Mouth Gapping and Maybe Zoning Out?? Has anyone seen this before?

[Summzz]

Hi everyone.
*NOTE: I have emailed my vet and waiting for a response*

We were just training and having fun when my Conure, Claire, starting doing this weird action. It started about 5 seconds before I started recording. Her breathing still seemed fine during everything but I honestly thought she was choking. She has had some weird incidents a few times, which I posted about here (Perfect health Conure with weird problem.) but this seems completely new. Does anyone have any idea on what this could be or has seen this before?
Thanks!
P.S. She ate blueberries earlier this afternoon, hence the blue beak.

20210730_154401.mp4

drive.google.com

 

[Summzz]

Forgot to mention, she is acting totally normal now and doing well.

 

[flyzipper]

Haven't observed this in my GCC, but it doesn't look especially worrisome.

Is her training snack dry, triggering a need to drink?

Following to see what insights others may offer.

 

[Hankmacaw]

I would get her to a vet and have her assessed for atherosclerosis. This disease is very common in all birds and is most likely the cause of death for the majority of birds who just drop dead. My Jasper (GW female) had severe atherosclerosis at the age on 6 1/2 definatley caused by the diet she was on before I got her. My Hank developed atherosclerosis before I got him at 19 years of age - Jasper and Hank are both now deceased. My current bird, Kitty- 35 yo GW female) also has what the Dr. said is significant atherosclerosis when I got her 7 months ago.

The symptoms your bird have a consistent with atherosclerosis.

The silent killer: Atherosclerosis in pet birds (Proceedings)

Atherosclerosis is a devastating disease common in older birds and often associated with sudden clinical decline and unexpected death.

www.dvm360.com

 

[Summzz]

Haven't observed this in my GCC, but it doesn't look especially worrisome.

Is her training snack dry, triggering a need to drink?

Following to see what insights others may offer.

Yes, they are dry snacks. Almonds, sunflower seeds and sometimes pecans. Never thought about a drink, when she went back into her cage I didn't notice if she took a drink.

I would get her to a vet and have her assessed for atherosclerosis. This disease is very common in all birds and is most likely the cause of death for the majority of birds who just drop dead. My Jasper (GW female) had severe atherosclerosis at the age on 6 1/2 definatley caused by the diet she was on before I got her. My Hank developed atherosclerosis before I got him at 19 years of age - Jasper and Hank are both now deceased. My current bird, Kitty- 35 yo GW female) also has what the Dr. said is significant atherosclerosis when I got her 7 months ago.

The symptoms your bird have a consistent with atherosclerosis.

The silent killer: Atherosclerosis in pet birds (Proceedings)

Atherosclerosis is a devastating disease common in older birds and often associated with sudden clinical decline and unexpected death.

www.dvm360.com

Oh wow, that does seem scary. I'll ask my vet but might just book something just in case. I read the page you sent and it doesn't seem like there are to many symptoms that aren't major. Are there any smaller signs that I should look out for until I hear from my vet.
Thanks!

 

[Hankmacaw]

Excess sleeping, lethargic, excessive heavy breathing after exercise, when it is very bad there facial skin will turn blue.

I believe that @webchirp has a couple of conures with atherosclerosis who are on medication.

 

[webchirp]

That would scare me and I’ve seen some things. I have never had a bird act like that. Mine that have episodes usually get wobbly like they are going to pass out. I’d be very concerned about something in the lungs or swelling from an organ causing problems. But yes my vet put Moki on sildenaphil because her lungs were a bit cloudy and she has a super bad heart. I didn’t read everything so I apologize but gram stains and X-ray would be the first course of action…as soon as possible.

 

[Summzz]

That would scare me and I’ve seen some things. I have never had a bird act like that. Mine that have episodes usually get wobbly like they are going to pass out. I’d be very concerned about something in the lungs or swelling from an organ causing problems. But yes my vet put Moki on sildenaphil because her lungs were a bit cloudy and she has a super bad heart. I didn’t read everything so I apologize but gram stains and X-ray would be the first course of action…as soon as possible.

