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Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

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Re: Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

Postby Pajarita » Thu Nov 21, 2019 12:23 pm

No, UV lamps are pretty useless in the best case scenario and harmful in the worst. Let me explain. For UV lights to be effective in allowing them to produce their own vit D3 (needed to absorb calcium into their system), they need to be placed just a few inches from the bird, something that, in time, damages their corneas (I know of two birds that went blind because of this). And, if you put the light far enough so it does not harm their eyes, it does not work at all for them to produce the vit D3.

The best light for a bird is a full spectrum one that has a CRI of 93 or more and a Ktemp of 5000 so do not go with just any light that claims to be full spectrum or has a name that evokes natural light like Daylight or Natural or Sunshine or anything like that. Always get the ones that give you the specifications I mention because the light industry is usually unregulated (it is in USA) and the manufacturers can claim whatever they want even if it's not really true. A good full spectrum light will have enough UVA for the bird's vision but not enough UVB to get their eyes damaged (and this means you need to supplement them with vit D3).

Being in the Netherlands, you have a big problem with photoperiodism because the natural cycle of day and night is all screwed up there - well, I mean for the birds, of course. And that might very well be part of the problem with her plumage (molt is an endocrinal seasonal response). How do you create twilight and the different daylengths of the seasons and at what intervals (meaning how many months of each 'fake' season and how gradually -meaning how many minutes every how many days or weeks?
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

Postby blackscell » Fri Nov 22, 2019 6:59 am

Didn't mean UV, I meant the exact same lights you stated in your post. If I remember correctly I bought the same one for my African Grey.

Results came today, she has PBFD. Unfortunately. But she is still healthy, and probably had it since a young age since she already started losing tail feather back then. But she's still alive and kicking. What would you recommend by now?
blackscell
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 48
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

Postby Pajarita » Fri Nov 22, 2019 12:11 pm

Ahhhh, what a shame! I am so sorry, my dear. It's always terrible news when we find out one of our pets has a real bad disease for which we cannot do anything about... But, the good news is that she obviously has the chronic form of it and not the acute. On another note, you should have your gray tested for it and, if the gray tests negative, keep them completely separate from each other. And I do mean 'completely' so no sharing dishes, rooms or anything - this virus is VERY difficult to contain because you can't kill it and stays alive and dormant in the environment for up to a year so quarantine needs to be super strict meaning washing hands with disinfectant every time you handle the IRN, wearing protective clothing that should not leave the room where the IRN is quarantined (like a large housedress that you can leave hanging on the door), etc. Also get yourself some Virkon S which, as far as I know, is the only disinfectant that kind of works on it (it doesn't kill the virus but it deactivates it). This disease is fatal, HIGHLY contagious and there is no cure so if your gray is not already infected, you need to take the outmost care.

Unfortunately and as I am sure your vet already explained, there is no cure or even a treatment for this disease and, once it affects the beak and there is lethargy, I suggest you euthanize because you do not want the poor bird suffering for months before it dies on its own. The most important thing to do now is to watch her very carefully for any symptoms of a secondary infection because with their immune system so compromised, once you notice something, you need to treat asap because they go down super fast so ask your vet if he would be willing to keep you supplied with a bit of a wide spectrum antibiotic so you can keep it handy, just in case. He might say you could always bring the bird back whenever you notice or suspect something but there is nothing worse for a sick bird than to be stressed out and taking them to the vet is VERY stressful to them so the 'usual' solution is not really a viable one for a very sick bird.

Now, let's go into what you can do for her - namely, a good quality of life and supportive treatment so as to keep her immune system working as best it can:

1) Keep her very warm (and this means really warm, around 85-90 degrees): either with a heating pad under her cage (put a thermometer halfway up her cage and make sure it stays around 85) or a safe space heater in the room where she is kept (do not use lamps, they are not good for this).

2) Feed her the right diet: absolutely no free-feeding protein or any dry food (you need to keep her 'filters', the liver and kidneys, in perfect working order), lots and lots of fresh fruits (for the phytonutrients that 'feed' her gut flora where 70% of the immune system is located), especially blue and purple ones that are the highest in antioxidants and yellow and orange for the betacarotene and C vitamin.

3) Supplement her with a good quality multivitamin/mineral - use a powder that dissolves in water (not the already liquid drops or the powder that you sprinkle on the food because the first is already too degraded and the second does not allow for any acurate dosage), take the 'old' water at night when she falls asleep and replace it with freshly medicated one early in the am -she will go straight for it to drink and will get the most benefit out of the supplement. But be careful not to over supplement - use a daily dose 3 times a week when she is already eating a large, varied range of veggies and fruits.

