Urgent Strange behaviour - green Cheek conure

[iamtahlz]

My green Cheek conure has been acting a little odd today. She made a lot of short sharp cheeping noises, almost like lots of tiny sneezes, and was stretching her body out. Then shortly after she shook her head and expelled some liquid from her beak. Liquid was clear and kind of frothy. Is this normal regurgitation or something else? She occasionally makes the same noises in the middle of the night, I have checked on her a few times though and just found her sleeping. She seems happy and is beak grinding a lot and very snuggly today, but I was a little worried as this has never happened before. Any advice would be much appreciated

 

[Zara]

Hello,

she shook her head and expelled some liquid from her beak. Liquid was clear and kind of frothy. Is this normal regurgitation or something else?

Sounds like the liquid was flung everywhere, in which case this is vomiting.

I would recommend you call your vet and arrange an appointment to get your little one looked at.
In the meantime monitor closely, write down notes, any chnges, the time she vomited etc and show those to the vet.
Try to let your bird rest and keep her as calm as possible until you get to the vet.

 

[iamtahlz]

Thanks very much, yes she did fling the liquid about! Will keep an eye on her tonight and call avian vet tomorrow morning. I took a video of the noises and behaviour before the liquid come out (it was too big to post here, but will hopefully help the vet).

 

[tka]

You can't upload videos to the forum. If you want to share the video here, you'll need to upload it to another site and link to it here

I second the recommendation of calling your vet as soon as possible.

 

[iamtahlz]

Thanks again for your advice Zara and Tks. Little Pinny went to the avian vet this morning. Although she seems well now the vet suspected poisoning of some sort He gave her an injection and a charcoal crop wash and we have antibiotics to give her (these were just in case of infection). I'm glad I took her in. Now to do some research on toxins and try to determine what might have caused this in the first place.

 

[Zara]

I´m so glad you got her to the vet and they diagnosed so quickly

Now to do some research on toxins and try to determine what might have caused this in the first place.

Start with the cage, empty it comlpletely, and inspect there´s no rusty corners etc. Then as you put each thing back in the cage, be sure you know it is safe, that the metals are safe, particularly bells and wires. Check the wood used in the perches is safe, and no painted beads or anything like that. Really take your time to inspect each item and be sure it is ok before putting it back in the cage. If in doubt, leave that one out.
If still you don´t find anything, check the room, and play areas and make sure she doesn´t have access to bad things while out of her cage.
Wishing you luck that you figure this out!

 

[iamtahlz]

Thanks Zara!
When she came in to our care several years ago she also came with a few toys. Last time I rotated toys I put some of these older ones back in. Since we don't know their source and what the quality is like I threw those away last week.
She seems really happy and well (asides from when she is plotting our murder because we have just administered the antibiotics haha). Hoping problem is resolved but watching her closely, particularly during out if cage time to make sure she is only nibbling bird safe items!