Need help!

[Wolf]

Sounds like we are talking about hypocalcemia. And that would mean a calcium supplement, a solar light schedule supplemented by full spectrum lighting and possibly a vitamin d-3 supplement. That explains the seizures and I am so glad that you caught this as soon as you did. Let us hope that it has not affected his bones too much.

[Victor]

Sounds like we are talking about hypocalcemia. And that would mean a calcium supplement, a solar light schedule supplemented by full spectrum lighting and possibly a vitamin d-3 supplement. That explains the seizures and I am so glad that you caught this as soon as you did. Let us hope that it has not affected his bones too much.

Not hypocalcemia I have experience with that. But the treatment is more or less the same. The vet thinks he just past out. Rather then a seizure. So am trying to find my reptile s box. And see if the calcium. Can still be used. If not i still have lights and things I can use for this. And save some cash. And I need to recover some cash As I have $1200 in cages and vet bills. Birds are not cheap

[Wolf]

True, they are not cheap at all. I would check the light that you are speaking of and be prepared to get a different bulb for it as the full spectrum light for reptiles is too blue for birds and has been associated with blindness in birds. The correct full spectrum light has a CRI of 94+ and a K Temp of 5000 to 5500.
Since it is not hypocalcemia, are we speaking of parathyroidism or perhaps osteodystrophy?

[Pajarita]

Or uric acid? Because high levels of it is also a consequence of a high protein diet (uric acid been the kidneys 'leftover' product of protein metabolizing). But, normally, when you have high uric acid levels, you also have liver issues. I say normally because you can also get high uric acid from a diet too high in purines (in humans -we don't know in birds- 30% of uric acid comes from high purines but the other 70% comes from cells that die due to a bad diet). A diet high in purines is usually a diet that has too much meat in it and a lot of people, for some stupid reason, think it's fine to feed a parrot meat but there are vegetables that also have too much purine (spinach, cauliflower, lentils, navy beans, lima beans, oatmeal, peas, asparagus). Now, as long as the diet is low in protein and contains no meat whatsoever, you can feed these veggies as long as it's done sparingly (I feed lentils and peas regularly, cauliflower very seldom, asparagus once in a blue moon and spinach, lima and navy bean never). If the problem is uric acid, I can give you a diet and herbals that will reduce it. I've had several birds come to me with it and I lowered it to normal levels in a matter of a few months completely naturally (vets would sometimes want to prescribe allopurinol but it has bad liver side effects so I would not recommend it). As an FYI, the normal results for ionized calcium levels in African grays (and you are lucky it's a gray because it's the one species that has gotten tested and studied for it) is 0.96 to 1.22 mmol/L.

[Victor]

Sorry I haven't updated this for so long. It's about time for a update. And am sorry to say my best was not good a nuff. Things where going well he started to do better. He was taking to the new diet. And things was looking up. But last week he had a attack and it took his life. So now am working on the female. It terns out she is not eating as much of the veggies as a thought she was. So I'll just keep offering good veggies. And hope she tries more as time goes on. Her attitude is much better now that she is alone. As much as I wanted baby's. I think she will be better off as a pet. Maybe I'll get a CAG. Next. Or something els. But for now I still have too birds. So am in no big hurry. I just have the room when the right bird comes along and needs a home.

[Wolf]

Try different way of preparing the vegetables. Partly cooked, cooked, raw, sliced, diced, shredded and so on. Sometimes what they won't touch one way they love when prepared differently.
I am sorry about the loss of your bird.

[Pajarita]

You need to mix the veggies with cooked whole grains. Grays are real picky eaters and very stubborn when it comes to trying new things so you need to work harder with them than with other species. I don't know what your and her schedule is but, if at all possible, you should eat breakfast with her. Not your human breakfast but her birdie breakfast although you can kind of trick her... like, do you like oatmeal? I am now eating steel-cut oats (Irish oatmeal) instead of the rolled oats ('regular' oatmeal). I make mine with milk but you could make two separate ones, one with milk for you and one with water for her. Make it dry not mushy and offer her some from a spoon. Once you get her eating it all the time, start adding other stuff to it like wheat kernels, barley, brown rice, etc. And when she is eating them, add finely chopped cooked veggies like corn, peas and carrots, etc but one at a time and wait until she eats them before adding another one.

Now, I don't remember if you told us or not but did the dead male and her come from the same place? If so, was she taken to the vet for a physical? Also, do you remember what the vet said the male had? Because you couldn't remember and never came back to tell us.

[Harpmaker]

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your TAG.

[liz]

I am so sorry for your loss.

I serve a fresh plate of chopped veggies with the veggies being separated like you would put on your plate.
A warm plate of faro, mixed vegetables (frozen kind, pasta and anything else that I happen to have and they are separated on the plate.
Another plate is dry oatmeal, cocoanut, walnuts and almonds in the shell in order of quantity.
This way they have a variety to choose from and I can tell what they really ate. By the end of the day I take out the empty plates and offer seed.

So far so good.

[Victor]

Ok if you seen my other post today. Nigel the cockatiel heart his wing. But figgie the gray is doing much better. Eating apple,carrots, all kinds of greens. And is not as quit as she was. I hear my shower nob. Even when no one is using it lol. And her pretty bird is as clear as if a CAG was saying it. Now I know what the owners wife sounds like. Lol and sometimes she will say something Shuggie would say. Or one of his calls. But the cat & dog I never owned. So fare are gone.