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Possibly eggbound Macaw or maybe I'm over-reacting

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Flyte

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I'm such a moron.. Madison has been shredding newspaper like mad and hanging out on the floor of her cage constantly.. the last time she just laid her eggs (like 8 years ago) in a wooden box with no 'nesting' which I thought was normal for macaws. (shes a b&G, about 16 years old now)

I have been really sick lately.. haven't been able to hardly even hold any of them because my back has been so bad. She was doing all sorts of birdy- masturbation stuff and I just thought she was just bored or trying to get my attention or it was just that time or year..

At any rate, for the past day and a half, she has slowly developed some swelling in the area above her vent/cloaca. It feels very soft and it does have the shape of an eggs but it's WAY too soft.. it also seems large compared to the other ones she laid but that was so long ago I could be wrong.
It seems to be painful because she doesn't want me touching anywhere near it.. she cries out and I've been bitten several times, she never bites, certainly never to the extent as to draw blood.. no big deal;, she's in pain I don't care if she rips my nose off atm.

She is a bit constipated another symptom that worries me, when she does poo, it looks normal, just HUGE! and even though she is not potty trained, she will only poo if I take her out of the crate and ask her to poo. (She used to be potty trained so she knows the command... ) Maybe she just doesn't want it in her crate/new nesting area?

When she was in her cage she was constipated as well, we gave her a big cardboard box and she would leave the box and make a giant poo elsewhere, then immediately return to the box. She is very aggressive, just like when she had her other eggs.. so I'm wondering if she is just 'laboring' or getting ready to lay and I'm overreacting. I don't know.

I have been giving her watered-down Gatorade.. I'm making a batch of pedialyte right now, I don't know why it didn't dawn on me sooner to give her that instead.. probably much safer for her without all the additives.. just water salt and sugar. I just get upset at the thought of any of my animals not having regular water available.. She is drinking regular water fine, I just figure the extra electrolytes will help.
She is eating fine too, I have been giving her extra egg with her normal mash. with some eggshell added, as well.

She is in a homemade hospital cage to be kept warm.. it's really just a big dog crate, heating pad underneath, blankets all around, hot water bottles on both sides and shes comfy on a towel inside. She actually seems to really like it. I've gotten all the other birds and animals to keep quiet, (I don't know why they are listening!) as I want her to be as quiet and calm as possible. I brought her outside for about 15 minutes, it's a very sunny, warm day and I thought it would help with vitamin absorption but she became so excited and wanted to run around and play and I just got too worried.. she was fine though, as soon as I brought her inside she got very excited and went running right in her 'hospital crate'.

I have given her 2 warm baths in the tub and have applied Vaseline after each bath
I have been giving her ground eggshells mixed in yogurt.
She seems absolutely normal aside from the swelling, She was straining earlier yesterday and she worried me because she seemed like she was pushing so hard. I was encouraging her which seemed to make her push more so I stopped and she hasn't really strained since then.. I haven't heard her do it anyway and I was up the entire night with her. I watched TV and played games and stared at her, she stared at me, watched a bit of TV, practiced sad faces to get some treats and slept.

The last time she laid eggs I just found her with them.. so I imagine she had no trouble then... Could this just be the normal course for her or do I really need to start digging, trying to find someone to take me to the vet? I have had no luck finding anyone with a car yet.

I can't drive because of my meds, I'd end up killing us both.. or we'd just be stuck in a ditch somewhere and that wouldn't help.
Sorry if I'm rambling or not making total sense, theses new meds are driving me nuts and I'm by myself here.. :/

- Sarah
 
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ncGreyBirdLady

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Sarah-First-I would not give the eggshells-unless they are ground to a fine powder-in My opinion they can do more harm then good.If You have cuttlebone,You can finely grate that into Her food.Also instead of the Vaseline-Use a small amount of Vegetable oil to gently massage on the vent.I would higly reccommend though that If She does not pass the egg by tomorrow-You NEED to get Her to Your Avian Vet ASAP.
Here is some info for You!:hug8:
Advin Systems - Web site development and Internet Consulting - Los Angeles
/hotspot/eggbinding.htm

Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - Egg Binding Part I

You and Your Macaw will be in My thoughts and Prayers:hug8:
 

JLcribber

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If she is low on calcium not only will it affect the egg itself but it will also affect her ability to lay it. If it's been 48 hours or more since you know there is an egg in there you should take her to a vet pretty darn quick. The vet can give her a calcium injection which will help her to lay the egg. It does sound like a possible egg bound situation. Don't wait too long. Once it's too late it's too late. If it is not fully formed and breaks inside her it will quickly poison her to death. It's been a long time since she has layed an egg. Personally I would be worried at this point.
 

