Parrot Rescue visit tomorrow!

[Kassiani]

Hello all who have been so fun in following this thread and journey of mine. I'm afraid to say that we have postponed my ginger boy's adoption date yet again. My boy Jelly Bean is still bobbing his tail a bit. I took fecal samples in for analysis this week, and learned just 30 minutes ago that they are negative. I have a call in to my vet to ask about next steps because I'm afraid we are going down the path of fungal infection and possibly aspergillosis. Because of this, I called the rescue to be honest with them about what we were seeing so far. They felt, and I agreed, that we should put off the adoption until we have a certain diagnosis--at least something that would not be potentially very contagious for my Ginger Boy.

I'm really disappointed--sorely disappointed. But I know it's for the best.

 

[camelotshadow]

I hope its nothing contagious! Sadly you have to be very careful!

So sorry this is happening but your do have to rule out anything contagious from your budgie,

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that your little guy is still sick, and I hope it’s nothing very serious or contagious! I’m also sorry that your new boy cannot come move in today and start his brand new lovely life with you. Sending big hugs to you because I’m sure you must be very disappointed and upset.

 

[sunnysmom]

I hope Jelly Bean is okay.

 

[Kassiani]

He will have a choanal culture to try to determine what we are dealing with and use a more effective medicine. Possibly also a trachea wash. His white blood cell count was not elevated, so that suggests it is not aspergillosis, but we could do a panel for aspergillus to UMiami. He is such a small bird, that collecting another blood sample this soon would be nearing the safe limits--which is why I may forgo that for now.

And yes, I'm heartbroken! Today has turned out not at all as I had hoped and planned. I'm grieved because Opie isn't here with me, and I'm very worried about my little blue man!!

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

You did the best thing. While we're all excited for you it's best to be safe. Best wishes for you little Jelly Bean!

 

[faislaq]

You're an amazing parront and Opie will be so lucky when he comes to live with you. It's not always easy to make the right decisions, but you did even though it was difficult.

Jelly Bean's condition is more than enough to deal with right now. At least you know Opie is happy and safe where he's at.

I hope the vet is able to find the answers you need to get Jelly Bean feeling better 100%.

 

[Kassiani]

Thank you, all!

 

[Circling]

No hubby or anyone else here but me so I try to have rubber arms.

You're doing great! Wingnuts are sometimes managed through feeder dooors, here. I do that solo, and prefer to keep those escape hatches locked with a couple of trimmed zip ties.

 

[camelotshadow]

You're doing great! Wingnuts are sometimes managed through feeder dooors, here. I do that solo, and prefer to keep those escape hatches locked with a couple of trimmed zip ties.

Do make use of feeder doors but still some far areas in the back are real stretchers & sometimes not workable.

 

[Kassiani]

I visited my sweet ginger boy yesterday! He does seem to be warming up to me, and I got to experience a bit of his sassy side! He lunged at me a bit because I was clearly not offering up the treats at a fast enough pace, lol!

You may notice that he has had some feather loss in front of his eye, which concerns me a bit. But, he does scrape his beak along the bars sometimes—that may be the cause. I’m anxious to get him home and looked at by my vet! I also saw him nibbling on the skin of his crop, which I’m assuming is part of his plucking behavior.

My boys go back to the vet on Wednesday. Hopefully not too much longer!!

 

[Monica]

When I had Charlie in a cage with wider set bar spacing, he would often push his beak through the bars. He couldn't fit his entire honking head through, but just enough to get right between his beak and eyes. This caused the bare feathers to appear right in front of his eyes. Changed cages to one with smaller bar spacing and the feathers grew back.

Quite likely your little red head is also rubbing that area excessively to cause temporary feather loss.

 

[Kassiani]

I suspect that, too. His current cage is 1/2-inch bar spacing as is the cage waiting for him here. Hopefully, the quieter atmosphere of my home will be helpful

 

[BirdWorld]

I suspect that, too. His current cage is 1/2-inch bar spacing as is the cage waiting for him here. Hopefully, the quieter atmosphere of my home will be helpful

Will the rest of the feathers grow back or is he past that point?

 

[Kassiani]

The rescue CAV who examined him says that it is unlikely he'll grow feathers back on his torso. He has been plucking for so long, that he doesn't seem to have any feather follicles left.

 

[Kassiani]

Here he is in action...

 

[BirdWorld]

He is absolutely beautiful, bald-bellied or otherwise

 

[faislaq]

I think once he's home & has out of cage time & freedom to play and explore, he'll flourish! With so much love and attention, he won't have a reason to stick his beak between the bars so much out of boredom.

 

[Monica]

It honestly looks like there's some follicles on his stomach! My cherry heads stomach was smooth, but he has prickly like skin. I wonder if there's any hope that some might come back?

 

[Kassiani]

Not according to the rescue vet, and she’s literally one of the two finest avian vets in the area. I will always hope, though He’d be even more beautiful in full bloom