How my parrot eats & How it's spending it's time

Calorious · Jul 9, 2020

My parrot usually gets brought to a stand beside me. I'm always handfeeding it since I got it. He has his own water on the stand.
Recently, I've realised that every food I've fed it ends up in the water.
I know many people will start to think "oh he's probably thirsty", yeah I would think that but everytime I feed it, while he's biting and eating the food, he would go and drink the water. This happens for every piece of food I've given him. This has never happened before.
Is this normal?

This has only been the case for like 3 days but my parrot is starting to spend it's time very weirdly. Ever since I've gotten him, he doesn't go around finding unknown stuff to bite.
However, recently I've seen him find any and everything to bite that is within his reach.
He would bite my laptop charger and even stretch out under the perch he's on just to bite the embedded nail under the perch.
He's also sleeping alot and becomes uninterested and defensive of my entire family (we can't even go near him and pet his head or anything) when the sun starts to set (at around 5pm).

Parrot breed: GCC
Age: Almost 7 months old (around 6 and a half months old)

noodles123 · Jul 9, 2020

Anytime you see a sudden behavior shift, take your bird to an avian vet to rule-out issues.
The food behavior could just be to soften it up...is he being weighed often?

Conures mature sexually around 1 year, which means he could be getting hormonal. Make sure he has no access to huts, tents, snuggle hammocks etc--- no shadowy spaces in or around his cage that he can put his head in or sit in. Pet on the head and neck only if he allows you to pet him. 12 hours of sleep nightly on a schedule like you would have for a little kid is important--- they need that to regulate immune health and hormones...

IF HE IS HEALTHY- once you remove the triggers above and get him checked out, go back to building trust. A newborn baby will not bite a stranger who picks it up, but a teen definitely would lol...and you have a teen/young adult now (not a baby).

Is he moulting, by chance? They sometimes get sensitive and cranky when that happens too, although 7 months would be about the time when you could start seeing puberty.

FYI-- My bird goes to bed around 5pm and wakes up between 5 and 6 AM--- she is a cockatoo, and sometimes they require a bit more than 12 (especially if she goes to bed but then isn't actually sleeping due to noise). When yours goes to bed (again you want a solid 12 hours--- is he in an area where it is quiet enough for him to sleep?) YES- birds can get used to some noises, but honestly, a lot of times, if you are moving around etc, they are covered, but not sleeping...and they need to get actual sleep.

Calorious · Jul 9, 2020

noodles123 said:
Anytime you see a sudden behavior shift, take your bird to an avian vet to rule-out issues.
The food behavior could just be to soften it up...is he being weighed often?

Conures mature sexually around 1 year, which means he could be getting hormonal. Make sure he has no access to huts, tents, snuggle hammocks etc--- no shadowy spaces in or around his cage that he can put his head in or sit in. Pet on the head and neck only if he allows you to pet him. 12 hours of sleep nightly on a schedule like you would have for a little kid is important--- they need that to regulate immune health and hormones...

IF HE IS HEALTHY- once you remove the triggers above and get him checked out, go back to building trust. A newborn baby will not bite a stranger who picks it up, but a teen definitely would lol...and you have a teen/young adult now (not a baby).

Is he moulting, by chance? They sometimes get sensitive and cranky when that happens too, although 7 months would be about the time when you could start seeing puberty.

FYI-- My bird goes to bed around 5pm and wakes up between 5 and 6 AM--- she is a cockatoo, and sometimes they require a bit more than 12 (especially if she goes to bed but then isn't actually sleeping due to noise). When yours goes to bed (again you want a solid 12 hours--- is he in an area where it is quiet enough for him to sleep?) YES- birds can get used to some noises, but honestly, a lot of times, if you are moving around etc, they are covered, but not sleeping...and they need to get actual sleep.

Do I just get a normal beam balance and weigh this parrot? I haven't weighed him at all. I didn't know it was important to weigh them.
12 hours of sleep... Yeah this is an issue for him. I'm getting a cage cover from Parrotfunhouse for him. I hope this allows him to sleep properly, basically because he is right infront of light starting from 6am when he goes to sleep at around 11pm.

