That's kind of a long title, huh? 
I just wanted to share my experience with my eclectus regarding allergies & "sneezing", as I'm sure it will help someone using the search function someday.
I just got back from the vet this morning after taking my 8 year old female red sided Eclectus in for a check up. I'm very paranoid about respiratory infections and aspergillis, as I lost a baby male eclectus years ago from that and never really got over it. The same thing later attacked a cockatoo of mine, and she thankfully survived.
Anyways, the last time I had taken "Lady Bird" to the vet they said she was a little on the slender side. If she lost any more weight, they would become worried. So naturally I wanted her to go back a few months later and check out her weight and trim her beak...but I also noticed an increase in her clearing her nares, AKA Sneezing.
Of course, there was no discharge but the fairly frequent noise bothered me.
Thankfully, I am just a worry wart. This time I got to have her examined by the senior avian vet in the office, who I trust very much. He told me not to worry too much about aspergillis, as that is usually going to cause more congestion in the chest than the nares. Since her respiratory rate was good, her recovery from the stress of being "probed", and she had no mucus.....that's clearly not the issue.
He said that he has noticed both eclectus and macaws seem to frequently have nasal allergies, such as a reaction to hay etc.
Also, like cockatoos, some eclectus are born with smaller "slits" in their nasal passages. I also have a umbrella cockatoo that wheezes because of his tiny nares. Since they have such small nares, they get blocked easily from dust or whatever and then frequently "sneeze" to clear them temporarily.
So, the good news is.....no worries. If your eclectus is clearing their nares, and there is no discharge, your chances are pretty good they are still healthy. However, still get them looked at to determine that it's in the nares and not the chest.
( P.S. Lady bird came in at 450 grams today, which he feels is actually a healthier weight than what she came into the office for the first time at a year ago. If she gets down to 420, then we will get a blood panel. She gets rechecked in September. )
I just wanted to share my experience with my eclectus regarding allergies & "sneezing", as I'm sure it will help someone using the search function someday.
I just got back from the vet this morning after taking my 8 year old female red sided Eclectus in for a check up. I'm very paranoid about respiratory infections and aspergillis, as I lost a baby male eclectus years ago from that and never really got over it. The same thing later attacked a cockatoo of mine, and she thankfully survived.
Anyways, the last time I had taken "Lady Bird" to the vet they said she was a little on the slender side. If she lost any more weight, they would become worried. So naturally I wanted her to go back a few months later and check out her weight and trim her beak...but I also noticed an increase in her clearing her nares, AKA Sneezing.
Of course, there was no discharge but the fairly frequent noise bothered me.
Thankfully, I am just a worry wart. This time I got to have her examined by the senior avian vet in the office, who I trust very much. He told me not to worry too much about aspergillis, as that is usually going to cause more congestion in the chest than the nares. Since her respiratory rate was good, her recovery from the stress of being "probed", and she had no mucus.....that's clearly not the issue.
He said that he has noticed both eclectus and macaws seem to frequently have nasal allergies, such as a reaction to hay etc.
Also, like cockatoos, some eclectus are born with smaller "slits" in their nasal passages. I also have a umbrella cockatoo that wheezes because of his tiny nares.
Since they have such small nares, they get blocked easily from dust or whatever and then frequently "sneeze" to clear them temporarily.So, the good news is.....no worries. If your eclectus is clearing their nares, and there is no discharge, your chances are pretty good they are still healthy. However, still get them looked at to determine that it's in the nares and not the chest.
( P.S. Lady bird came in at 450 grams today, which he feels is actually a healthier weight than what she came into the office for the first time at a year ago. If she gets down to 420, then we will get a blood panel. She gets rechecked in September. )