Kolkri

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Make sure you have plenty of humidity in the air until she lays. Mineral oil is what I would recommend. As long as she is not straining or bottom sitting I would just wait and let nature takes it course. However if she is do those time to go to the vet.

You really don't need the egg shells. You can feed lots of greens if she well eat them. Parsley is very high in calcium.
 

JLcribber

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It's not "just" the calcium. If she has not been getting the proper amounts of the other vitamins and minerals (especially Vitamin D and phosphorus) she will not be utilizing the calcium she has been getting. Full spectrum lighting also plays a big role.
 

Flyte

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She eats Harrison's pellets and gets a mash everyday, twice a day that contains ground pellets, eggs, greens,(mustard, collards.. whatever good stuff I can find when I'm making it) fruits, veggies, brown rice, quinoa & millet.
I would have added extra calcium if I'd realized she was going to be laying eggs.. she really surprised me. She's acting fine right now.. she just finished eating and now shes just chewing on some toys enjoying the warmth of the crate. She's still swollen, though.

She won't touch greens, I juice them and hide them in her mash.. only way I can get her to eat em.. but she gets them everyday in her mash.

And I am worried, obviously. I'm also worried since it will be difficult for me to get her to the vet. It's not fair, I'm supposed to be the sick one, I don't want her to be sick too.




- Sarah
 
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Flyte

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Thanks for the links.. I feel much better about her now, since she's still very chipper and wanting to move around and do things. I am watching her carefully, of course.
The videos really are great though, thanks.


- Sarah
 

Renae

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If she's pooping, isn't that usually a good sign? I thought an egg-bound bird isn't able to poop?

I hope she'll be okay, please keep us updated. :hug8:
 

Flyte

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Well she's exactly the same today, but she is crazy-protective of that box and she is lunging at the bars anytime I go into the living room. If I open the door, she'll only come out when I ask her to come out and poop, which she seems to hold for hours. I got her to come out and put her on the floor, she's walking fine, even caught a ball like usual playtime stuff.. but then she immediately ran back, climbed up the couch and back into the box. I guess I will call the vet and see what they think.

I'm kind of wondering if a part of the problem is she doesn't feel she is in a 'safe' place to lay her egg. I just moved my gray, whom she HATES back intio the bird room like a day before this started.. we gave her a big cardboard box when I realized she might be trying to do the egg thing.. Even though she's in the crate in the living room and it's just me and the occasional dog in there, maybe she just doesn't feel like she's in the right place. I dunno..

- Sarah
 
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JLcribber

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I don't think she's just quite ready to have it yet but she is sure working on it!! :)
 

Flyte

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I think your right.. I just hope my bf doesn't kill me when he finds out she has shredded the sides of his dog crate..lol..

When my umbrella too laid her egg it was so different, she cried and then ran over and laid it in my lap!


I also have a brood of bluebirds in the living room, I've been raising them for the past week and a half, I think they are slightly over 3 weeks old, there are three now, started with four. They were abandoned when their box fell out of a tree during a thunderstorm.. I found them the next morning, thought they were dead but they came to life when warmed.. I wonder if the sound of the chicks is doing something for/to her, mentally. she was VERY interested in them before she started doing the lunging/leave me alone thing... but she's always been very interested in baby birds.

- Sarah
 

Flyte

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Just wanted everyone to know, Madison JUST laid her egg... i heard her straining for just a minute or two and stayed real quiet.. then I peeked (which made her REALLY mad) and she has a beautiful white egg UNDER her, not inside her...

I assume she will lay another like last time, when she had two.
Last time I let her keep them under her and she lost interest after a month.. when she's done laying I'll try to get her to let me move her back to her cage and I'll put the eggs in the box for her to sit on.


I'm so proud of her!!!

Thanks SO much for your help everyone. :heart::heart::heart::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing:

- Sarah
 

Birdlover

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Great news!! :)
 

itzmered

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:dance4::dance4:
 

JLcribber

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You may want to boil that egg quickly if you get the chance to toughen it up so it will last the whole 30 days.
 

Flyte

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You may want to boil that egg quickly if you get the chance to toughen it up so it will last the whole 30 days.
lol.. I think she would actually kill me if I took it... the last batch lasted fine for the entire month and this looks like a nice normal hard egg. Thanks though..

She showed it to me when I opened the door to see if she wanted to come out and poop... she oh so gently rolled and tapped it out from under her, and I said, ooooh pretty, what a good job you did. she said 'ooooooh' then rolled it back under her so gently again and then immediately lunged at me.. lol.. just so I understood.. HANDS OFF!

I wonder what made her lay eggs when she did... the first time she was like 9 years old.. now she's 16 or so. Weird.

- Sarah
 
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