Unwell Senegal Parrot

[diamonddogs6614]

Firstly, I hope this is posted in the right place.
We have had our Senegal Parrot, Rudie, for a couple of months now. Every morning he is alert and peeping gently to see us. He spends most of his day or of his cage, either on one of us, on) in his cage with the door open, or on one of his two natural perches around the house.
This morning, although he peeped on seeing me, me was not interested in his morning treat of a grape not the couple of shelled peas that he usually wants as I prepare the breakfast for my ducks. His feathers were fluffed up and he seems very, very tired. I have offered him his breakfast bowl and he has taken one sunflower heart but ignored the pellets that he usually loves. He is very, very quiet. In case he was cold, we placed him on a perch where the sun was coming in. He slept for a little while then got down to have a drink of water. He is our first parrot and I am worried in case there is something wrong other than tiredness. I have been reading online about sleep patterns. We live in Portugal and it is dusk at the moment around 7.30pm. As dusk falls, he usually flies to me to put him to bed. I have been covering his cage and getting him up when he peeps at about 8.30am. In my reading this morning, I have found out about solar schedule. It appears that I shouldn't cover him. Is that right?
This is the only morning that he has shown anything other than excitement at being awake and interest in his morning treats. Has anyone got any ideas please? Thank you.

Edit - he is drinking much more than usual and I have seen him vomit back up some of the water he had drink. I have an appointment with the vet at 5.30pm as he is listless, feathers fluffed, head under wing and vomiting. Fingers crossed he is ok

[Pajarita]

Hi, Diamond and Rudie, welcome to the forum and I am sooo sorry that your bird is sick - because make no mistake, he is sick! You did not say how old he is but, if you got him as a baby and had him for only two months, he is still a baby and, most likely, has an infection. If you got him as a baby, how old was he and did you continue handfeeding him formula daily? Because the most likely culprit of a problem in babies is a yeast infection. I am not a vet but I've been 'doing' parrots for a long time and, when it comes to babies and barring any bad disease that he could have brought from the breeder, it's usually handfeeding wrong or weaning too early that are the most common causes of infections whether fungal or bacterial.

Keep him VERY warm (I am talking a constant temperature of 30 - 32 degrees where he is perching) and keep him quiet (do not insist on his interacting with you, let him sleep) and give him a place to hide (parrots like to hide when they are sick and a large piece of material covering the top, back and sides of the cage gives them the privacy they like).

Also, offer him something warm and soft to eat - like gloop, old fashioned oatmeal, polenta or even pieces of whole grain bread (not white) wet with a bit of warm water. Warm, soft, wet food is comfort food for them because it reminds them of their parents feeding them in the beak - and this is true for parrots of any age, not only babies.

[diamonddogs6614]

Thanks for your reply.
We bought Rudie on 17th August from a breeder with an excellent reputation. He was asleep, bright eyed, perfect feathers and have reared. We were told he was eating pellet food and we have had no trouble feeding him since we got him. As well as pellets he has some sunflower seed hearts, millet, the occasional hemp seed, peas, apple - fresh and dried, carrot, sweetcorn and peppers. We are introducing new things every week. We have even commented on how healthy he seems. He has never had any problems before. I clean his cage every day -, change the paper on the floor, was his food and water bowls and clean his perches and bars. He doesn't seem to be gasping for breath but I will mention your thought to the vet. I am so very worried. He is drinking water but throwing it up almost immediately. I don't think he will eat food at the moment.

[Pajarita]

Thank your for your reply but you did not say how old he was when you got him - and that is a VERY important point because breeders always wean too soon (and I do mean ALWAYS!). The way they look at it is that if the bird is eating by itself, it's weaned. But that would be like saying that a two year old human baby can be sat at a table with a plate of adult food and that this would provide him with a good and sufficient diet - something every mother knows it's not so. Parrot parents in the wild continue supplementing their babies food intake for months after they are flying around and that's why every parrot baby should be handfed as long as the baby wants it and only stop when the baby consistently refuses the syringe.

A crop yeast infection will not cause the bird to have labored breathing - it would cause it to throw up, fluff up, become lethargic and lose appetite- all symptoms your bird is showing.

A word of caution: birds always look healthy until they are super sick. Parrots are prey animals and, as such, they are 'programmed' to hide symptoms so, by the time we see something different, the bird is super sick because it cannot hide it any longer. That's why we need to be super vigilant and observe them (and their poop both in quantity and 'quality') carefully twice a day as well as ensure our husbandry (solar schedule, diet, flight, housing, etc) is impeccable (and yes, that takes A LOT of work and constant study because we are learning new things ever day).

Please let us know what the vet says and how poor little Rudie does (I have many birds but my Zoey and Sweetpea Senegals are both VERY special to me - Zoey is on my right shoulder and Sweet pea is on my left knee as I type this).

[diamonddogs6614]

Rudie was three months old when we got him. Five months now.
The vet took an x-ray to rule out a foreign body. She went through the x-ray with me and everything looked perfect. No foreign bodies.
She gave him an anti-emetic shot, an anti biotic shot and some vitamins orally. He has five days worth of meds - anti-emetic twice a day, anti biotic once a day, vitamins once a day along with saline. She asked me to call her every day to let her know how he is getting on.
As he is not eating we have bought some vegetable baby food and I have cooked some carrot, broccoli and spinach tonight which I have pureed. He is still very tired but his stomach is empty so it is no wonder he is lethargic - apart from him feeling so rough.
We have managed to get a tiny bit of baby food into him but it's difficult as he has obviously been handled by the vet and on a car journey so little and often is the way we are going.
Although he is our first parrot, we have read many, many articles both before we got him and since. He spends all day out of the cage with us unless we have to go out. He is very happy in his cage when he needs to be in there and I clean it scrupulously every day as I am aware how susceptible parrots can be to illness and that they can go downhill fast. I will stay up tonight as I won't get much sleep out of his sight. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. Thanks for your help and support.

[Pajarita]

Ahhh, see, he was a baby and I bet the breeder told you he was completely weaned!

Is the vet an avian vet? Because, for what you tell me, she did not follow the usual avian vet protocol that, in my personal experience, is the default treatment for diseases of unknown causes: 2 weeks worth of antibiotics and 2 weeks of anti-fungals. I am also surprised that the vet did not do a choanal swab because that is also standard procedure for birds that vomit, or any blood work (can't tell anything without bloodwork - bird could have metal poisoning, psittacosis, PPD, etc for all the vet knows). I have to admit that although anti-emetics are OK for dogs and cats, they are not a medicine that is normally used on parrots... iNone of my birds ever had it given to them and the only time I have heard of a parrot getting an anti-emetic was years ago (at least, 14 years) and for a cockatoo with advanced PPD and whose crop had already been repaired 3 times.

Baby food is OK as long as the bird is eating something that provides carbs and protein (there is almost no protein and very little carbs in pureed veggies). Try making it some nice oatmeal (old fashioned kind, not the quick or the instant - and plain, no flavors, no sugar) and mixing that with something like mashed banana, carrots or pureed sweet potato. Do not feed it spinach - it has too much oxalic acid and inhibits calcium absorption which is always a big problem for pet birds (broccoli is GREAT though). Or cook some millet or quinoa until it's soft and see if he doesn't eat that... Whole grain bread is also good - even white bread will do in a pinch because you have to get him to eat or feed him baby bird formula with a syringe. Was he in good weight? If the vet did not weigh it, how does his chest feel? Is the keel bone protruding?

And keep him super warm!