Strange behaviour!! {Quick response pleaseee}

[Wolf]

Have you ever been ill and after a few days you feel better and then the following day or so you feel worse than you did before? I know that I have and this may be the same thing. I know that it is difficult to know what to do especially when you are new to them, but that is why you are asking, right?
All of us are saying the same thing, which does not always happen. Both Pajarita and Seagoatdeb have years of experience that I do not have, but I do know how well a bird hides an illness and because of this there is no way of knowing how serious it is until there are test done and the results come back. The vet can give you a broad spectrum antibiotic that may even solve the illness issue before the tests are back, but if it is a really serious illness this may only serve to keep him alive until the right meds are given to cure the illness.
I really don't want you to have to experience that your birds dies and then you are feeling that if only you had taken him to the vet when advised then he would still be alive. It is a really bad way to feel.

[BabyBird]

If she is really doing better check to see if she could have zinc poisoning, look to see if any toys have washers or if anything suspicious has been chewed on. I would still go to the vet.

She has been on my curtain-pole so maybe the metal got to her, thanks for the help she truthfully is feeling great.. She will have a checkup soon I'll keep u updated thanks so much we both appreciate it

[BabyBird]

I know but sometimes I think I'm judging the signs too much and overthinking, we are planning on taking her for a checkup at our local vet soon.. How much is a checkup? (I know it depends on the vet but an estimate) sorry if this is frustrating you because you want me to take her to the vet as soon as possible but she seems better than she was a couple of days ago and she's eating more and her poop is very solid and she's her loud Usual self doing the Funny dance.. And The sitting on the cage floor is hormonal I'm guessing.. But she's stopped doing it now. She's sleeping normally, with her head tucked around her back and eyes half-close with feathers slightly fluffed up, she has stopped sitting fluffed up in the daytime and she is now very active exploring the new toys I added to her cage and the foraging toys I made for her.. She seems a lot better and it's very strange how quickly she changed, could her cage being housed near a radiator be the effect of this?? Could it be the cause??

[Wolf]

The sitting on the floor of the gage could be the result of hormones and be a nesting urge. It is still a bit early for her to be getting hormonal, but with the differences in how they live in captivity compared to their natural schedules, it is quite possible.
She does sound like she is doing better, but I would still keep a close watch on her. Being close to the radiator could be having an effect on her especially with her respiratory system which is at least 20 times more sensitive than ours. Radiators are very hard to thoroughly clean and they do build up dust and other airborne particulates that could give off fumes when heated, so I would move her from being so close to it as well as giving it a very thorough cleaning.

[BabyBird]

The sitting on the floor of the gage could be the result of hormones and be a nesting urge. It is still a bit early for her to be getting hormonal, but with the differences in how they live in captivity compared to their natural schedules, it is quite possible.
She does sound like she is doing better, but I would still keep a close watch on her. Being close to the radiator could be having an effect on her especially with her respiratory system which is at least 20 times more sensitive than ours. Radiators are very hard to thoroughly clean and they do build up dust and other airborne particulates that could give off fumes when heated, so I would move her from being so close to it as well as giving it a very thorough cleaning.

I can't really move her because she's in the only safe room in the house where the kitchen fumes and plants won't get to her, I'll keep the radiator in the room turned off .

[Pajarita]

The only time birds go to ground is when they are sick, making a nest or going to lay eggs but the only time they actually stay on the ground is when they are sick or sitting on the eggs.

As to the price, it depends on the vet and what you do. A physical with exam, CBC and Avian Chem panel would cost me $250 but that is a wellness exam and not a 'the bird is sick' exam because, in that case, the vet might want to go through some other diagnostic tool like XRay, metal or specific disease testing, fecal, etc as well as prescribe medications.

[BabyBird]

The only time birds go to ground is when they are sick, making a nest or going to lay eggs but the only time they actually stay on the ground is when they are sick or sitting on the eggs.

As to the price, it depends on the vet and what you do. A physical with exam, CBC and Avian Chem panel would cost me $250 but that is a wellness exam and not a 'the bird is sick' exam because, in that case, the vet might want to go through some other diagnostic tool like XRay, metal or specific disease testing, fecal, etc as well as prescribe medications.

Wow so it's not like a check up with a dog/cat when they check the animal over and everything.. It's actually pretty expensive because they hide there illness so you have to have a bunch of tests, so whilst a checkup for your ordinary pet is £20-£30 then a checkup for your avian animal is quite expensive as they need to use perticular things like X-rays and fecal samples to check the health..?? Is that correct.

[Wolf]

As for the cost of veterinary care you pretty much have the idea of why it is more expensive so I will move on to why I am replying here now. The birds location, I was not suggesting to move the bird to another room, I was suggesting that if possible to change the birds location within the room that she is currently in. This would place her farther from the radiator, but if this is not feasible, then I am recommending a very thorough cleaning of the radiator, which I still recommend regardless of the birds placement in the room. It is just a difficult process because of the way that they are built. I have been known to wrap lengths of rope with soapy rags and then thread the rope through the radiator so as to clean the places that I could not reach otherwise. Then do the same for rinsing the soap and dirt off the radiator.
If you live in an area where it gets cold then shutting the radiator off may not be such an efficient use of your heat and you do have to remember that most parrots are from tropical and semi tropical regions of the world and can't deal with too much cold. I do not allow the temperature in the room with my parrots drop below 65 degrees F. I would also suggest that you consider getting a humidifier if you do not have one as heating does tend to dry the air and most parrots are also from high humidity areas so our air is often to dry for them. You do have to be very careful when using a humidifier so as to not put molds in the air from the humidifier itself.

[BabyBird]

As for the cost of veterinary care you pretty much have the idea of why it is more expensive so I will move on to why I am replying here now. The birds location, I was not suggesting to move the bird to another room, I was suggesting that if possible to change the birds location within the room that she is currently in. This would place her farther from the radiator, but if this is not feasible, then I am recommending a very thorough cleaning of the radiator, which I still recommend regardless of the birds placement in the room. It is just a difficult process because of the way that they are built. I have been known to wrap lengths of rope with soapy rags and then thread the rope through the radiator so as to clean the places that I could not reach otherwise. Then do the same for rinsing the soap and dirt off the radiator.
If you live in an area where it gets cold then shutting the radiator off may not be such an efficient use of your heat and you do have to remember that most parrots are from tropical and semi tropical regions of the world and can't deal with too much cold. I do not allow the temperature in the room with my parrots drop below 65 degrees F. I would also suggest that you consider getting a humidifier if you do not have one as heating does tend to dry the air and most parrots are also from high humidity areas so our air is often to dry for them. You do have to be very careful when using a humidifier so as to not put molds in the air from the humidifier itself.

Don't worry about he humidifier, we do not allow the air to get too dry because some people in the house have asthma.. we have a air purifier right above her cage which pumps out mold and dust and pumps in fresh clean air.

[liz]

The old way is to put a pot of water on the radiator.

When the room is warm enough you need to mist her.

Air fresheners take smells out of a room by the mist clinging to particle and bringing them to the floor. You cannot use an air freshener near your baby but you can use the same mister that you use on her. Aim the spray to the ceiling using a light mist to cling to particles. It is usually dry before it gets to the floor. Use a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom and duster in that room.