NERVOUS! Sozzie scared me this am....need advice! HELP!

[TheBeesKnees]

So I am hoping it's nothing, but it was enough to make me nervous this morning.

I have a young blue and gold macaw baby, about 10 weeks old now. Has been REALLY healthy thus far. Michigan just got it's cold snap here in the last few days, and our house has gotten dry, so I am thinking that's it, but this morning scared me.

I woke up and went to feed Sozzie, and I didn't hear him making any noise...which is somewhat odd because he usually squaks a little when he sees his light come in in the morning or he hears me.

As soon as I opened up his tub for the day, he sounded hoarse....almost like laryngitis?.....no drainage from his snares, decent appetite still (though it seems he is starting to get to that point where he refuses a little formula sometimes)....so I woke my husband up and we took him to the shower and steamed Sozzie for about 15-20 minutes and gave him a good soaking in the shower after that. Things seemed to get better.....

Is everything ok, or should I get him back to the vet????

 

[suncoast]

Keep an eye on him. As long as he's perching, playing, pooing, eating and drinking okay I would just watch him. Do you have a humidifier to keep the air moist?

Ginger

 

[TheBeesKnees]

I cannot find the humidifier anywhere! So my husband is going out to get one this morning. He's not perching too good yet, as he is still a baby....we're working on that. But, his bodily functions seem to be in order (hehe) and he's eating pretty well. Thank you!

 

[crzybrdldy]

Lindsey rather than putting him in the shower, I would let him sit in the bathroom with some steam. You don't want to overwhelm his little body by having to now dry himself and preen and keep himself warm.

Keep an eye on him while in the bathroom with steam you don't him to be overcome with to much steam, going from one extreme to another.

Like Ginger said keep an eye on him eating and pooping, watch for a discharge from the nares.

Be calm you don't want the little one to pick up on you being upset.

 

[Greycloud]

I would not soak him right now. Just sit in the bathroom with the warm shower running like Patty says. Can I ask what you have as substrate in the bottom of his tub and what is the cover of the tub?

 

[TheBeesKnees]

Lindsey rather than putting him in the shower, I would let him sit in the bathroom with some steam. You don't want to overwhelm his little body by having to now dry himself and preen and keep himself warm.

Keep an eye on him while in the bathroom with steam you don't him to be overcome with to much steam, going from one extreme to another.
.

Like Ginger said keep an eye on him eating and pooping, watch for a discharge from the nares.

Be calm you don't want the little one to pick up on you being upset.

Thank you....we thought about that afterward, but we kept him warm in a blanket until he was completely dry, so as to not catch a draft. He seemed to really enjoy the steam and water.

Thank you for the help....it's so appreciated

 

[TheBeesKnees]

I would not soak him right now. Just sit in the bathroom with the warm shower running like Patty says. Can I ask what you have as substrate in the bottom of his tub and what is the cover of the tub?

Hey there.. Thank you for the help! Sozzie has a VERY large spacious tub right now that is bigger than some play pens. I just felt it was safer. I have been using fresh towels that I change out several times per day. My husband ( a contractor) made some nice perfectly cut out holes in various spots in the tub and on the lid for good breathing. We only put that lid on if we know we will be gone for some time (we have a curious cat who I doubt would hurt him but you never know). Sozzie will be transitioning to a cage this week, just waiting for it to arrive.

Do you think that the tub or towels are a problem bothering his breathing?????

 

[Coco's Momma]

Was your bird screaming/vocalizing a lot yesterday? Twice now in Coco's 15 years of life she has gotten 'laryngitis' from screaming too much. Not saying that this is what is wrong with your bird, and given the bird is so young there is always cause for concern. But I have myself witnessed Coco sounding TOTALLY like she has laryngitis, and once I realized my husband was sick and she spent the day screaming for him while I was at work, I was able to laugh about it. Before that, I was nervous, because like you there was no other sign of illness. She has literally screamed herself hoarse twice now. And since I wasn't home, I don't know how much screaming it took to get to that point. I noticed this at night, and by the following morning she "had her voice back".

