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New to owning a Parrot, seeking help- Sad Update Post #73

MooShu

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Also, I can't get him back into his cage. The last few days I've been letting him out. And I would use a perch to get him inside. Now he knows that when I grab the perch it's time for him to go back. Then he flies randomly and doesn't let me get him inside. He's afraid of the T-Stand also, so I can't give him water when he's out. That's why I want him to go back in. There's his bowl of water. But he won't listen. What can I do? He doesn't come for treats. When I give him food he eats of my hand, but that's it. If I raise my hand a little bit, forcing him to jump on my hand to continue eating, he either runs away from my hand, either nibble on it until I lower it. Idk what to do, any help?
 

Jas

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Get him on the perch but give a treat or toy and then put him back down again, keep doing this repeatedly so he doesn't know when he'll go back in his cage.

Give him a shallow dish somewhere where he likes to spend lots of time and put some toys and interesting things in it. The t stand is scary you need to show him it isn't, food, toys, talking, something familiar that he trusts etc.

The hand Is scary to a bird, don't force him to do something that he's not ready to do. It isn't race to get him to step up. Let him eat from your hand and get used to it, otherwise if you force him he'll fear your hand instead. Trust takes time and patience it will all come when the bird is ready.

Edit: it doesn't look damaged so it's most likely that he's going through a moult, do you know how old he is?

Moults are normal but very stressful for the bird as they so much energy and resources.
 

MooShu

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No, I don't know his age.
He was brought into the pet store around December 6th. I don't know at what age they are brought from the breeders to the stores. I'had him for a week and an half so far. And he's been in the store for 2 weeks.

As for getting him back in his cage, he got thirsty and just flew back in to drink then he left again.
 

Jas

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Well least he knows where his water is and cage
 

Alien J

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@MooShu I love your avatar drawing of the cockatiel! Are you the artist? It looks a lot like my TD. Losing a feather is probably not a reason for concern. TD began losing a lot of feathers a couple of months ago and I thought he was too young for his first molt so I panicked. First thing I do when I panic over TD is run to the Avenue! I was told that @Hankmacaw was the feather expert who kindly looked at some pictures of TD's lost feathers for me.
 

MooShu

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All right, so MooShu's back again at the watery poops. I don't even know why.
Last time I thought that it was because he was stressed. But now? What could be the problem??
I don't want to give him again medication, as I think it's too soon for him. Or is it? Shall I give him medication again?
He eats the same food he was eating before. Didn't start with the veggies as I thought to myself " The veggies that are now in the markets are imported, I want to give him fresh veggies so I'll wait a little bit"
So it's not from his food, nor his water, as I gave him water from the same source all this time.
What could it be??
I kept him out of the cold so that couldn't be it either.
 

green&grey

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It could be because MooShu's sick, or just stressed. It could be in the diet, if he's drinking more or if you're giving him very watery foods. Sometimes my Quakers get watery poops out of nowhere and they disappear in a few days. Vets always said they were fine. But, I'd keep an eye on MooShu because of the other things you said about him(puffing up, sleepiness,etc.). Definitely take him to a vet when you can. Hope he will be okay!

I don't think imported veggies would be harmful, as long as you make sure they're not toxic to birds, and clean them well! Though be careful about which ones get treated with a lot of pesticides and stuff.

And also, that's a really good drawing!! Your knowledge of anatomy and form is great. :)
 
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Milo

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I'm coming in a little late to the game...

It sounds like you two are off to a decent start, but his diet absolutely must include more fresh things (which I know you mentioned). The things that you're feeding unfortunately are not a complete diet and lacking in a lot of vitamins and minerals and could contribute to a lot of health issues. It may get very frustrating trying to get them to try new things, but you have to be more stubborn than your bird :) I'm guessing he doesn't know it's food at this point. Try chopping it up in different ways, I'm not sure what you have available to you, but don't mix a lot in at once, and you can mix some of the seeds into the diet.

The MOST IMPORTANT thing when you're trying to get them to eat healthier foods is to pay very close attention to the quantity you are feeding. The inclination of most people is to give them SO MUCH FOOD because we're scared that they'll go hungry (they won't). A cockatiel only really needs maybe 3-4 teaspoons of dry food per day (meaning the seeds you're offering). Millet should be given very sparingly or used for training purposes only. I'm not sure how much you're offering right now, but you should only be giving your friend what they will eat in a day. If he's not finishing his food, gradually reduce what you're offering until there's nothing left at the end of the day. Think of it like a little kid, if you offer them a mountain of candy or a mountain of veggies, which would they choose?

Don't be afraid to experiment with different shapes/sizes/presentations of food. Some like things on a skewer or clipped to the side of their cage. You can even try slicing things up and mixing the seeds in with it so they have to at least beak it while getting the seeds out of there. Have some fun with it!

I would encourage you to look up resources for teaching your bird how to forage for their food, this is a great way to have fun with them and will be very mentally stimulating for your friend :) I can give you some suggestions if you're stuck :)

I'd also advise looking into target training. If you're having trouble getting him back into his cage, I'm going to recommend you take a step back and don't let him out until you've reduced some of the fear that seems to be associated with you. I'm not saying you have done anything wrong, it's a natural feeling for a prey animal like your bird to be afraid of a new environment (not to mention they know we are predators). This is a great opportunity to do some clicker training, use those seeds and millet as a reward for getting close to you! If you don't have access to a clicker using a verbal cue is good too, but make sure it's something that you won't use unless you're training (good bird is popular but let's be honest, we tell them they're good all the time!) You can use anything you want as a target, I'd advise something like a chop stick (or something that's not your finger) because their first inclination during training is usually to bite the target, and that's what you want! Once they get the hang of it shaping the behavior is relatively easy. There are a ton of videos out there that help illustrate clicker training, it's really a great way to bond with your friend in a way that's not going to end up being unhealthy for them.