4) Supplement her with immune system booster like oregano and the tiniest bit of garlic (mine get it once a week mixed with their gloop and they love it), echinacea (but do it for five days and rest for two for best performance), elderberry, ginger (again, mine get it in their gloop and they love it) and some ginseng.

I remember reading an article some time ago about an experimental anti-virus drug called Act or something like that for circovirus treatment in mammals that was derived from the greater burdock plant (used in Chinese Herbal medicine for thousands of years) so I did a bit of research for you and here are two links for you to read:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 8815300837

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3073957/

Good luck and let us know how things go with your gray and little IRN.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

Postby blackscell » Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:57 pm

Hi Pajarita,

Thank you so much for your detailed reply. I will take everything to my heart so I can give her the best life she can have. Fortunately, the African Grey was moved to my mother before I took in the IRN. Because the grey was bonded with my mother. I had been using F10 CLXD in my air humidifier since I had a small suspicion that is was PBFD. It's the same as Virkon S, doesn't kill it but makes it inactive.

At the moment she is 2 years old. Since my wife is an FSGS patient, I know all about hygiene. I will make sure to apply the same to Snoopy, my IRN. I will check out the links now, I had been using mineral powder in her water already.

I will update regularly on her condition.
blackscell
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 48
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

Postby Pajarita » Sun Nov 24, 2019 10:40 am

Ahhhh, good! You have everything well covered. And, again, I am sooooo sorry! One more thing, she obviously caught this from her parents or other birds that were housed with her so, if at all possible, you should contact the breeder or the store where you got her to let them know (most likely, they already know and, possibly, they even knew before they sold her to you but still...)
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

Postby blackscell » Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:32 pm

Pajarita wrote:Ahhhh, good! You have everything well covered. And, again, I am sooooo sorry! One more thing, she obviously caught this from her parents or other birds that were housed with her so, if at all possible, you should contact the breeder or the store where you got her to let them know (most likely, they already know and, possibly, they even knew before they sold her to you but still...)


Thanks for the heads up. I have no way to reach this person anymore, they took this bird from their aviary for their kids, and it ended up being bullied and put for sale. I took her out of pity.

I'm having a hard time to find a good heater or w/e in the Netherlands. Her cage is really big, so I don't know if a warming pad on the bottom would work. Do you have any recommendations for me?
blackscell
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 48
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

Postby Pajarita » Thu Dec 12, 2019 9:47 am

Well, yes, if the cage is very high, the heating pad at the bottom would not be able to heat the entire space. When I have a sick bird, I use a 'hospital' cage, which is much smaller than the regular cages but I am talking about a temporary thing and a bird that is not as active as it should be - which is a completely different situation than what you have. If your bird is out of cage for many hours you might want to consider getting her a smaller one for sleeping so you can heat it up with the heating pad. The other thing you can do is put the cage near a space heater or a radiator which is another thing I do. If you put the cage near a source of heat and cover the top and sides of it, leaving only the front open for light and air circulation, you can keep a nice temperature inside of it (try this out and check to see what temperature you can achieve by putting a thermometer halfway up the cage). And, of course, there is always the option of keeping the entire room where she is real hot...
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

Postby blackscell » Wed Jan 29, 2020 8:19 am

An update:

She is doing well. Not shedding feathers, I decided to buy the 'KH Snuggle up bird-warmer', she loves it. Always snuggles up against it. Still very vocal. What I do now:

I am using F10SC in a humidifier daily. She is getting additional vitamins, fruit/greens etc. to her diet. Diet is probably the hardest part for me for now. She is getting immune boosters. Cage gets steam cleaned often to avoid secondary infections.

Alot of extra work to be done, but I am happy for now. I am hopeful for her.

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blackscell
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 48
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

Postby Pajarita » Wed Jan 29, 2020 10:55 am

Yes, supportive care is all you can do for them - and it is HARD! I know because, when I had my bird rescue, I had an epidemic and I well remember the HUGE amount of work it implied - especially since I had to separate the sick birds from the ones that had not been yet infected but the disinfecting protocol had to be maintained for both.

Be careful with the immune system boosters because some of them cannot be done all the time or they can backfire and actually depress the immune system instead of making it stronger (like echinacea, for example). Best thing for the immune system is to eliminate as much stress (both physical and emotional) as possible...
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Indian Ringneck Feather Problems?

Postby blackscell » Fri Jan 31, 2020 6:41 am

About your last sentence; I am going on vacation in March for one week. What would be the least stressful option:

-She and her cage goes to a family member thats about 40 minutes away

-She stays home and someone visits twice a day to give food and drink, so she is completely alone for 8 days.

I feel like the second option is the best one, but also a sad one. She likes attention, or at least noise.
blackscell
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 48
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey Parrot
Flight: Yes

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