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Urgent Linnie under the weather

Iceboxkat

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Kat Ruelle
Hi,
I am a newbie and searching for info on Linnies or possibly the problem would be the same for any bird. I have 3 Linnies now, originally had four but lost a little male this summer and the vet in formed me that half of his heart was hard and non functioning. He said it may have been genetic (He was unrelated to the other birds) or that he may have gotten sick with flu or cold without me knowing sometime in the past and that settled into his heart. I mention this because it was last spring and now my other male is not his usual self and this is going into the third week. Our vet is now retired and now an actual avian vet, we are on the Can. border so there is no one available that could be of help. However, the bird I lost was always very shy and non aggressive and when I took him that was what the owner told me as she didn't want him in a situation where he had to be defensive. So I wonder if that was something genetic?
Ollie the normal green Linnie male that I am concerned about, is sluggish and seems on the weak side, I noticed he cannot fly as far and often falls in the cage as if he cannot grip his feet as well lately. He is eating but I would find him sleeping at nite in places other than the little tent he shares with his mate and he seemed to be shaking a bit too, but then they seem to do that. They always shared the tent and I wasn't sure if she gave him the boot or what so I began to monitor him more. He is not sneezing or acting like he has ear mites or anything I can think of and I keep a warm air humidifier going in that room during winter as it is so dry, tonite it will hit -30*F. here! Without that humidifier one of my canaries constantly scratches at his ears, so I learned this long ago as it was just too dry.
I put Ollie and his mate into a smaller cage as they were in a 6' wide aviary with 5 tiels and a Rosy Bourke, plus the other linnie. (I have a total of 19 birds, many are rescued) Today as I was painting watercolors next to their room he got off my shoulder and marched across the table to sit under the Ott lite and dozed in the warmth. I realized that they have no lite over their cage as I have them on the others and I put one over them. (This is another question that comes to mind, I do not see mentioned on the sites that the birds should have the lights overhead, how do you all feel about having the full sun bulbs for the birds?)
Tonite Ollie was snuggled with his mate in their tent. On checking him over, there is no excrement on his body and his poo seems normal as well as his legs and feet. I check them regularly and trim the nails as they have a tendency to get caught and that is always a worry. He went right after the romaine today and then the orange. But I noticed that he doesn't seem to have the weight on his keel bone. I read what I could on the Linnie sites to see if I am missing anything. I am cooking rice, which I give them along with scrambled egg on occasion, they also get millet sprays and avi-cakes as treats, plus the seed mix.
I have had these guys for about 12 yrs now and got them as youngsters. If anyone has an idea of what I am facing, I appreciate your time. It may be that he is nearing his adult life end. The other two females are very energetic, so this rather perplexed me.
Thanks!
 

Birdbabe

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Hopeful that someone with Linnies will chime in.
 

roxynoodle

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The only time my conure was sick, she also became weak. I knew something was wrong when she fell off a perch the second time that morning. The first time I thought she was just getting too crazy playing. By the time we got to the vet, her flying was affected as well. This is what he told me for possible causes:

1. Bacterial infection

2. Heavy Metal Toxicity

3. Vitamin E/Selenium deficiency

This was not an avian vet and his treatment plan was treat for all of them! She got better pretty quickly, but that did leave me without knowing which it was. I'm going with infection in the case of my bird as she is on a pelleted diet, Nutriberries and eats a lot of foods rich in selenium. I don't believe there was anything she could have gotten into that had toxic metal or I think it would have happened again.
 

suileeka

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He really is on the old side for a linnie... I think that your feeling that he is nearing the end of his lifespan might, sadly, be the case. He might benefit from and appreciate a heat source like one of Avitech's safe heat panels or something similar.. AviTemp Infrared Heat Panels

Without being able to take him to an avian vet, it's really impossible to say what might really be wrong with him, other than his age. Maybe higher fat seeds would be good for him at this point, to help keep his weight up.. diced sunflower seeds.. maybe mix some coconut oil or Avi Gain into his other food.
 

Iceboxkat

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I just wanted to let you all know that Ollie passed away sometime early this morning. I will probably never know the reason but tend to think it was his age, given he was 11-13 yrs and the fact that he went down over a period of time with no other symptoms other than weight loss and the muscle loss/weakness. Thanks for allowing me time on this forum and hopefully I will be back.
 

suileeka

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I'm so sorry for your loss. It sounds like Ollie had a long and good life with you. :sadhug2:
 

roxynoodle

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I'm very sorry for your loss.
 

Iceboxkat

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Kat Ruelle
Thank you all for the kind thoughts and the info. I went back and read more on diet as I don't believe the birds are getting enough of the vegie, noodles and rice, so saw a recipe where they can be combined and frozen, then thaw a cub and mix with seed and pellet to get them to eat more of that.
Also have given them Romaine and see that it calls more for darker greens like spinach and kale, I was under the impression that there could be too much spinach for some reason? In the summer I gave them beet greens, kale and spinach from the garden but not enough and of course the growing season is short here.
One site recommended lean meats too and I have never fed that although the Conure loves to eat fish right off my plate! The odd thing is, if it were a selenium deficiency, wouldn't the other two linnies also have that problem? They seem fine. I also grind dried hard boiled egg peelings and sprinkle among the food, especially for the two button quail in another cage. Life is all about learning it seems.
Thanks for your help and interest!
 

Bailey

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I'm sorry for your loss of Ollie. :sadhug2:

I hope it was old age, since a disease could put the rest of your birds in danger. Keep a good eye on all the other birdies and please stick around! We like pictures!
 

ncGreyBirdLady

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Very sorry for Your loss :sadhug2: :sadhug2: :sadhug2:
 
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