Heavy Open Mouth Panting, Bad Balance, Flapping Wings

[Wingz]

Hey all, was just a little concerned about my 6month old blue and gold macaw. I've had her for about a month now and she is finally almost weaned. She has been to the vet twice and given a clean bill of health except for the fact that the vet was a little concerned with her excess panting and her wings were droopier than she would have liked to normally see from patients. Obviously these issues were from stress and being nervous but the vet said she was doing it a little longer than she'd like. Also, every time I bring her out of the room her cage is in to let her experience new situations she starts heavy breathing like crazy, flapping her wings, getting nippy and wanting to come up on my shoulder which I do not allow a bird of her stature to do. She still has pretty bad balance, but I am kind of worried about the excess open mouth panting she has been doing a ton of since we got her. Could it possibly be a respiratory issue, that the vet can only address via x-rays? Please HELP?

[captwest]

Is your bird over heated ? Is your vet an avian vet? Is your bird sneezing ? old seeds /food ? moldy conditions? rub/scratch his beak on perch/cage? scented candles/ room deoderizers ? fresh paint ? I think i read earlier about weight issues with your bird, how's that coming ? do these problems occur after trying to bath in a water dish? have you check for bacterial infections? The bad balance sets off alarms with me. That and the weight if it's still an issue.

[Wingz]

Yeah it was an avian vet, and she said her weight was a 3 out of 5. Meaning completely normal. Not too skinny and not overweight. The room she was being kept in was slightly warmer, I'd say about 5-7 degrees warmer than all the other rooms in the house. No moldy conditions, and shes not scratching her beak on her perch or cage. Though her beak is peeling a bit, the avian vet said it was normal as she is a baby and stronger layers are coming through. Just like our nails so to say. She's not nearly as heavy as I want her to be and I was expecting her balance to be a lot better at this age. She feels she needs to flap her wings continuously while on her perch and my arm. I do not know if she is trying to learn how to fly because her wings are clipped, or if she is doing this because she has bad balance. Do you suggest I go and get her bacterial tested? To see if there is any underline issue to the heavy breathing and not a substantial weight gain that I'd like to see. Only thing I can think of was the room was too warm, but I have since lowered it to the temperature at all the other rooms in the house. But it just doesn't explain the bad balance. What do you think I should do?

[captwest]

Hey Wingz, i'm not a vet and hate offer advice about medical topics, but unusally behavior worries me, maybe ask your vet if a white cell count is needed to rule out a infection, i don't know if blood test are regular with your vet or not, but i would bring up the panting and balance issues.

[Wingz]

Hey captain, I've broughten blood tests up to her once before and she said she seems like she doesn't need it and usually only does it on bird after they are a year old, but she said she would be more than willing to if I would like. I am just worried about putting my little girl under because there is always that slight chance of them not waking up. Despite that fact, she says to keep an eye on that excessive panting and an extended amount of droopiness in the wings after being nervous, stressed and tired from wing flapping. I am just unsure of what types of blood tests are out there for birds, and which ones I need and don't need to do. Thank you so much for your help. I may be over reacting, but with birds they are so good at hiding illness, that you never know when it's too late. I will definetely give the vet a call Monday and see what she thinks about the matter though.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Is her balance bad and her grip weak, or is she just flapping her wings a lot when perched on you? It could be she is flapping for exercise, some clipped birds do that. Our Scotty does it sometimes, even hanging off the bottom of his open cage door and being a flapping bat.

The panting would worry me, too, though.

To take a blood sample, I don't think anesthesia is required. There is a very small risk of something going wrong if the needle penetrates an air sac, but I think the risk is statistically extremely small. Unfortunately it did happen to someone who has been on this forum, so we are a bit sensitized to it. My vet also doesn't prefer to draw blood on a young bird/first visit unless there are signs of illness, but that's more because of stress/forming a bad association with going to the vet than because of risk. Like yours, she is perfectly happy to do it, but doesn't recommend it for a well-bird first visit.

If she's only seen the panting as a stress sign during an office visit, perhaps you could bring video of it occurring under normal circumstances?

[JRFamily]

I am no expert However, I have SEEN IT ALL and this has the sounds of metal poison, could you baby have gotten lead? or a build up of minerals? Good Luck and Bless you both!

[Cage Cleaner]

ok

[Shelby]

scented candles/ room deoderizers ? fresh paint ?

Birds have very sensitive respiratory systems and things like this can kill your bird. Also teflon/non-stick cookware and self-cleaning ovens. When does she start breathing heavily and flapping her wings? From your original post, I gather that she does it every time you bring her out of the room her cage is in. Perhaps this is because she is nervous. Try distracting her by giving her a toy or treats when you take her out of that room.