wing flips

[coopedup]

Wrangler had a bad bout of wing flips last night--pretty much all night and still has them this morning. He doesnt get any type of pellet or fortified food, just natural fruits and veggies. He did get some granola mixed in with his chop yesterday just because I was at the bottom of the bag and didnt want to throw it out. He's also been getting a lot more fruit the last two weeks. Any ideas what may be causing it?

 

[SailBoat]

Wing flipping is anything from a quick adjustment to a serious irritation. There are lots of causes from insects to serious health issues. The continuation of the flipping from the over-night into the morning should have had you at your Avian Vet earlier today.

You can try misting under your Parrot's wings and on the back between the Wings, this 'may' provide a minor easy of the irritation, but it is not a solution. If your Parrot continues to flip its wings tonight, be at your Avian Vets office tomorrow!

 

[chris-md]

Hey stranger! It doesn't have to be pellets. Someone here, I forget who it was, discovered that too many blueberries caused toetapping and wing flipping. You have to think about any new foods you may have introduced in the last day or so.

 

[coopedup]

He was actually at the vet yesterday---but for a toe and beak trim. She complimented me on how good he looked, his weight (also good--she says she sees a lot of obese ekkies) and all his new feather growth. We talked about skin irritation since he had a bout of plucking this week...just when he was almost green on his back too! We talked oils, supplements, etc all of which she said werent really all that helpful, but if i wanted to mist more often or go to 2x/day showers, that might help. The wing flips were after the visit or I would have brought them up. They seem to be fine this evening--just a flip every now and then to adjust things but nothing unusual.

Chris, you could be right! He's had a lot of fruit this week--and he's normally not a big fruit eater. He's been experimenting with food more recently and starting to branch out a lot more in terms of what he will consider eating. Funny thing---I dont get trolled when I have watermelon but I sure do with Pizza!

 

[Keatz]

Hi,

If Wrangler's wing flipping is a result of a food allergy, it could take several days for the allergen to leave his system and for the wing flipping to settle down.
If you're in Australia, there is a bird vet clinic run by Dr Rob Marshall that sells a product online called Quick Gel which was recommended to me once by one of the vets there when Oscar had a major toe tapping and wing flipping episode. It works by increasing the bird's metabolism and flushing toxins out of their system.
I feed Oscar almonds in shells. The vet I spoke to does not believe in feeding nuts at all to parrots, and he said that sometimes the shells can contain fungal toxins which can cause toe tapping and wing flipping.
All the vets I've seen have told me to feed him more vegetables than fruit and to limit his fruit to two or three types a day.
Whatever the reason for Wrangler's wing flipping, I hope he's better now.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Link to quick Gel as mentioned above birdhealth
Be sure to pass this over your CAV first though IMO.

 

[Anansi]

Just seeing this, but sometimes it can be a combination of foods as well. For instance, I discovered the hard way that putting blueberries AND raspberries in the same chop will kick off a bout of toe-tapping/wing-flipping. He hasn't had a case since, as I never again combined the two.

Another possible culprit is calcium deficiency. A blood-test should let you know one way or the other, though.