Unexplained Deaths

[Gerda]

I had the most amazing yellow lovebird 13 years ago that was so tame it's cage was left open and he came when you called him. Recently with my children being bigger I felt the need to get a lovebird again. Of course it had to be young as I wanted a tame bird. I bought myself a green baby (8 weeks old) with a brand new cage. I fed him every 4-5 hours with a special mix i got from the breeder. He was doing well on the first night. On the second day he became a bit agitated and flapped its wings continously while chirping. The next morning he ate well, but when my husband went home to feed him 4 hours later he was just lying there. That night he was very week and did not want to eat. The next morning he was dead. I was heartbroken and thought maybe he was too small so two days later i bought a blue one 10 weeks of age. He was so sweet and was eating on his own. He was doing well and last night he looked bit tired like he is sleepy or something. I gave put him in his cage only to find him dead in his cage this morning. What am i doing wrong????

[Eric&Rebecca]

OK first things first... I'm so sorry to hear about these birds. From your story a number of things strike me.

1. You say a special mix... are these birds unweaned? If so I would hazard a guess that's why they are dying. Unless you are a breeder yourself then you shouldn't have unweaned birds and neither should they be sold to you. They are far too young to be removed from the parent bird or the breeder if this is the case. Only ever get FULLY WEANED birds.

2. SOME breeders are normally notorious for disease and sickly animals. Birds hide their illness very very well, its likely both birds were sick or slightly ill when you purchased them ESPECIALLY if they were unweaned. That is a BAD breeder if it was sold unweaned. DO NOT go back there!

3. If a new bird dies in the house you do NOT get a new one until AT LEAST 30 days later and after a full sterilization and deep clean of the whole house and area. It may well be the second bird you bought was healthy and then was infected by whatever the previous bird died of. Necropsies should be performed by an AV on all occassions of unexplained death

4. You need to take your new birds to an Avian Vet for a full screening before they get sick. If they are showing signs of sickness go immediately to an Avian Vet, do not wait even 12 hours if possible. By the time they show they are sick they are beyond help most of the time.

A few things to be help us help you:

Are you experienced in hand feeding?- this does not include 'the breeder showed me how' or 'I've done it a few times before'
Do you have an avian vet?
What kind of cage lining do you use?- newspaper can be toxic when in contact with droppings
What special mix did you use and how did you prepare/feed it to each bird?
Do you use any of the following anywhere in the home- non stick pans, air freshners, deodrants, scented or normal candles?

From your description it sounds to me like they were sickly unweaned birds who should never have been sold to you that young or in that state and that's why they died however there's no way to know without a necropsy.

Also what makes you think a bird has to be young to be tame.... Not true at all really and another popular misconception built upon by breeders to sell unweaned birds under the curious illusion that it will make the bird tamer if you feed it as the new owner. Not only completely not true, I have parent raised birds that are far tamer than my hand reared and also proven scientifically as we'll as my own experience but also fundamentally, sometimes fatal to the birds.

I don,t mean to be harsh and I am really sorry someone has taken advantage of you but it's important you know these things before you purchase another bird.

[GreenWing]

+1 EricandRebecca

Agreed with everything EricandRebecca says. I am sorry about what happened to your bird. It's very sad when these things happen because of unethical breeders. A good breeder would never, ever sell an unweaned bird.

Whenever you take home a new bird, always take the bird to an Avian Vet for a full check up. To me, it sounds like your lovebird was sick before you took him home.

Again, I'm sorry for your loss.