Well that's no good. What type of problem would cause something with lungs or swelling of an organ. What other symptoms would come with it? Just trying to see if I can piece anything together. It's Friday today and a long weekend. We hardly have any avian vets near by and our usual one won't be back until next Monday. We have a few others we can go to if need be.
Thanks

 

[flyzipper]

We were just training and having fun when...

What did that entail?
If you can figure out what preceded the event (and if it's consistent vs intermittent), that would be useful to know for you and your vet.

... and was it possible he was overheated? The closest I've seen to that in my guys is open mouth breathing when they're too hot.

 

[Summzz]

What did that entail?
If you can figure out what preceded the event (and if it's consistent vs intermittent), that would be useful to know for you and your vet.

... and was it possible he was overheated? The closest I've seen to that in my guys is open mouth breathing when they're too hot.

Well she is a biter so we were many just working on touch training and set-ups, nothing too hard. I try to get her to fly but she's not too into flying/ almost seems scared. We are working on it and she will do it sometimes but she wasn't doing it this time. My Sun Conure actually recently got overheated and while it looked similar, it seems slightly different. She normally takes a lot to get overheated and the house wasn't all that hot. I guess it maybe could have been overheating but I would think it would be less likely.

 

[Summzz]

Hi everyone! Update time.
So, we had one vet see the video and say " she will be okay". I didn't really like that as something still didn't feel right. I found a vet that was in the USA but did phone calls and video calls. Just talked with her, really really like her, and she's brought up some things. She definitely thinks it's something not normal but said it could be a couple of things. The atherosclerosis problem came up along with seizures, lead poisoning and zinc poisoning. She recommended finding as vet as soon as we could, get blood work and X-rays done. We have two near us that she confirmed are a part of the AAV but I know one is hard to get into and the other one is the one that brushed this problem off (and we haven't had great experiences with her). I'm going to try to get an appointment with the one that is super hard to get into and if not, there is one place but it's about a two-hour drive. She offered if I can't find anywhere that she could help find somewhere for us. She actually does house calls and said if the boarders were open, she could have come to us or us to her.

I was wondering if anyone had any other information on any of the possible problems (seizures, lead poisoning and zinc poisoning). I've been trying to do research but I'm more confused than not. I was also trying to see how you tell if there is zinc or lead in metals. I'm very careful where I buy from, always getting things that say stainless steel, but I want to see if there is a way to double-check that as I'm currently not very trusting. Long story short, I'm pretty concerned but happy I got a second opinion.


I will mention a few others things she has (that have been seen by a vet) just in case it clicks for anyone.
. When she was 9 (currently 10) she started laying eggs. During her eggs, her stool turned reddish-brown and was very runny (not the urates, those are still white). We asked and were told it was due to her egg-laying. It hasn't stopped since, sometimes it isn't as colored or maybe isn't as runny, but it's still not 100% normal. We have brought this up to a couple of vets but was told it just must be "her new normal"

. Her beak for about a half a year has been overgrowing. She currently has had it done twice, but it's still growing back fast. Was told it could be a vitamin thing, she was changed to a different food but was also told it could be a hereditary thing that will have to keep being dealt with.

. My past posts have talked about a weird sneezing/regurgitation thing, posted here Perfect health Conure with weird problem.. Has happened a few times, with the first time she brought up some rice-sized chunks. One time I thought she acted like she zoned out but wasn't sure, was told she must just be regurgitating.
. Once I had her back turned and I heard someone fall (this happens sometimes as they like to jump from perch to perch or hang upside down), I saw her climbing back up to her perch but then she couldn't stand or open her one foot. I actually thought it was broken, she couldn't put weight on it and her foot was in a ball. About a minute after she opened it back up and was fine, walked as normal.


I really appreciate any info and will try to call everyone I can tomorrow (sadly it's a long weekend so don't know what my success is going to be).
Thanks.