PDA

View Full Version : Sick little boy?


Inking_Dragon
05-30-2009, 07:16 PM
So I came home this afternoon to discover my little guy on the floor of his cage, poofed and not very responsive. When I reached in to pet him he perked up a bit, and bobbed his head and cried as though asking for a feeding syringe? He remained poofed, and quite mellow...my house is not cold, so I did not think he could be chilled.

His stools appeared normal. It also appeared as though he'd been eating, and drinking, as there was a quantity missing from both that had been there that morning. I had no millet down in the cage at that time...in fact, not since the day before? I was going to start offering it to hm as treats and during his playtimes, as it is not as nutritional as his food...

Well, I called the breeder, left a message, and put the little guy in my birdy carrier on some paper towels. I put a heat pad beneath it, and in it I set up a low perch, some of his food, some millet, and some water.

He waddled right over to the millet and began to chow down.

I'm starting to think that perhaps he was weaned a bit early? Or that perhaps due to the stress of a new environment he sort of relapsed in his weaning process? ...I don't know. Before this, we had limited his interaction with us to almost an hour a day since getting him, and he genuinely seemed to enjoy his short time out. Obviously he was missing his millet...perhaps he'd batted around more food that I thought instead of eating it...and he's been relying solely on the millet? I'm just fretting, and there are no avian emergency centers within reasonable driving distance at this hour. Not until Monday. I hope that the breeder calls me back and can offer me some more advice. I have some syringes through which I can try and offer him some water if he is disinterested in drinking from the water cup...

Just wondering if you guys had any extra advice for me...

chapala
05-30-2009, 09:29 PM
How old is he? It could be that he has regressed a bit from weaning, but the fact that he eats the millet well is a good sign. I would feed him what he'll eat right now since you don't want him getting weak from not eating. Maybe he was weaned onto a different food than you're feeding and he doesn't recognize it as food?

If he is begging for hand-feeding, you might try feeding something mushy off your fingers - cooked, mashed sweet potato, cooked plain oatmeal (no sugar, or fortified vitamins), organic baby food vegetables, etc. And your breeder should be able to help advise you on what to do to make this young bird feel comfortable. If he was completely weaned when you got him, it may only take a few days of hand-feeding him to get him back eating again. I hesitate to recommend you feed anything with a syringe unless you're an experienced hand-feeder, since a baby can aspirate fluids and get very ill or die.

Inking_Dragon
05-30-2009, 10:06 PM
I have hand-fed softbills before, (Mynas, pigeons, bluebirds, sparrows...) but never anything close to a parrotlet.

He has perked up significantly since eating the millet. I even witnessed him drinking. The seed/pellet mix that was in with him came from the breeder, and she said he'd been eating it...I'm thinking that he has done more playing in it than eating it here. I went out and bought more millet to have on hand. Hopefully, through just having the other food present at all times, he will come 'round to eating more than just his sweet millet.

Even his poofyness went down.

I'll keep him in his little carrier room for a few more days for peace of mind...

Phew...I think he will be ok...

Jinx n Noodle
05-30-2009, 10:18 PM
I'm glad that he's perking up :)

25k
05-31-2009, 01:36 AM
Happy to hear things are working out!