HELP NEED HEALTH ADVICE

[2792charliebird]

Hi, My name is Judy and I have had birds almost all my life. Except for one parrot that died of drug induced hepatitis from my exotic vet, all my birds have always been healthy. Currently my Bailey bird, a Great-billed parrot aka Moluccan parrot aka Island parrot (Indonesia and the Phillipines) has been steadily losing weight and not eating. Here are the details. She is very active, happy, and swings almost all day long on her swing. She is going through 2 things right now 1) big molt chest and leg feathers and 2) sexual/mating behavior She will be 8 years old on 6/26/14. Great-billed parrots are sexually mature 6-8 years of age. Last year and the year before she did the same behavior as this year but this year is 50X worse. Because we are very bonded whenever I would come into the room she would lift her tail up almost horizontal to the ground. This went on for almost 2 months and has slowed down almost completely in the last week. Mating time varies with the temperature but generally May and June. At the same time she is molting on her chest. I took her to the Vet and her blood work was perfect except for her electrolytes which were just slightly off due to dehydration. There is a lady in Florida that is an expert for this breed of birds and she thought it was a mating/molting thing. In the mean time Bailey had gram positive rods in her fecal gram stain so she was put on ciprofloxacin for 10 days. Her weight the first 3 days of the antibiotic started to increase 5/30-6/2, then it started to decrease from 376 grams to 344 today. I have 2 gram scales and the readings are identical. She is not weak, playing but not eating or not much at all. I have given her everything to eat and baked birdie bread yesterday. All my birds at the bread except her. Great-billed parrots are huge eaters. June, the lady in Florida, suggested I add aloe vera juice, pinches of probiotics, avian weight gain, immune boost, etc in a syringe. I have given this to her 2X per day since last Thursday and she likes the taste of it but won't eat. The Vet said she has no egg in her, no enlarged organs and has presented normal on exam. I have changed NOTHING....no toxins. I also run a hepa- filter 24/7 in her room. She is in no drafts, etc. Nothing has changed in the last 8 years I have had her. I have multiple healthcare degrees and tons of knowledge for birds and can't figure it out. Also, ALL my birds have had a SPE for every viral disease when I first got them. They were ALL negative and they have NOT been exposed to any other birds. Any ideas??????

[Harpmaker]

Our experienced health experts are usually around this time of day, and they can help where I can't. But having had a sick bird, I know waiting and watching 0 replies is nerve-racking. Hang in there.

[Wolf]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I really don't have a lot for you but since I don't know much I did some digging and am still working on it.
It seems that although there is no records on the maximum weight of this species it appears that the average weight is about 260 grams. From what I have been able to find the molting appears to be a normal thing. It is my understanding that this species is highly susceptible to bacterial infections.
On bacterial infections it appears that except for streptococcus the gram positive bacteria are not considered to cause disease in birds. This struck me as interesting as ciprofloxacin is normally prescribed for unidentified gram positive bacteria, but it is not effective against streptococcus.
There is an article that I think that you should read on The Tanygnathus Society.org web site.
it mentions that there have been numerous unexplained deaths of birds of all ages and sex of this species pretty much everywhere. It is titled " The Glorious Great Billed Parrot"
I wish that I could be of more help than this and I assure you that I will keep on looking for more info that may help shed some light on this. Wishing you and Bailey all the best.

[Pajarita]

How's her poop? Any change in any of the three components? Did she have a bile acids test? An Xray? What, exactly, was off in her blood work and what were the values? I know you said electrolytes but which one and what were the results. Did she get BUN and creatinine and, if so, what were the levels? Do you feed pellets or human food like cereals (Cheerios or similar)? How much raw produce does she eat daily? Mind you, not what you offer but what she really eats. Do you supplement in any way? If so, what exactly and how often?