Hello,
I have a green cheek conure who is just about to turn 1 year old. His diet consists of:
pellets (daily)
seeds (every other day)
fruits (usually a few blackberries or some other berry or fruit, usually daily)
veggies (rarely, he hates them)
I mention diet because it may or may not be relevant. Everything was fine, droppings are normal, same loudness, same affection, same energy levels. Last Thursday, I noticed this odd smell when he was grooming himself. This present day I think it's coming from his breath or something inside him. But last Thursday I just ignored it. Noticed the same smell Friday, Saturday, up to Monday. I thought maybe it's just his new smell or something. His behavior and droppings all normal.
Everything was fine until around the afternoon of Tuesday. I noticed he almost stopped eating completely. He was fluffy a lot, and was closing his eyes, appearing almost sleepy. He also drank an excessive amount of water. I put him in my room so he could sleep and maybe feel better. I came back and he got out of his bed, ate no food but drank a lot of water. I noticed his upper chest (crop area?) was more outwards. He also looked like he wanted to vomit. At this point I thought something was stuck in his throat maybe, and maybe that's why he didn't eat the whole day. His dropping were basically all liquid.
I took him to the vet, and later threw up. It was mostly water. Vet said he was regurgitating. I then noticed that the vomit smelled exactly like the odd smell I was picking up on the past week.
He gave him a shot of metoclopramide. He put a tube in him to extract food, examined the food and ruled out a fungus infection. He said to see how he is in 24 hrs. Wednesday and today (Thursday), his activity is completely back to normal, droppings are normal, energy normal, etc. But this evening I can smell that weird smell again when I smell near his beak, especially if I open it.
The vet said regurgitating, so I was googling to see the difference between regurgitating and vomiting. Regurgitating is normal and is a sign of affection as he's giving me food (mushy food). Vomiting is not normal and is mostly liquid (which is what he threw up that time), but I'm no vet and I can only assume so much.
The only other thing I can mention is I gave him a raspberry on Tuesday that wasn't the freshest. Could that have been it? If so, why can I smell this weird smell from him all the way back to Thursday?
Should I be concerned? Was he regurgitating or vomiting? Should I care about this smell? I mentioned diet in the beginning because I read a lack of vitamin A can cause vomiting. I don't give him a whole lot of veggies because he just drops them. Can a lack of vitamin A actually cause vomiting? The raspberry? Some rare virus?
Any advice would be helpful. If he vomits/regurgitates or shows odd behavior like not eating/drinking a lot of water, I'll take him to the vet.
Also, why was he drinking a lot of water in the first place?