is not uncommon for some Eclectus, like Chickoo said, and this may in fact be light wing flipping. I don't think it is cause for concern at this point. IMO there can be other causes besides diet and generally these bouts of light wing flipping don't last long.

 

[moni.k]

Thanks Sodakat at Chikoo, I'll continue to monitor her. I know she does it on occassion, but it was never excessive like yesterday.

@Sodakat: do you think I should/can reintroduce her to the cooked mix. I know she really likes it, but my main concern is that she'll fall back into refusing her fresh fruit/veggie/sprout mix.

 

[Wings]

no, i wouldn't if it will deprive her of her more nutritionally rich diet.

 

[sodakat]

Thanks Sodakat at Chikoo, I'll continue to monitor her. I know she does it on occassion, but it was never excessive like yesterday.

@Sodakat: do you think I should/can reintroduce her to the cooked mix. I know she really likes it, but my main concern is that she'll fall back into refusing her fresh fruit/veggie/sprout mix.

Try offering it in the same bowl with the fresh stuff. Mix it 1/4 cooked to 3/4 or 1/3 to 2/3 fresh and see what happens.

You are talking Volkman soak and simmer, right?

 

[moni.k]

Thanks Sodakat at Chikoo, I'll continue to monitor her. I know she does it on occassion, but it was never excessive like yesterday.

@Sodakat: do you think I should/can reintroduce her to the cooked mix. I know she really likes it, but my main concern is that she'll fall back into refusing her fresh fruit/veggie/sprout mix.

Try offering it in the same bowl with the fresh stuff. Mix it 1/4 cooked to 3/4 or 1/3 to 2/3 fresh and see what happens.

You are talking Volkman soak and simmer, right?

Yep its the Volkman soak and simmer. I did the exact same portion for her "lunch" meals before (1/4 volkman s&s and 3/4 fruits/veggies), but I noticed she would starve herself in the morning and only eat the soak and simmer for lunch... then starve until she got her small spoonful of seeds. I slowly lessened the amount of the volkman mix until she's now fully off of it. It's been a little over a month but her screams (of hunger) continues. I've been giving her larger portions of the fresh fruits/veggies/sprouts, but she's still in protest, constantly screaming through out the day. To be honest, I really want to give in and cook her a batch, but I'm worried she'll stop eating her fresh fruits/veggies again. I know she's screaming out of hunger, her crop is close the empty all day. It's like she's starving herself. Even now, her crop isn't nearly as full as it used to be and she's always screaming for food.

 

[sodakat]

I'm confused. If you offer the volkmans mixed with her fresh foods and sprouts in the same bowl at all meals, are you saying she will only pick out the volkmans ingredients and leave the rest in the bowl?

 

[sodakat]

I often cook rice and sometimes cook beans (in addition to the pulses I sprout) and feed that with defrosted frozen and fresh foods. But it all is in the same dish:

 

[moni.k]

I make the fruit and veggie mix in huge portions once a month, freezing them into snack size plastic bags. Usually one bag is enough for one day. I would do the same for the volkman mix. So I have 3 bags in the refrigerator (fresh fruits/veggies, sprouts, volkman soak and simmer mix). Before the diet change, I would mix only the fruits/veggies and sprouts for breakfast, then the combination of the volkman mix, fruits/veggies and sprouts for lunch. Lastly for dinner (around 6pm) I give a small portion of fruits/veggies. What she would do, is not touch her breakfast and wait until lunch. Then she would only pick out the volkman mix from her lunch (all the beans and grains) and not touch her fruits/veggies and sprouts. I slowly lessened the amount of the volkman mix until now she's only offered fresh fruits/veggies/sprouts. She's made improvement with eating what she has, but her crop is never more than half way full (if at that). She's been screaming constantly for more food, but she's offered much more than she could possibly finish at each feedings. That's why I'm contemplating if I should reintroduce the volkman mix into her diet, but in much smaller portions (less than a tablespoon full) to encourage her eating.

 

[sodakat]

Yes I would. Especially since she has been screaming and doing some wing flipping. Are you warming it? If so, that might be why she prefers it. Maybe give her as much as she wants for a bit. Has she begun molting large feathers yet?

 

[moni.k]

Nope, I cook the whole bag all at once and then freeze them into small portions. I thaw the individual bags in the refrigerator the night before serving. She hasn't molted her larger feathers, but she's molted a lot of her smaller feathers.

I agree with putting her back on the volkman mix. Not only are the screams deafening, but the fact that she started wing flipping couldn't just be coincidence. I really felt like it had something to do with the diet change (since the diet was actually changed dramatically recently). I just wanted second opinions to solidify if it indeed was a good or bad idea. Thanks sodakat, I'll keep everyone posted on the progress.

So far, she's continued to flick her wings constantly throughout the morning and afternoon. The time interval is pretty consistent (every few seconds to a couple minutes). I did take her outside and work some wing flapping exercises with her, it seemed to help for about an hour, but she started flicking all over again. I'm gonna try to reintroduce the volkman mix, but if it continues I'll probably be taking her to the vet by the end of this week for a full blood panel.

 

[Chikoo]

Just out of curiosity, what are some of the other reasons that an ekkie will wing flip if it is not dietary?

 

[sodakat]

I've observed wing flipping only a few times and never could tie it to anything diet related. Of course there might have been some food I was feeding that had been treated or was off and I didn't realize it.

Exposure to chemicals can bring on WF, like sitting on a couch that has been treated for stain protection for example.

I've also seen slight WF after a stressful event, such as a bird getting stuck behind a piece of furniture.

Usually food additive overload that causes wing flipping also involves toe tapping. Dried foods like fruit or peppers for example, seem to be a fairly common food item that can trigger a bout of wf and tt.

My Sully had a long episode of both earlier this year. I never did find what caused it. After it subsided he, maybe coincidentally, maybe not, went through a really hard molt that is just now ending.

I have observed with my young females that they experience some TT (can't say for sure WF) when they first begin maturing. There is some theory that expanding sexual organs might cause this).

I've also observed TT when my birds have spent the night outside and the temps dropped a bit. As soon as the sun somes up and they warm up, they stop.

I wish I had more answers. Just observing and noting what I've seen.

 

[sodakat]

@Moni.k, something else I thought of this morning is that you should consider, just for a week or so, giving her only fresh fruits and vegetables added to the cooked mixture. Hold off on the packaged fruits vegs you have in the freezer for a bit.

 

[coltfire]

the other thing is has it been very warm and dry, if so it may just be her getting the oils moving before going off to sleep and same for morning, ive never had tt or wf with any of my birds, but i cut there food up twice a day every day never frozen never cut up and frozen,fresh only.