Conure making weird noises

[ZparK]

Hi, i tought i'd try to post here because i have not found anything on the web about this behavior.
Our blue crowned conure is making weird noises. Here's a Youtube link of the sounds he makes : Ulysse making strange noises - YouTube
We have noticed this behavior before wich led us in an emergency animal hospital, he stayed on observation there for 3 days, had xrays, blood tests etc. We were told that he had swallowed metal pieces and to give him some medecine and a little bit of peanut butter. Everything went fine after that. Fast forward to 2 days ago when we went back to the hospital for a routine check. The vet told us that everything was fine but he wanted us to stop the peanut butter as it was fattening our little bird, he told us to stop gradually. So we began giving him half a teaspon a day ( the vet told us to give him 1 tsp a day during his treatments) and then the noises started to come back. He's been like that for two days now and we don't know what to do.

Any help would be welcome!

Thank you!

-David

P.S.: please excuse my english writting as it is not my main language.

 

[lwis]

I am sorry, I don't have any advice for you. I have never heard those sounds before. Hopefully, if the vet did tests and says everything is okay, then hopefully everything is. Is he acting normal otherwise? And is the metal that he had swallowed out of his system? Could he be mimicking a sound?

P.s. Your English is quite good. I would not have guessed that it wasn't your first language.

 

[ZparK]

Well he's not as joyful as when we gave him peanut butter. The vet told us that PB was like a drug to him and he would need some kind of rehab. Unfortunately, we haven't looked in the feeces for traces of metal so we can't really tell if it's still in his system. I don't think he's mimicking a sound, if he is, we don't know wich sound.

My guess is that he's trying to manipulate us by acting like when he was sick. Also, his cage is located in the same room as the cat litter, can the amonia in the cat pee be bad for a conure?

Thank you very much for the fast answer!

 

[Mythreeiggys]

Was he tested for any type of metal poisoning? Did the doctor do blood tests after the PB? If he swallowed metal and his only treatment was PB, I'd be a little worried. Ive never dealt with metal poisoning but I would imagine the treatment would be more the just PB. Let me search the forums and see there's any more info available.

 

[ZparK]

Haha! No he was given medicine and probiotics to treat his metal poisoning. PB was something the vet told us to give him to smooth his throat.

 

[Mythreeiggys]

I did a little bit of researching here and found one thread that says wing flapping could be a sign of heavy metal poisoning. Does he wing flap a lot? Also, others that have had a bird with HMP have had x-rays done to see the metal. Did the doctor do an x-ray? There are a few people her that have dealt with HMP. Go to the search bar and put "heavy metal poisoning" in. Hopefully you'll find some more info that maybe you can relay to your doctor.

 

[ZparK]

Yes, the vet took xrays, and blood samples. He was treated for heavy metal poisoning. We looked at everything that contained metal in his cage and removed them. We are being extra careful when he's out of his cage to see what he's chewing on. We went to the vet 2 days ago and everything was clear. He does flap his wints quite a lot. When he makes his little whinning sounds he also has some kind of little spasm on his tail.

 

[AmberMuffinz]

How old is he?

 

[suncoast]

Did your vet do follow up xrays to make sure the metal has moved through his system? Is he holding his weight? What do his poo's look like? Is your vet an avian vet? The wing flipping is a classic sign of heavy metal poisoning and it makes me worried. Is he vomiting? Our little Too Folly ate a piece of lead off the back of a mirror and she did that. Did your vet send a sample away to find out what kind of metal it was? It has to go to the University of Louisiana. If it's lead then your bird needs follow up treatment as it leaches into the bones. I would have your vet contact Dr. Burkett in the States and show him this video. Something else is going on.

Veterinary Advice - Ask Dr. Burkett A Question Today!

Ginger

 

[roxynoodle]

I'm going to take a guess here that the HMT may have caused lasting neurological problems (perhaps permanent).

When we thought my Grey might have it from chewing powder coat off her grate, we did an Xray, blood tests, sent a sample of the pc of the cage for testing, and treated her with chelation anyway since large birds generally deal with it pretty well. Everything came back clean on her and the seizures she had were believed to be due to bornavirus, not metal.

Aside from the peanut butter I'm guessing the medication you were given was chelation?

I had a Blue Crown for many years and she never did that behavior, so yes, it's abnormal, and yes, it's a classic sign of HMT.

I urge you to check the cage carefully for any signs of missing powder coat, rust or bare metal of any kind. If it has any, you will need to repair it, have it re-powder coated or replace it. All metal on toys should either be stainless steel or at least nickel plated. If your bird is chewing off the powder coat, you may need either a stainless steel cage or one of the King's aluminum cages.

Some common sources of lead poisoning in homes are metal weights for plants in fish tanks and weights at the bottoms of curtains. I have heard many stories of birds chewing on or even swallowing those. Of course, you need to keep him from chewing any metal that isn't stainless steel, really.

Best of luck and I hope the little cutie will be ok. I Blue Crowns

 

[roxynoodle]

Ah, another thought, too: is your baby a little mechanic? Likes unscrewing metal things? Buy some larger size stainless steel bolts and nuts for him to play with. And put several quick links together to make a chain so that he can spend time unscrewing each one. My bird also loved huge knotted rope toys and spent hours a day undoing the knots.

 

[ZparK]

I forgot to mention that he is 10 months old. The vet did not follow up on the Xrays but he made a normal exam and did not notice anything out of the ordinary. He's not vomiting, only flapping wings and whining. He's acting normally when he's in his cage and we're not near. We gave him his daily dose of peanut butter this morning. He still has flapping wings but look a little better. I'll have an avian vet look at him as soon as possible. I don't think the vet was able to retreive metal pieces, so i dont think he made tests to determine what kind of metal it would be.

I would like to thank everyone for the help and the good thoughts, i'll keep you updated with Ulysse as soon as soon as possible.

Thank you.

 

[Danita]

Do you have an Avian Vet?

 

[gibsongrrrl]

my bird had zinc and lead in her system and it did not show up on xray, so that is not totally reliable. we did a separate blood test for each metal. do you know if your vet did those tests? it is not part of a normal blood panel, so it would have been separate. what meds did you give other than probiotics? there are separate chelation meds for each zinc and lead. what my bird took for lead did not remove the zinc from her body. she was chewing on her cage bars and that is how she got it. have you checked your cage for places where the finish is missing? also what color is your cage? white cages have a higher chance of lead in the paint.