New baby lovebird, fearful of humans - how to proceed?

[thesilversakura]

I'll get on the gloop tonight for first thing tomorrow. My mother went shopping but could only find rolled oats and linseed (both without anything added of course), would that be an okay starting gloop until we can get wholegrain rice and others? I know linseed is fatty so I won't be adding too much of that. Ah, she goes nuts for corn, anything yellow she loves.

Yep, the lighting schedule is hard at the moment. It's grey and gloomy outside, and she's sleeping an awful lot recently....since about half past 3 today she's been sitting on her sleeping perch dozing, except when I come and go (massive migraine, I feel bad for not giving her as much attention as usual today but you probably know how awful migraines are). She usually gets up around half nine, ten o clock - when we take the cage cover off, but she must be awake before then because of the light. I routinely put the cage cover on at half 8 at night, but she's always dozing before then. Question is, do I listen to her or when the sun comes up and goes down? What would be the best time to get her up and put her to sleep? Bearing in mind she is only 6 months old and is always sleepy it seems, except when I play with her and when she eats. I admit I should know more about sleeping schedules, my own is absolutely rubbish *ahem*

And Wolf, of course I'll get some pictures of her. Wish I could embed a video, she's the cutest when having scritches

[Wolf]

That causes me some concern as she should not be so sleepy, it make me think that something is wrong. I am afraid for her.

[thesilversakura]

Indeed, she is usually sleepy anyway but today it was noticeably more. Apart from that I can see no other changes, she just ate this morning, moved around, had a play with her toys and had a chirp like she usually does, then went up to her sleeping perch. Quite often she'll have what I call a 'funny five minutes' where she calls loudly and flies round the room in circles, then settles down. She sings to the radio and comes to sit on my head every now and then if I don't get her out myself. Today though, she hasn't done any of that. This tiredness....do I have cause for concern considering everything that's happened? Houdini slept quite a lot for the first few days, but he was so young I just thought he was catching up considering the stress he'd been under. I'll give her a check over now and see if I can notice anything else.

Edit: despite being grumpy after disturbing her, she seems okay otherwise. Eyes bright, alert, no lethargy or wobbliness, just went straight back up to her perch, fluffed herself up, made contended clicking noises, and is sitting there now. Hmmmm.

[Wolf]

It is not uncommon for a bird to take a mid morning or mid afternoon nap, but more than that is a cause for concern. Birds hide illness quite well and the very few signs that they do give are often very subtle and easily ignored or even just missed until the bird is so sick that its life is in immediate danger. I am concerned for your bird.

[thesilversakura]

Just took her cage cover off this morning, she's sitting on the bottom of the cage which she usually does anyway, but not when we wake her up. I didn't hear her eat either, but she is playing with her toys. She's going to the vet, absolutely. I'm not taking any chances with her. God I'm worried

Edit: up and having a good preen. And finally eating and drinking. If she goes back up to her sleeping perch I'll call the vet and get her in today definitely. I'm torn between being too hypervigilant and putting her through something that will be very stressful for her body, or listening to my worries. But I can't take any chances with her.

[Wolf]

I understand how you feel, up until just recently I had just one parrotlet, but after a year and some help I was able to fulfill a promise made to her previous owners and to her and was able to provide her with a mate. They are so adorable and precious.
I am comparing your birds general behavior against both what I have learned through research and my two parrotlets. I know that they are all individuals and that there will be some differences but neither of my little parrotlets show any inclination to sleep as much as you describe with yours and so with the recent events that you have gone through I am very concerned and It is better to be safe than to be sorry.
I have an amazon, a GAG and a Senegal among my larger birds whom I a love very much and then I have a pair of budgies and a pair of parrotlets. I love them as well, but I never expected how much of my heart my two little parrotlets have in their little feet. For the most part I prefer my larger birds over the little ones but not true with these two they have as much heart as any of the larger ones and are sooo special to me.
Since he is a retired breeder bird, I can't even touch Rajah, my male, but Keeta is always the very first to come out to play with me and spend as much time hanging on to the sides of her cage looking at me and asking to come back out to play more as she does with her mate. Very special to me, indeed.

[Pajarita]

Hmmm, yes, I would be worried, too. Thing is, small species are very 'birdy' in their behaviors.. always flitting here and there, zooming around the room, perching here, moving there, climbing yonder, scratching, preening, chewing something... I mean, they never stop until they take a nap. Also, naps after breakfast worry me. I had a Senegal that looked just fine, good plumage, good weight, good poop, good appetite, etc but, one morning, I noticed that she went back to sleep after eating her breakfast so I made a mental note of the anomaly and, when that night, she came down to eat her dinner, I dismissed it as a fluky thing... but, the following morning, she was dead. Mind you, I am not saying this is what is going to happen to your bird, all I am saying is that, because of this particular experience, whenever I see a bird sleeping after breakfast, I worry BIG TIME.

[thesilversakura]

Today she's been very active, thank god. I gave her some seedy oatmeal gloop this morning and she was eating it like a trooper *punches the air*. Was having a tantrum by throwing her jingle ball around the cage which she knows is very loud and will get my attention, and chirping at me loudly because she'd had enough of it a few hours ago, but she is eating it again now and sulking, haha. I'll get her up at the same time tomorrow and take her to bed at the usual time, and if she's sleepy again it'll be straight into the vet. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary today, just this morning I was being hypervigilant.

Wolf, I tried to get some photos of her today, but she was camera shy for some reason. Perhaps my big new phone, haha. I'll upload them in one post soon

[thesilversakura]

She had a great morning, eating gloop, playing, flying around....but it's ten to one in the afternoon and she's sitting on her sleeping perch quietly, puffed up and breathing quite noticeably. Occasionally moving her head round like she wants to preen, but she looks sleepy, like she's trying to keep her eyes open. She's adjusting her crop too. If I move her or engage her she goes back to her normal self, but just watching her...making a vet appointment right now. Trying not to panic.

Edit: and now she's back to her normal self after getting her to step up and talking to her. I don't quite know what to do.... :/

[Wolf]

No don't panic, it never helps! At this time of day, maybe a little bit later but near this time of day my birds all tend to settle in for a nap. So don't get yourself worked up on this. At first your posting about your birds lethargy had me concerned especially as it sounded like she was going to sleep right after eating in the morning. But most birds take a mid day nap and that is nothing to be concerned about.