One last thing (I know this is a lot) what medication had you given him? I read your question but I didn't see exactly what had been prescribed?
 

MooShu

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Well we are getting along pretty well. I'm letting him out of the cage for about 6 h a day, or more, depends if I'm at university or not that day.

When he's out he just waddles around the floor, or just flies around me. One time he flew and landed on my had, it was a funny moment.
He's not as afraid of my hands as he used to be. I give him sunflower seeds out of my hands and he now knows that when my hand comes near him, it usually brings a treat. One day I managed to pet him on his head. It was more like a little scratch behind his head, but he only let me do it for about 5 seconds then he ran away.

I'm worried with him. For the past week he stopped flying. He still wonders around the room, but less flying. His feathers are dirty of droppings but I'm afraid to wash him, not to pull any feathers, or maybe he gets a cold if I let him to wash himself in a bowl of water. I don't know.
But what worries me the most is that he had white watery droppings as I stated above.
Took him to a vet and they told me to give him a medication in his water. It had Silver Sulfadiazine and Trimethoprim. They said it's for the white watery droppings.

I've ended the treatment today. His droppings are solid again, but they are all white.

I'm an VET student actually. I'm in my first year so I don't know much about birds yet. All I've learned at Anatomy are bones and muscles so far. But I asked a little around my uni and they said it could be some kind of parasite. I'll ask my professors when I get back to Uni, as I'm in winter holidays.

Maybe you guys know anything about that?

Last time when he had watery droppings I gave him Doxycycline. That seemed to make the trick.

First watery droppings : I assumed it was because of the stress. Because he just came into a new home, a new world for him, a scary one indeed. Where all of his friends are missing. But there's a huge "predator" lurking around in the same room as him (me).

Second watery droppings : I assumed it was because of his water maybe. I gave him the same water as I drink. And I thought it was clean. Maybe it is I still don't know. But I started boiling his water then give it to him.
All his medication were administrated trough his water. The water was firstly boiled then mixed with the medications.

I don't know what the cause of the white poop is yet but I'll try to find out.
Until then, any ideas on what it could be?

How can I bathe him? It's ok if I just leave him near an bowl full of warm water? So he can jump and play in it as he wishes? I think he doesn't fly anymore because he has poop all over his wings.
Just to make it clear, he doesn't have poop on his butt, like I've read online. He has droppings on his tail feathers and some on the left wing feathers. He got all dirty when he had watery droppings and used to run around in his cage, in his own droppings...

Oh and @Milo , you said you had some ideas on the foraging toys and activities, could you share them with me please?

Thank you all for reading.
 
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green&grey

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I don't know too much about medication and the like, but I know that when my birds had similar issues the vet told me not to boil their water. They didn't say why and I don't trust that vet 100% so take it with a grain of salt. I assume it's because by boiling you remove all the dissolved minerals in the water that the birds need. Perhaps somebody else here can fill in with more information.
 

Milo

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Can you post a picture of his poop? I'm trying to determine if the fecal portion is white or if what you're describing is the urate portion. It is concerning that he's stopped flying and also that he's not able to keep himself groomed. Silver Sulfadiazine isn't something that is typically given orally (at least here in the US), but used more topically for wounds/rashes/etc. Was it with the Trimethoprim? TMS (trimethoprim/sulfa) is a common oral antibiotic that would make more sense for the situation. I'm always skeptical of giving meds in the water, but if that worked well and seemed to help him feel better it might be the correct drug, but just not a long enough course.

One more thing in regards to his diet, do you have access to any other types of seeds?
 

Milo

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I'm getting ready to go out to dinner with my DH, but I'll sit down and type up some suggestions in terms of foraging for the little guys very soon! It's super fun!
 

finchly

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Has he been treated for parasites? Have you tried adding raw apple cider vinegar to his water for a day?

And I may have already mentioned this to you before - do you give him probiotics?
 

MooShu

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That's how it looks like. Showed it to one of my professors and he said I should give him something for parasites.

Also, I've been feeding him this. Also this as he's in love with millet and won't eat anything else most of the time.
 

finchly

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Treat for parasites, and please either try probiotics or vinegar in the water. Check your food regimen for D3 and calcium to be sure he is getting enough. But the parasite issue is biggest I think.

Bathing: He might like a bowl of warm water. Do it fairly early in the day so he has plenty of time to dry off. One of mine loves baths and would stay in the shower all day if we let her; the other doesn’t like baths so I mist the air above her with a spray bottle and let it “rain” on her. You can also wrap him in a towel and gently clean the feathers that are dirty.
 

Milo

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Has any testing been done for parasites? They're not super common in birds that are kept indoors but at this point checking won't hurt anything. The feces are definitely not normal (but you know that) It doesn't look like there's much of a urine portion to the feces, can you normally see a wet spot around them?

The millet is 100% pure treat. He won't get anything from it aside from fat, which might actually be causing the pale feces. How much food are you offering him?
 

finchly

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Can you weigh your bird, or did the vet weigh him? Is he losing weight?
 
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