nancyaap
Moving in
- Joined
- 11/23/13
- Messages
- 6
- Real Name
- Nancy P2
My baby cockatiel is 3 1/2 weeks old and as of this morning fully feathered. When we are with her, she is active and strong, and easily jumps up - whether it be out of her box or up onto my shoe. She loves cuddling and is very attached to us. The problem is that when she is at rest, her head goes DOWN, resting it on the wall of her box or on us. She sleeps with her neck curved and head down all the way. Also, there are times when her eyes are half-closed, even though she is awake. I have successfully hand-raised many birds, including sparrows, doves and a cockatiel and I feel that this posture is very worrisome.
Also, her crop is rarely empty and takes a long time to go down. At this age, I dare not feed the baby more than 7 ml, and even that's pushing it. Twice, I only fed her twice (instead of three times) because the crop simply didn't go down. Of course, she is super ready to eat any time she thinks she might be fed. She hasn't gained any weight since I got her 9 days ago, weighing in at about 51 grams each morning. Oh, yeah – her bowel movements are often and fine.
I brought her to a vet, who is studying to be a bird expert. She is the only bird vet in the area. She has put my baby tiel on Nystatin before each meal. She has also put her on a course of antibiotics. All this is "just in case." But she feels that the real problem is neurological. She feels that there is some swelling on the back of her neck at the base of her neck. This may also explain, the vet feels, why the food is not moving on as it should.
Any suggestions? comments? We are so hoping for the best - she is so cute and we so much adore her!!!!
Nancy and Smoggy
Also, her crop is rarely empty and takes a long time to go down. At this age, I dare not feed the baby more than 7 ml, and even that's pushing it. Twice, I only fed her twice (instead of three times) because the crop simply didn't go down. Of course, she is super ready to eat any time she thinks she might be fed. She hasn't gained any weight since I got her 9 days ago, weighing in at about 51 grams each morning. Oh, yeah – her bowel movements are often and fine.
I brought her to a vet, who is studying to be a bird expert. She is the only bird vet in the area. She has put my baby tiel on Nystatin before each meal. She has also put her on a course of antibiotics. All this is "just in case." But she feels that the real problem is neurological. She feels that there is some swelling on the back of her neck at the base of her neck. This may also explain, the vet feels, why the food is not moving on as it should.
Any suggestions? comments? We are so hoping for the best - she is so cute and we so much adore her!!!!
Nancy and Smoggy