Peanut and I say HI ALL!

[karenkc1994]

Thank you Liz! I really appreciate your support and help through this Hoping that the positive thoughts will help Peanut fully recover!!

[Wolf]

I don't think that it is that dogs are hardier animals than birds although they are both remarkable in their own right. I think that it is that we are closer to dogs in several ways, we are both mammals, we are both predators and we are both from a dominance based society and all these things make it much easier for us to read a dog than a bird. This means that the bird is more successful at hiding an illness from us than a dog would be.
I would also consider starting to add probiotics to his food to help replace the digestive bacteria that are being killed of by the meds that he is being given. I would call the vet to double check that it is alright to do this, just to be safe.
If your budgies came from a pet store than I am not surprised at their illness as it seems to me to be pretty common of a thing.

[karenkc1994]

Wolf, my conure (the bird currently extremely ill) is not on any medication as the doctor could not determine what was wrong with him. I am simply just giving him hand-feeding formula right now in hopes of boosting his body weight and energy. I've also added sugar in his water as the doctor recommended but I think I will try the juice idea that Liz suggested. As for my budgies, that was a long time ago when I had them as a child and never took them to the vet. They were in fact bought from the pet store, but they were healthy for many years before any sort of illness hit them...

[Pajarita]

Yes, keep on handfeeding him as often as you can because, if he is that skinny, he won't be eating much at one time. But I would also add an antibiotic - it can't hurt and, if nothing else, it will help him gain weight.

Puppies are not hardier than birds but we know practically all there is to know about them (food, weaning age, diseases, vaccines, how to train, etc) so they are a breeze compared to birds because we know very little about them and are, pretty much, at the mercy of breeders (think puppy mill).

Keeping poor Peanut in my thoughts....

[karenkc1994]

Thank you Pajarita

The hand-feeding formula seems to be working really well so far. Peanut seems almost normal today (he's still a little weak) but he definitely doesn't look like he's about to die anymore like he did a couple days ago After the doctor said how skinny he was, I decided to feel him and he was right. He has no meat on him at all! I can feel every bone on his little body.. When I bought Peanut, the breeder told me to hand feed him for another 4-5 days and I had to ASK how. So he gave me a brief 1 minute lesson and the consistency of the formula was just WAY too watery and was meant for newborn parrots. The hand-feeding formula that I bought a couple days ago instructed me to do 1 part powder to 1.3 to 2 parts water. What I came up with was a thick paste that you can barely suck up through the syringe. No wonder he was so skinny!! I wasn't feeding him enough nutrients! All he was getting for the last week was basically water with a little bit of powder! I am so angry that the breeder told me to feed him the garbage he gave and showed me. The pellets he MADE me buy were not even for parrots but for cockatiels! I know it won't hurt him but it's just not meant for his type. I mean, that brand of pellets came in parrot packages too but he insisted I get the one for cockatiels! Like why?? Cockatiels are more slender than conures so I assume the pellets are made in a way for them to keep that slenderness, which may be why Peanut was extremely underweight? Just a wild guess...

I am also so glad we rushed him to the vet that day because he was so weak and the baby formula that the doctor suggested I buy probably saved his life. Doctor didn't think he would even make it but Peanut has been full of surprises! He has a follow up appointment on Monday and hopefully everything is all good with him!

[Wolf]

Cockatiels are parrots and almost all of the formulas that are used to make pellets are based on research done using cockatiels. They really are not made to be species specific, the only thing that would actually be affected by it being for a cockatiel vs. it being for an amazon would be the size of the pellet and perhaps how hard the pellet is. The lack of nutrition was caused by the too thin consistency of the weaning formula. But now you know one of the reasons for our dislike of most breeders and it gets even worse as you learn more.
One of the biggest hurdles that we face with new owners comes when we ask about the age of the bird and what it is being fed. No one wants to listen to us, because the breeder told them this or that or the sales person at their favorite pet store told them something. And it is not the new owners fault.

[karenkc1994]

Well, this is the reason why I joined this forum page. Seeing the number of posts you and some of the other members have, I trust that you guys have some good knowledge and experience with the care of parrots. Everything I learned from here so far that disagrees with what the breeder has told me, I have tried to change. Such as his diet: once I've learned about this gloop you speak of, I immediately went out and bought $50 worth of groceries just to make some for my little guy. It's just too bad he hasn't had a chance to try it yet because he got sick. The only person who I would listen to over you guys is the doctor that looked at him and even then, it may be questionable sometimes. I like getting second opinions just in case so I appreciate all the love, help and support we are getting!

[Wolf]

Regardless of the source of the information, the breeder, the vet, a bird site, myself or any one else, you should always do your own research and rely on your own judgement and never just take our word for anything. It would be great if your research proves to verify what we have to say, but we are not experts, we are just people like you who care about these birds and are willing to be vocal about it.
We try very hard to find good accurate information to share with you in addition to our personal hands on experience, but we do make mistakes just like anyone else.

[FeatherKaeru]

Maybe you can try making your own natural baby food and mix it with the formula ? You can find some ideas on the internet. Then Peanut would get some extra nutrition. My Green cheek conures. Love fruit a lot. No so much with their veggies. So I blend their veggies and mix it with their gloop. They can not throw away what they don't like. Like when a mom cooks dinner. Finds ways to disguise vegetables. Her kids will eat them not push them around their plate. Here's to your feather baby getting better

[Pajarita]

OMG, the poor, poor baby was starving to death! People talk about 'good' breeders and breeders who 'love' their birds but, personally, I don't believe there are any because you don't sell your loved ones to whoever has the money for it and, even if they were giving them away to only good homes, one does not breed animals that are already in overpopulation and so very hard to keep healthy and happy.