 

[TheBeesKnees]

I work full time during the day, but my husband is home 99% of the time during the day, and he didn't mention anything. I know Sozzie has been "testing" his voice the last few days and vocalizing much more than normal.....so maybe he threw his voice out a little lol

 

[Coco's Momma]

I work full time during the day, but my husband is home 99% of the time during the day, and he didn't mention anything. I know Sozzie has been "testing" his voice the last few days and vocalizing much more than normal.....so maybe he threw his voice out a little lol

They don't have the same vocal chord set up that we do, but I know that Coco has done it twice, and I even had a dog that used to do it (although they have vocal chords) when we had to board her. She would come home with laryngitis. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes/ears, I wouldn't have believed it possible. But she has done it twice, and acted completely normal, and everything was fine the next morning. The other odd/funny thing was that it only affected bird vocalization and human words. She was able to whistle perfectly normal without sounding hoarse. So apparently the mechanism she uses to produce a whistle bypasses whatever tissue was swollen from her incessant screaming (and she was incessantly screaming according to my husband who was laying in bed too sick to get up). So she had herself a hay-day and by that night she was hoarse. So if your bird has learned to whistle, see if her whistle sounds completely normal.

 

[TheBeesKnees]

Interestingly enough, he has this little "whimper" I call it, which sounds just like a whistle, and that was clear as could be, but his squack was hoarse....I would have heard him screaming last night, and before we went to bed, he was fine...which brings me back to the dry air

 

[Coco's Momma]

Interestingly enough, he has this little "whimper" I call it, which sounds just like a whistle, and that was clear as could be, but his squack was hoarse....I would have heard him screaming last night, and before we went to bed, he was fine...which brings me back to the dry air

Could be, or just a delayed reaction if he had been doing more vocalizing in the late afternoon before you got home. Coco had been screaming in the morning but quiet in the afternoon. Either way, the extra humidity won't hurt as long as you don't go super-crazy. Do you have other birds in the home that are contributing dust to her environment? Since she has a form of whistle that is clear, that tends to make me lean toward her having vocalized too much.

 

[TheBeesKnees]

Could be, or just a delayed reaction if he had been doing more vocalizing in the late afternoon before you got home. Coco had been screaming in the morning but quiet in the afternoon. Either way, the extra humidity won't hurt as long as you don't go super-crazy. Do you have other birds in the home that are contributing dust to her environment? Since she has a form of whistle that is clear, that tends to make me lean toward her having vocalized too much.

No other birds but we do have other pets. I do keep it super clean, but how clean is clean enough for Sozzie lol??? My husband ran an errand and said he'd be back in about 2 hours to check on him...seemed fine when he left this morning, so I am keeping my fingers crossed......

 

[TheBeesKnees]

I hope you're right!!!!! No sick birdies....my heart can't take it!!

 

[waterfaller1]

11 weeks is much too young for a cage for a B&G in my opinion. He may climb all the way up and fall. Do you have any heat source for him, is he fully feathered?

 

[TheBeesKnees]

11 weeks is much too young for a cage for a B&G in my opinion. He may climb all the way up and fall. Do you have any heat source for him, is he fully feathered?

I got the cage so that when he is ready, it's there...I also hope that by having it there, he may at least want to check it out etc. just a thought.... Yes, he has a heat source, heating pad and a blanket.

 

[Coco's Momma]

I hope you're right!!!!! No sick birdies....my heart can't take it!!

I wouldn't wait or hesitate to get him to the vet because he is so young - if you assume it is a dry throat or any other problem and it turns out not to be, I wouldn't want you to lose valuable time. Change in vocalization is in and of itself a symptom, so please keep a really close eye on him and maybe call the vet and see if they think you should bring him in.

 

[birdlvr466]

Is he still being handfed? Please dont assume your cat wouldnt do anything either. Cat saliva is deadly to birds so your baby needs to be safely kept away from you cat.

 

[TheBeesKnees]

Is he still being handfed? Please dont assume your cat wouldnt do anything either. Cat saliva is deadly to birds so your baby needs to be safely kept away from you cat.

Thank you for the conern....as I said in my post, I DO NOT trust my cat, that is the reason we make sure Sozzie is secure before we leave the house. Also, yes, Sozzie is on 3 feeds a day

 

[Coco's Momma]

Do you have an avian vet that you already have a relationship with and/or knows Sozzie (love that name) that might be able to speak to you by phone?