DINO AND ZAURA ARE 20 YEARS OLD

[sgtpepper]

I haven't had time to read/write/send pictures but now i need some advice and i immediately thought of this forum.

Today, after repeatedly trying to find out the birthday of our parrots, we have found out that Zaura is actually from 1997 and Dino 1995 maybe even earlier.

Now, Dino is extremely anxious, and we thought that it is because he has been mistreated for 3-4 years, not 20.

Zaura has this respiratory thing which is still undiscovered.

They have been eating seeds for so long, i can't even imagine

now what?

i'm still in shock

[Wolf]

I am not sure what you are asking. they can live for 50 years so it is not like they are old. I know that it takes time to gain the trust of these birds especially after years of abuse. Mimi my amazon was abused for about 15 years of her life and I am still working with her and it just takes consistency and patience. She is making progress but it will likely still be years before her mental state can be fully healed if ever. So I understand what you are going through.

[sgtpepper]

No Wolf, I have reached a point where i do not care about these things, we are spending a lot of time with them, but we are not focused necessarily on making them "tame" . But I am EXTREMELY worried about the fact that they have lived only with a sunflower seed + peanut diet for SO LONG.

And I don't know about you, but I haven't seen a parrot which has had a shitty diet older than 25.

[Pajarita]

I think what he is saying is that taking into consideration that their not been well-taken care of went on for so much longer than what they had originally thought if there is anything different they should be doing - to which I would say not in my personal opinion. Things are what they are and all we can do is just keep on trying. I have an old amazon, a poor old girl that is now looking terrible because she doesn't molt right any more and the few new feathers she produced last year during molt were so structurally weak that they are now just the shaft so she looks as if she was plucking and barbering when she is not. The poor thing lived in a basement on a real bad diet for, at least, 25 years (we know this because this is how long the housekeeper had worked for the lady who owned her and the bird was already there when she started) so her liver and kidneys are shot. I've managed to keep her alive and reasonably happy (she sings when she is feeling well, the poor thing!) through diet and supplements but today, for the first time, I tried adding a bit of insect protein to her diet and started quinoa and lentils sprouting to see if feeding her more complete proteins will make a difference in her plumage but I won't know if this works until August. And that's the way it always is with parrots, experiments are never 1, 2, 3 because you need to measure failure or success in the loooooong term results.

I would just keep on doing what you are doing, sarge, with the possible exception of adding two daily 1/2 hour sessions in an oxygen box for Zaura and adding some ubiquinol to their diet (it can't but help under the circumstances).

Just read your new posting, you would be surprised how much abuse a wild-caught can take compared to a captive-bred parrot! I bet that's the ONLY reason why they survived! Which is the same reason why poor Mami survived too!

[sgtpepper]

Yes, Pajarita, that is what I was asking.

We already thought of putting zaura an oxygen tube or something ( we have a terrarium large enough for this), but we do not know how to find it/ how to proceed with it. any suggestions?

also, would Thyme, Lungwort ,Mullein,Plantain or any other herbal remedies improve her condition? They are all bird safe.

should i give them some extra supplements ?

[sgtpepper]

And also, for example, taking her into a steamy bathroom, would that help?

[Pajarita]

No, steam doesn't really help birds with damaged lungs. Her problem is either scarring, atrophy or both so the only thing that will really help is for her to get air with a higher content of oxygen. I don't know if you can use an aquarium because you need the 'box' to be hermetically sealed but with a hole of the exact diameter of the hose coming out of the portable oxygen concentrator. I used to know somebody who did this for his macaw and he used a plastic container like this one http://www.amazon.com/Sterilite-1757170 ... WQJENN6HGH. He cut a hole in the container (not in the lid) at, more or less, the height of the bird's head and fitted the hose in it with tape all around it so there would be no air loss, a soft towel at the bottom and a couple of toys and treats inside rounded up the set-up.

[liz]

As old as they are I would not take away their seed but I would give them everything else they should be eating. Eat with them. If mine see me eat something they want it too. Don't be discouraged if they don't eat the good stuff right away.
Get them the light bulb or tube that is needed for the birds. Even though my birds had sunshine in the sunroom they still needed the bird light. (Rambo is 20+ and just grew flight feathers for the first time and is trying to fly.)
I was giving mine the fruit and vegetables. The new stuff added was the softened grain and the bird light.