I've just got home from a very scary four day ordeal with Peanut.
On Wednesday morning Peanut was very floofy and lethargic, not eating and vomiting up a clear liquid - classic signs of an internal blockage.
This was him on the morning I knew something was wrong. He doesn't look or act it, but is in a lot of pain in this photo. Another reason it is so important to be vigilant with your birds.
I took him to the vet immediately and the x-rays confirmed my worst fears - he had a dangerously large blockage. According to the vet, this was most likely something that has been building up for a year or more which is why it was so bad. The vet was skeptical of Peanut surviving and advised due to Peanuts size he is unable to operate on him, so his only chance would be to have 3-4 flushes every day with a follow up x-ray to see if he had managed to pass the blockage.
You can see in the first pic how swollen his stomach (the large white area) was and the large bubbles of gas that had formed around the blockage. He was fed a sort of white dye that shows up on x-ray so the vet can see how far it moved along his stomach and bowels - it barely reached his intestines even after a couple of hours which is very bad. After 4 days of flushes you can see that much more of the dye has passed through his system during the second x-ray. His stomach has shrunk and the blockage is thankfully gone. However, his stomach and intensities are now damaged and stretched due to the extent of the blockage which has also made them weak - so he will need a special diet and medicine for the next 8 weeks but the vet is confident he should be back to normal afterwards.
The cause of everything? Peanut had been ingesting his happy hut. I always checked Peanuts happy hut (as well as all his other toys) for any missing bits or threads and it always seemed fine, especially as Peanut rarely actually plays with his toys, I had no reason or evidence to suspect he was eating/chewing his hut.
Poor peanut must've been in a lot of pain for a long time, but only displayed signs when it become life threatening. Please make sure to keep an eye on your birds so you can notice any abnormal behavior and get them to a vet asap - if this experience has shown me anything it is that our birds really are so fragile and the smallest thing can put them in grave danger. Early detection is absolutely key and even a few hours can make all the difference.
I feel absolutely terrible for allowing him to have a happy hut and it almost cost him his sweet little life.
I never knew they were so incredibly dangerous, after reading online it seems there have been hundreds if not thousands of bird deaths relating to either ingesting the fibers or strangling themselves in loose threads. After I went through this ordeal with Peanut and was taking to my friend who's adopted Lory had died last year from an internal blockage which was only half the size of Peanuts - and she had never given him any sort of bed or rope toys. The vet said it would've been floating around his stomach for years, probably from his previous home, until something got caught up in it.
It was absolutely terrifying to go through and I am just extremely thankful that I was actually off work that morning or Peanut might not have even made it through the night. I feel like Peanut is one of the lucky ones and I am so grateful for that but it's horrible to think how many other birds haven't been as fortunete. I cannot believe these horrible things are sold in stores and so often encouraged by breeders and pet stores for new babies - even Peanuts breeder suggested I get him one straight away.
I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully encourage people to remove any happy huts or rope toys they have from their cages so you don't have to go through the same thing and your babies are safe. I know they are cute and your birds love them (Peanut LOVED sleeping and relaxing in his, but it had to go) but it is just not worth it. Don't think, "it won't happen to my bird" - "I check his hut, it's fine" - "she never chews at it" - "I think you're just being dramatic" - because $1,700 worth of vet bills (with more to come) and almost losing my baby, I can tell you - it's just not worth it.
On Wednesday morning Peanut was very floofy and lethargic, not eating and vomiting up a clear liquid - classic signs of an internal blockage.
This was him on the morning I knew something was wrong. He doesn't look or act it, but is in a lot of pain in this photo. Another reason it is so important to be vigilant with your birds.
I took him to the vet immediately and the x-rays confirmed my worst fears - he had a dangerously large blockage. According to the vet, this was most likely something that has been building up for a year or more which is why it was so bad. The vet was skeptical of Peanut surviving and advised due to Peanuts size he is unable to operate on him, so his only chance would be to have 3-4 flushes every day with a follow up x-ray to see if he had managed to pass the blockage.
You can see in the first pic how swollen his stomach (the large white area) was and the large bubbles of gas that had formed around the blockage. He was fed a sort of white dye that shows up on x-ray so the vet can see how far it moved along his stomach and bowels - it barely reached his intestines even after a couple of hours which is very bad. After 4 days of flushes you can see that much more of the dye has passed through his system during the second x-ray. His stomach has shrunk and the blockage is thankfully gone. However, his stomach and intensities are now damaged and stretched due to the extent of the blockage which has also made them weak - so he will need a special diet and medicine for the next 8 weeks but the vet is confident he should be back to normal afterwards.
The cause of everything? Peanut had been ingesting his happy hut. I always checked Peanuts happy hut (as well as all his other toys) for any missing bits or threads and it always seemed fine, especially as Peanut rarely actually plays with his toys, I had no reason or evidence to suspect he was eating/chewing his hut.
Poor peanut must've been in a lot of pain for a long time, but only displayed signs when it become life threatening. Please make sure to keep an eye on your birds so you can notice any abnormal behavior and get them to a vet asap - if this experience has shown me anything it is that our birds really are so fragile and the smallest thing can put them in grave danger. Early detection is absolutely key and even a few hours can make all the difference.
I feel absolutely terrible for allowing him to have a happy hut and it almost cost him his sweet little life.
I never knew they were so incredibly dangerous, after reading online it seems there have been hundreds if not thousands of bird deaths relating to either ingesting the fibers or strangling themselves in loose threads. After I went through this ordeal with Peanut and was taking to my friend who's adopted Lory had died last year from an internal blockage which was only half the size of Peanuts - and she had never given him any sort of bed or rope toys. The vet said it would've been floating around his stomach for years, probably from his previous home, until something got caught up in it.
It was absolutely terrifying to go through and I am just extremely thankful that I was actually off work that morning or Peanut might not have even made it through the night. I feel like Peanut is one of the lucky ones and I am so grateful for that but it's horrible to think how many other birds haven't been as fortunete. I cannot believe these horrible things are sold in stores and so often encouraged by breeders and pet stores for new babies - even Peanuts breeder suggested I get him one straight away.
I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully encourage people to remove any happy huts or rope toys they have from their cages so you don't have to go through the same thing and your babies are safe. I know they are cute and your birds love them (Peanut LOVED sleeping and relaxing in his, but it had to go) but it is just not worth it. Don't think, "it won't happen to my bird" - "I check his hut, it's fine" - "she never chews at it" - "I think you're just being dramatic" - because $1,700 worth of vet bills (with more to come) and almost losing my baby, I can tell you - it's just not worth it.