cikim123
Meeting neighbors
I should start by saying that I'm one of those people who freak out over the tiniest things and feel the need to go to the vet whenever something looks out of place. I am thinking another vet visit may be in order but I wanted to get some opinions here first.
The first concern is that my caiques have a few black "splotchy" markings on the sides and edges of their wings. The only way I can describe it is it almost looks like a brindle pattern. They have been this way for almost the entire time I've had them. Along the way of my parrot ownership, I learned about what "stress bars" were and began to worry that my guys had this. But another breeder said this is actually exclusively common to caiques because they are so active and wrestle. I've seen my two wrestle and roughhouse with each other pretty intensely, getting their wings and feathers beat up from rolling around the cage tops. They are on a diet primarily of Bountiful Harvest blend mixed with occasional Roudybush pellets. They also get a mix of chopped fresh veggies and fruits weekly. I initially wanted to blame these markings on nutritional deficiencies but I'm not sure how this could happen if what I am offering them is all good for them? Perhaps they are being too picky and only eating certain things and ignoring other healthy foods?
Another thing that added to my concern was the "morning bomb" poo smelled a little strange this morning. I can't really explain the smell but just the fact that there was an odor at all was a red flag. I'm under the impression that healthy bird droppings should have no odor at all? I've never actually put my nose up to bird poo or anything but I could smell the "fumes" of the smell from Donnie's poo when I was crouched near the ground. Yes, their morning droppings are a large quantity but I don't know. The color was also a light greenish color...don't know if that means anything.
I know that I can't get medical advice here but I was mostly just wondering about their markings. They have gone to the vet before and the doctor ran the CBC test on one of them and it came out normal. I'm thinking I need to get their droppings tested as well and perhaps test for specific illnesses??
Sorry this is so long!! Any advice/info would be great! Thank you!
The first concern is that my caiques have a few black "splotchy" markings on the sides and edges of their wings. The only way I can describe it is it almost looks like a brindle pattern. They have been this way for almost the entire time I've had them. Along the way of my parrot ownership, I learned about what "stress bars" were and began to worry that my guys had this. But another breeder said this is actually exclusively common to caiques because they are so active and wrestle. I've seen my two wrestle and roughhouse with each other pretty intensely, getting their wings and feathers beat up from rolling around the cage tops. They are on a diet primarily of Bountiful Harvest blend mixed with occasional Roudybush pellets. They also get a mix of chopped fresh veggies and fruits weekly. I initially wanted to blame these markings on nutritional deficiencies but I'm not sure how this could happen if what I am offering them is all good for them? Perhaps they are being too picky and only eating certain things and ignoring other healthy foods?
Another thing that added to my concern was the "morning bomb" poo smelled a little strange this morning. I can't really explain the smell but just the fact that there was an odor at all was a red flag. I'm under the impression that healthy bird droppings should have no odor at all? I've never actually put my nose up to bird poo or anything but I could smell the "fumes" of the smell from Donnie's poo when I was crouched near the ground. Yes, their morning droppings are a large quantity but I don't know. The color was also a light greenish color...don't know if that means anything.
I know that I can't get medical advice here but I was mostly just wondering about their markings. They have gone to the vet before and the doctor ran the CBC test on one of them and it came out normal. I'm thinking I need to get their droppings tested as well and perhaps test for specific illnesses??
Sorry this is so long!! Any advice/info would be great! Thank you!
The smelly poo can be indicative of an infection, most likely yeast. But sometimes it's just something they ate, or smelly from being held all night (if caiques hold, I don't know). If you feel something might be off, trust your instinct and get it checked out!