He's totally healthy. He's not moulting that much (atleast I don't see him changing feathers or anything), I only see him start to preen a little bit more than usual, but I think he hasn't showered in quite a while. I don't want to give him a shower because it's raining atleast once everyday here in Singapore. He may fall sick from the cold.

SIDE QUESTION: I don't know what this parrot went through in the bird shop but ever since I got him home, he seems to have a weird smell, something like a very salty smell.
I don't know what happened to this bird in the pet shop but I can't seem to get rid of that smell. Tried thoroughly washing his feathers and bringing him out to the sun for 2+ hours but that smell just never goes away. Is there any other way to get him to go back to his natural smell or like any other smell that isn't salty or do I have to wait for him to moult?

noodles123 · Jul 9, 2020

Oh--yeah-- WAY WAY more sleep is needed and you also will have to make sure you aren't super loud when he is sleeping (night-frights can be an issue with a cover, so if you have a room that you could put him in (or a sleep cage) that would be a good idea....a night fright is when they startle at night and slam into things. A night light can prevent them sometimes, and not all birds have them, but if you haven't BEEN covering, it is hard to tell if yours will. Think of your bird like you would a 2-year-old in terms of the bedtime and behavior once he is in bed--unless he has his own room...ESPECIALLY given his age..this can make or break things..seriously

You can by a gram scale and attach a wooden t- perch to it. Zero the scale out once the perch is attached so that it doesn't know it is there anymore...does that make sense? (BUT do not use a chemical glue in the house with your bird and make sure it is TOTALLY dry before bringing it back in (do not let the bird mess with the dried glue either)--- ANY fumes or chemical scents---even nice ones or those from household cleaners--can kill them over time and sometimes within hardly any time).

Birds do produce a bit of a natural odor-- it could just be his smell lol! Did you call the shop and ask if they used anything on him? When you say you washed his feathers...I hope you didn't use anything but water...

Calorious · Jul 9, 2020

noodles123 said:
Oh--yeah-- WAY WAY more sleep is needed and you also will have to make sure you aren't super loud when he is sleeping (night-frights can be an issue with a cover, so if you have a room that you could put him in (or a sleep cage) that would be a good idea....a night fright is when they startle at night and slam into things. A night light can prevent them sometimes, and not all birds have them, but if you haven't BEEN covering, it is hard to tell if yours will. Think of your bird like you would a 2-year-old in terms of the bedtime and behavior once he is in bed--unless he has his own room...ESPECIALLY given his age..this can make or break things..seriously

You can by a gram scale and attach a wooden t- perch to it. Zero the scale out once the perch is attached so that it doesn't know it is there anymore...does that make sense? (BUT do not use a chemical glue in the house with your bird and make sure it is TOTALLY dry before bringing it back in (do not let the bird mess with the dried glue either)--- ANY fumes or chemical scents---even nice ones or those from household cleaners--can kill them over time and sometimes within hardly any time).

Birds do produce a bit of a natural odor-- it could just be his smell lol! Did you call the shop and ask if they used anything on him? When you say you washed his feathers...I hope you didn't use anything but water...

Night fright.. I don't think night fright will really startle this parrot too much.
Without a cage cover, he hears sudden sounds and surrounding sounds at night too (such as motorcycles etc.)
In his attempt to avoid light in the morning, he sleeps in a corner and perches on the cage (not on a horizontal stand), he sleeps in a corner that is close to the ceiling of the cage.
Don't really know if that makes sense but in simpler terms it just means that this bird sleeps vertically.
I also don't know if this will affect his legs (I mean.. could you imagine perching somewhere for a good 7 - 10 hours?)

Thank you for the scale, I'll take a look into buying it.

