Back with news about my parrotlets

[nataliezettler]

Hi Natalie here again for an update on my parrotlets.
So my pairs are still kinda mating casually but no eggs and they had a good molt, I made all the changes that everyone has suggested .....no worries about that anymore everything seems okay with that except my female, the one I was originally concerned with, had been sleeping a lot lately(everyday almost every hour for 20mins for a week going on second week), is this normal? Could it be time of year? I brought her to my vet last Sunday but everything checks out fine, she still plays and grooms the male.....So I'm wondering if its stress, or just season change stuff.....Any suggestions?

[Pajarita]

Great news! Now, don't worry about their still mating. In my personal experience, lovebirds are a species that takes a long time for their endocrine system to go back on track (once, it took me almost 4 entire seasons for a 9 year old show and breeding hen that had turned chronic layer -not that she kept on laying the entire year, mind you!) so just keep on doing what you are doing and they will stop soon.

As to the hen that sleeps so much, no, it's not normal and it's not because of the season. Do you give them vitamins once a week or do you feed pellets or anything else that has vitamins/minerals? I give my birds a little over a daily dosage of vitamins once a week for the vit D3 and whatever might be missed in their fresh food diet. Is this a hen that was laying too often? (Forgive me but I forget -so many birdies stories and problems and I can't remember all the details). If so, have you supplemented with a bit extra avian calcium? If so what kind and how much? What blood work did the vet do and what were the results?

[nataliezettler]

Bloodwork I didn't ask but the clinic said everything was fine.....I've been feeding fresh greens, coconut shavings, cuttle bone, seed, fruits, 12 grain cereal......they have a full spectrum light......I stopped with the egg like you said.....but I can maybe start giving a supplement....vey says she is healthy though so I really am puzzled....she still eats and drinks normally, plays, grooms, tweets....it's wierd.....let me know if you think I should add anything or eliminate......thx

[Pajarita]

Eliminate the 12 grain cereal immediately unless it has nothing added to it (human cereals always have iron added to them and it's very unhealthy for birds -it damages their liver). It seems to me that you are feeding too much protein still... You can't put out seeds in the morning and leave them there all day long, you need to feed cooked whole grains mixed with veggies and offer just enough seed to fill their crop at night. Lovebirds are highly opportunistic breeders and will continue producing sexual hormones even if you keep them at a solar schedule as long as they have rich food. You are also not providing any source of vitamin D3 so even though you give cuttlebone, the birds have no way of absorbing the calcium in it so she might very well be low in calcium and thus the lethargy (calcium is not only used for bones, it's used for muscle contraction and elasticity, cellular functions, transport of enzymes, blood clotting, neurotrasmission, etc.). If they are still having sex and she is not producing eggs and shows this lethargy, the first thing that comes to mind is that she is depleted (lack of calcium, vitamins and minerals).

What was it that you paid for in terms of blood work? CBC? CBC and a chem panel? It must be on the bill. The reason I am asking is because if they did not do an ionized calcium (the only test that tells you the actual calcium levels) and bile acids test (the only one for liver function), they don't really know if the bird is healthy or not.

With no other information, what I would do is give her five days of Calciboost and 2 entire weeks of a daily dosage of vitamins - from then on, give them vitamins once a week and continue with the cuttlebone in the cage (but only if they are eating the gloop every day accompanied by a leafy green and a piece of fruit every day) and put some aloe vera juice and non-alcoholic milk thistle extract for two weeks in her water.