head shaking conure

[je0409]

Lately (as in this morning), my gcc has started rapidly shaking her head. When I tried to look it up, all I could get was information on head bobbing or African Greys. This is not head bobbing but a side to side really quick shaking of her head, like when a dog shakes out their fur, but it's only her head. I'm very concerned, but otherwise she seems completely fine from what I can tell. I should also mention that I'm not sure what her gender is really, I just refer to her with female pronouns. It also seemed to happen more as i would put my hand near her, but I might have just imagined that, or it might've been a coincidence. I dont know, but I'm really worried and need help!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Shezbug]

Some footage might be helpful if you can capture the head shaking.

 

[je0409]

Some footage might be helpful if you can capture the head shaking.

i cant because she really likes phones, so everytime i bring mine out she stops everything she's doing to try to jump on it

 

[Isaac]

Lately (as in this morning), my gcc has started rapidly shaking her head. When I tried to look it up, all I could get was information on head bobbing or African Greys. This is not head bobbing but a side to side really quick shaking of her head, like when a dog shakes out their fur, but it's only her head. I'm very concerned, but otherwise she seems completely fine from what I can tell. I should also mention that I'm not sure what her gender is really, I just refer to her with female pronouns. It also seemed to happen more as i would put my hand near her, but I might have just imagined that, or it might've been a coincidence. I dont know, but I'm really worried and need help!!!!!!!!!!!!

i cant because she really likes phones, so everytime i bring mine out she stops everything she's doing to try to jump on it

Excessive, rapid, head shaking of the cephalic region may point to several problems. If it's only happening a couple of times a day it could be behaviorally related; some species such as the African Grey may shake their heads rapidly on occasions. Clues to why they do this have not been discussed to the full extent. If the shaking is rather excessive, a physical examination of the bird focusing on the cephalic region may be suggested. Ear infections, either due to bacteria, protozoa, fungi can cause irritation resulting in a head-shaking, and oftentimes face scratching. Ectoparasites (lice, mites) is another potential causative agent to head shaking.

 

[Hankmacaw]

You didn't mention how old your bird is, but rapid shaking can also be a result of the bird having headaches. Yes, birds get headaches and my Vet explained that it can be from high blood pressure from atherosclerosis. Many birds have atherosclerosis from middle age on, brought on by high fat diets such as seed diets.
The simple things to check are those that @Isaac mentioned and should be done first.

 

[je0409]

she’s about to turn a year old next month!! still a smol girl lmao. i think she might’ve just had an itch or something? i don’t really know but i haven’t seen her do it since so i think she’ll be okay!! thank you everyone for the advice!

 

[je0409]

Okay so I'm opening this thread back up because my conure has started doing the head shaking again. She's been doing it for a few weeks now. I wouldn't say she does it excessively, but I definitely see her do it more than once a day now. It almost seems to come it bouts where she'll have not done it all day and then she'll do it on and off for a few minutes. And then hours will pass and she'll start doing it on and off for a few more minutes. I managed to get a video of her doing it this time, and this was taken this morning when I first took her out of her cage. She screamed as she does every morning to let me know that she knew I was up and that I must come get her, she hopped on my finger, chirpped at me a few times, and then started doing the head shaking. She also just within the past few days has started doing this thing where she just.. stretches her neck away from me? It's also in the video. I don't know if it has anything to do with the head shaking or if she's just mimicking behavior that she's seen me or my boyfriend do. Anyways, I would just take her straight to the vet, but I've unfortunately been out of work so my savings have been depleted and I can't afford to right now. I was wondering if there was anyway for me to find out what was wrong or help her in the meantime? Thanks in advance! EDIT: OKAY SO IDK HOW TO ATTACH A VIDEO

 

[Craftydan]

EDIT: OKAY SO IDK HOW TO ATTACH A VIDEO

It's not obvious, but the method is fairly typical of forums: You have to upload your video to a video sharing site (like YouTube or Vimeo), then use the "Media" button hidden under the "..." in the middle of the editor bar to insert the embedded video's link.

Zara has a good tutorial over in the "How-To Junction" with pictures.

 

[je0409]

Okay so I'm opening this thread back up because my conure has started doing the head shaking again. She's been doing it for a few weeks now. I wouldn't say she does it excessively, but I definitely see her do it more than once a day now. It almost seems to come it bouts where she'll have not done it all day and then she'll do it on and off for a few minutes. And then hours will pass and she'll start doing it on and off for a few more minutes. I managed to get a video of her doing it this time, and this was taken this morning when I first took her out of her cage. She screamed as she does every morning to let me know that she knew I was up and that I must come get her, she hopped on my finger, chirpped at me a few times, and then started doing the head shaking. She also just within the past few days has started doing this thing where she just.. stretches her neck away from me? It's also in the video. I don't know if it has anything to do with the head shaking or if she's just mimicking behavior that she's seen me or my boyfriend do. Anyways, I would just take her straight to the vet, but I've unfortunately been out of work so my savings have been depleted and I can't afford to right now. I was wondering if there was anyway for me to find out what was wrong or help her in the meantime? Thanks in advance! EDIT: OKAY SO IDK HOW TO ATTACH A VIDEO

I figured it out!!!

 

[webchirp]

I'd definitely get her into see a vet. That isn't a shake I typically see on a daily basis with any of mine and I have 19. The vet can do a blood pressure check with a tiny cuff, xray and perhaps ask to have gram stains done of a sinus flush.

 

[je0409]

Just wanted to give an update here in case anyone was worried! I took her to the vet and they checked her out and said she was very healthy and that they didn't notice anything that would be causing it. They said if I was really worried then they could do some blood work but they didn't see the need because she didn't have any other symptoms. They said most likely she was just born with a twitch, but that she should be fine.