Is this normal?

[melibelly82]

Hello all i just became an owner of a beautiful 10year old double yellow headed Amazon parrot named Milo. I just welcomed him into my home yesterday. I know hes scared and a bit nervous with his new surroundings and all but had a question in which I'm unsure if this could mean anything.

Anyways i noticed today he leans his head against the front of the cage on the side of his face. He does this when hes napping/nodding off. He is quite a calm guy for being only 10 and is eating well at the moment. I wanted to wait to take him to the vet for when i can easily get him out of the cage without forcing him but should i take him asap? I'm unsure if its normal for a parrot to rest his head on the cage.
thank you for any feedback

[GreenWing]

Congrats on your new baby

Whenever you welcome a new bird, it's extremely important to take your bird for a check up right away to ensure your bird is healthy and not ill. While I am unsure whether your bird is ill (possibly? Could be tired but he could be ill also?), a trip to the Avian Vet is in order nonetheless.

[melibelly82]

Thanks for the reply I have him slated for the vet tommorow. Poor guy has long nails and been looks unkept can wait for them to groom him too

[GreenWing]

Cool, let us know how it goes.

[Pajarita]

No, it's not normal (zons tuck their head under a wing to sleep) so I am glad you are taking him to the avian vet. Please ask for a bile acid test (the regular CBC and avian chemistry panel does not tell you there is anything wrong with the liver until it's on the later stages) because liver damage is very common in zons (which should NEVER be free-fed seeds, nuts or pellets) and the extra long claws (is his beak overgrown, too?) as well as the unnatural sleeping position could be a symptom of this.

[melibelly82]

That makes me nervous if he does have damage. Hope if so its somewhat manageable. After researching Amazon's diets I've started integrating lots of fruits and veggies in his diet. My goal is for him to have a small amount of seeds as a treat. I also bought him Zupreem id like to make it 20-30% of his diet maybe? His previous owners where feeding him a cheap seed based diet from Walmart probably his whole 10 years of his life. Maybe I'll boil him an egg or give him some chicken for protein? I know everyone has different meal plans for their birdies I'm just trying to figure it out now.

[Pajarita]

No, no, no meat or eggs! Animal protein is completely different from vegetal protein and it has cholesterol (real bad for the liver as well as the whole cardio-vascular system, especially for parrots which never consume it in the wild). Parrots that are fed meat or eggs regularly end up with fatty liver disease. You need to aim for low protein so pellets are also a no-no. Read the label on the bag and you will see that it's just processed grains with added artificial vitamins and preservatives -plus, they never tell you what the actual protein content is (it always says 'no less than' or 'greater than' so, for all you know, you could be feeding super high protein).

Go the Whole Foods (or any health store that carries whole grains) and buy oat groats, brown rice, wheat, barley and cook them separately (add some organic tomate paste to the rice water) to an al-dente texture, drain, mix them together and add cooked chopped veggies to it (broccoli, peas, carrots, corn, sweet potatoes, beets, etc) until you have a 50/50 mixture (half grains, half veggies).

[GreenWing]

As far as I understand, Vitamin A vegetables/fruits should account for 30 to 40 percent of a parrot's diet, more so than other veggies and fruits (which should account for 15 to 20 percent of a parrot's diet).

Quality proteins for parrots includes boiled egg, lean meats, tuna, turkey, cooked beans, tofu. I give my bird boiled or scrambled egg minus the milk, but only once in a blue moon. She loves eggs and eats them ravenously.

[Cockatielsongs]

No, no, no meat or eggs! Animal protein is completely different from vegetal protein and it has cholesterol (real bad for the liver as well as the whole cardio-vascular system, especially for parrots which never consume it in the wild). Parrots that are fed meat or eggs regularly end up with fatty liver disease. You need to aim for low protein so pellets are also a no-no. Read the label on the bag and you will see that it's just processed grains with added artificial vitamins and preservatives -plus, they never tell you what the actual protein content is (it always says 'no less than' or 'greater than' so, for all you know, you could be feeding super high protein).

Go the Whole Foods (or any health store that carries whole grains) and buy oat groats, brown rice, wheat, barley and cook them separately (add some organic tomate paste to the rice water) to an al-dente texture, drain, mix them together and add cooked chopped veggies to it (broccoli, peas, carrots, corn, sweet potatoes, beets, etc) until you have a 50/50 mixture (half grains, half veggies).

Ohhhh! I didn't know that! I know a lot of people feed their birds eggs and say its healthy. Fortunately I never got round to giving my Bandit a lot of egg

[melibelly82]

Thanks for the input do far guys its helpful. Vet said he's healthy looking but a tad chunky. So hopefully me giving him lots of veggies and fruits will help! The Dr will consider blood test a bit later once we see how things are going.