hi guys!
i have a quaker (4ish months old) that is my best friend, but also my first bird. their name is Witkin and we have a lot of fun together, he really enjoys music and taking selfies. i've been with him for about a month and we already have a very incredible bond, but there are a few things that i need guidance with. I like to think that i'm doing everything correctly (what parent doesn't) but there are a few things that have started to concern me slightly.
for one, he's started to sort of wheeze. it's not something that happens often, and at first i thought maybe he was just hissing? He'll open his mouth to grab at something and a "hhhhh" sound comes from him. I can't tell if he's having respiratory issues or not, because along with the wheezing he'll sometimes fall into a small sneezing fit. this maybe happens at most once a day, if at all. I know a bird sneezing isn't something to be concerned about, but he does fall into a fit and it's making me concerned because I know they are masters at not showing illness.
I think the biggest reason is because he's cold (my roommates keep the house really really cold, like, 70-65ish at night) so i've started to wrap his cage in blankets and i also attached a low level heat lamp on his cage for now.
I went to the pet store recently to find a heater for his cage and I talked to someone there that also owns birds, and he told me that Witkin should be fine as long as it's not below freezing. He said something about how most birds can withstand below 60 degrees. I believed him, but immediately after that is when he started to slightly wheeze. Aside from that, he's completely fine. Very energetic and friendly. Does anyone have any recommendations for what I should do to keep him warm at night?
Another concern I have though is I am not very good at telling if his poop is healthy. I read somewhere that watery poop is a sign of bad health, and although he doesn't have watery poop often - he does sometimes. He actually just let one out a few minutes ago that was very soupy. He's on a diet of seeds, apples, broccoli, kale, and sometimes tomato. He eats the apples the most because they're his favorite, so I was thinking that maybe it's mushy because of the amount of juice in an apple, but I have not fed him anything today besides some seeds and his poop is still very watery today. Is this something I should be concerned about? Should I take him to the doctor or should I just change his diet around?
third question, and it's about his cage. When I first adopted him, he had never been in a bared cage before (he was in more of an aquarium for the first few months of his life) and the lady told me to put a towel down on the bottom so his feet wouldn''t get stuck in the cage bars. He immediately learned to climb within the first day of having him, and he has no trouble getting around his cage, but I still put the towel down at the bottom just in case. Could this be hurting him? I know it's just a towel, but I dont know if the fabrics from it irritate him or not.
He also doesn't drink a lot of water from his cage bowl, I've been having to hand feed him water with the thing that rat's normally drink out of ( i can't remember what it's called right now ) and he will also drink water when he's taking a bath, but that is it. I'm afraid he might be dehydrated - the water in my complex is also very very chlorinated and I try to avoid letting him drink it as much as possible. I had a bottle of water that I was giving him for a while but I ran out, and it's hard to keep him from drinking the water he's bathing in. It doesn't seem to irritate his skin, and I'm eventually going to take him to my mom's house where there is well water and let him bathe and drink that. I know it would be tons better for him since it's not chlorinated (literally, i don't even drink my tap water. It tastes disgusting)
He seems overall healthy, but these are just a few of my concerns that I've been wanting guidance for.
ALSO, one more thing, does anyone have any tricks for keeping a bird steady when their nails need to be filed?? I've successfully have only done this one, and my partner had to hold him for me. It's near impossible to do on my own, he just moves around too much and also gets pissed when i hold his little claw, haha. Is nail filing something necessary? or will he do it on his own?
Anyways, I hope this is the right thread to be posting in. I am new here and just want some tips from an experienced bird owner.
Thank you!
i have a quaker (4ish months old) that is my best friend, but also my first bird. their name is Witkin and we have a lot of fun together, he really enjoys music and taking selfies. i've been with him for about a month and we already have a very incredible bond, but there are a few things that i need guidance with. I like to think that i'm doing everything correctly (what parent doesn't) but there are a few things that have started to concern me slightly.
for one, he's started to sort of wheeze. it's not something that happens often, and at first i thought maybe he was just hissing? He'll open his mouth to grab at something and a "hhhhh" sound comes from him. I can't tell if he's having respiratory issues or not, because along with the wheezing he'll sometimes fall into a small sneezing fit. this maybe happens at most once a day, if at all. I know a bird sneezing isn't something to be concerned about, but he does fall into a fit and it's making me concerned because I know they are masters at not showing illness.
I think the biggest reason is because he's cold (my roommates keep the house really really cold, like, 70-65ish at night) so i've started to wrap his cage in blankets and i also attached a low level heat lamp on his cage for now.
I went to the pet store recently to find a heater for his cage and I talked to someone there that also owns birds, and he told me that Witkin should be fine as long as it's not below freezing. He said something about how most birds can withstand below 60 degrees. I believed him, but immediately after that is when he started to slightly wheeze. Aside from that, he's completely fine. Very energetic and friendly. Does anyone have any recommendations for what I should do to keep him warm at night?
Another concern I have though is I am not very good at telling if his poop is healthy. I read somewhere that watery poop is a sign of bad health, and although he doesn't have watery poop often - he does sometimes. He actually just let one out a few minutes ago that was very soupy. He's on a diet of seeds, apples, broccoli, kale, and sometimes tomato. He eats the apples the most because they're his favorite, so I was thinking that maybe it's mushy because of the amount of juice in an apple, but I have not fed him anything today besides some seeds and his poop is still very watery today. Is this something I should be concerned about? Should I take him to the doctor or should I just change his diet around?
third question, and it's about his cage. When I first adopted him, he had never been in a bared cage before (he was in more of an aquarium for the first few months of his life) and the lady told me to put a towel down on the bottom so his feet wouldn''t get stuck in the cage bars. He immediately learned to climb within the first day of having him, and he has no trouble getting around his cage, but I still put the towel down at the bottom just in case. Could this be hurting him? I know it's just a towel, but I dont know if the fabrics from it irritate him or not.
He also doesn't drink a lot of water from his cage bowl, I've been having to hand feed him water with the thing that rat's normally drink out of ( i can't remember what it's called right now ) and he will also drink water when he's taking a bath, but that is it. I'm afraid he might be dehydrated - the water in my complex is also very very chlorinated and I try to avoid letting him drink it as much as possible. I had a bottle of water that I was giving him for a while but I ran out, and it's hard to keep him from drinking the water he's bathing in. It doesn't seem to irritate his skin, and I'm eventually going to take him to my mom's house where there is well water and let him bathe and drink that. I know it would be tons better for him since it's not chlorinated (literally, i don't even drink my tap water. It tastes disgusting)
He seems overall healthy, but these are just a few of my concerns that I've been wanting guidance for.
ALSO, one more thing, does anyone have any tricks for keeping a bird steady when their nails need to be filed?? I've successfully have only done this one, and my partner had to hold him for me. It's near impossible to do on my own, he just moves around too much and also gets pissed when i hold his little claw, haha. Is nail filing something necessary? or will he do it on his own?
Anyways, I hope this is the right thread to be posting in. I am new here and just want some tips from an experienced bird owner.
Thank you!
- I'd be worried that he would chew the cord. When it comes to nail clipping, most birds have to be restrained. in a towel . You can train him/condition him to be less afraid of being towelled by offering treats near/whilst he's on the towel (basically, loads of good things should happen around the towel eg. if he likes sctriches offer them on the towel or if he likes millet, offer it on the towel sometimes). Hope you get some answers for the rest of the questions soon!
