Indian ringneck health questions

[miaitza]

Hello!

I have a 5 week old indian ringneck parrot and I keep him at night in a tall box with sawdust from the pet store at the bottom of it.

I recently saw that he is nibbling the sawdust, maybe even swallowing small pieces of it in the process, and I wanted to ask you if this would affect him...

Other than that, I took him from a breeder a week ago which told me to feed him twice a day 30ml baby bird mix each time.

Yesterday I took him to a vet because he sneezed a few times (max 6 times in a day) and wanted to make sure that he isn't sick. The vet told me that he is fine (listened to his chest, which wasn't buzzing) and he put a small drop of deparasitation formula on the back of his neck and gave me some antibiotics "just to make sure" that he will be well in the following days. They need to be mixed with the formula as I understood, but I wanted to ask you first if any of you have had these experiences (with the sawdust, feeding twice a day those huge doses, sneezing and antibiotics without him being actually sick).

Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you soon!

Miai

[Wolf]

I think that I would get rid of the sawdust as that may be causing the bird to sneeze because of it being both dry and dusty, I would put layers of newspaper in the bottom of the box instead.

Is this vet an avian vet or what kind of vet is he? If the bird is not sick, why would he give the bird antibiotics? Antibiotics kill off all of the flora in the birds gut that aid in digestion and unless the bird needs them to kill of a bacterial infection, I can not see any advantage to giving him any antibiotics.

I think that I would look around for a better vet and preferably one that is an avian vet.

[Pajarita]

Yes, get rid of that sawdust ASAP, especially if it's cedar which should NEVER be used as nesting material for any bird. Two feedings a day is too little for a baby bird, he needs to be fed more often (are you using commercial formula? weighing him and using his weight to calculate the amount of formula he should be eating?). What was the parasiticide the vet used and why would he need it? The only parasiticide I know of that can be used topically with birds is ivermectin but I would never use it on a baby... so I would have to go with Wolf that this vet doesn't seem to know much about birds.

[seagoatdeb]

I would get rid of the sawdust, even if it is a wood that is on the safe list, it is too dusty and hard on their little respratory systems. I would definately change vets, get one that is strictly an avian vet and if this one is, he is too quick to use antibiotics, which are not good for a parrot and only to be used for specific conditions.