Maybe it is his smell lol, but the smell seems to be coming from all his feathers.
The shop sells tons of different parrots and birds, I wouldn't be surprised if he wasnt being treated very well. Interacting with him has also made me realise that my parrot seems to love showering himself in his own drinking water, no other water puddles have made him go in and shower other than his own drinking water. Perhaps this is where he got the smell from in the shop...

noodles123 · Jul 9, 2020

Noodles smells kind of like a fresh Kleenex box mixed with some curry powder lol! I used to call her "dusty pancake" as a nickname lol! (Based on her smell!)

EdgesofTwilight · Jul 9, 2020

My Cosmo smells like puppy chow and his breath sometimes smells less desirable. Lol. Could the smell be from his food? My little guy sleeps from around 8 pm till 6 or 7 am. The past few months Cosmo has been pretty good. He didn't want anything to do with me for a better part of a year due to hormones and an episode that led me having to towel him.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Calorious · Jul 10, 2020

EdgesofTwilight said:
My Cosmo smells like puppy chow and his breath sometimes smells less desirable. Lol. Could the smell be from his food? My little guy sleeps from around 8 pm till 6 or 7 am. The past few months Cosmo has been pretty good. He didn't want anything to do with me for a better part of a year due to hormones and an episode that led me having to towel him.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The smell isn't from his food. What he smells is totally different than the food. Thank you for the information though, but I'm kinda worried rn.

I may have just turned this thread into some sort of emergency.
Remember when I said he was mixing his food with water?
He's showing vomiting signs + his poop is like one straight green line.
The vomit is clear liquid from what I can tell.
I just realised the food I've been feeding him was spoilt.
I cant get him to any vet today because it's a public holiday for me (Singapore General Election 2020)
I also checked the food in his cage, the food in the cage is normal.
I'm just checking in with the thread. I have no idea how serious a parrot vomiting is, but it definitely isn't a good sign when a human vomits.

EDIT: My parrot vomited again, approximately 50 minutes after the first vomit. This time it wasn't as violent as the first time.
EDIT 2: I've actually recognized that my parrot is now sick. It's lethargic suddenly at 2:41pm and I don't know what to do. I mean.. Humans have medications.. Do birds have?

noodles123 · Jul 10, 2020

Yes there are medications for birds if you can get him to a vet. You will want to keep him as calm as possible. Is he keeping anything down? EDIT: Is he still on 100% hand-feedings, or does he eat some on his own? If he is eating some on his own, you can try giving him some water with a bit of juice added to it (like apple or something) if you think that would get him to drink and give him a few calories. You want to try to give juice that doesn't have added vitamins if you can help it. If you can keep your home warmed than usual that is another thing you should do (but if you use any heater, make sure it doesn't contain PTFE/PFOA/PFCs)..

How old is he-- when you say you hand-feed, I am confused because in your first post, you said that he is chewing the food, so I am just confused about what he is eating.

noodles123 · Jul 10, 2020

Are there any emergency vets that might be open? If not, get him in ASAP---as soon as you can in the morning. Also, if he is eating on his own you can see if he will would like some jarred babyfood (the mashed veg or fruit) but you want to make sure that they do not contain a bunch of added vitamins and make sure they don't contain salt or avocado.

Calorious · Jul 10, 2020

noodles123 said:
Yes there are medications for birds if you can get him to a vet. You will want to keep him as calm as possible. Is he keeping anything down? EDIT: Is he still on 100% hand-feedings, or does he eat some on his own? If he is eating some on his own, you can try giving him some water with a bit of juice added to it (like apple or something) if you think that would get him to drink and give him a few calories. You want to try to give juice that doesn't have added vitamins if you can help it. If you can keep your home warmed than usual that is another thing you should do (but if you use any heater, make sure it doesn't contain PTFE/PFOA/PFCs)..

How old is he-- when you say you hand-feed, I am confused because in your first post, you said that he is chewing the food, so I am just confused about what he is eating.

He is fully able to eat on his own. I just choose to handfeed him sometimes.
It's already the next day, he seems to be fine now. I gave him some vitaminwater to drink a few hours after he vomited.
The food that he ate that was spoilt was the Fruitblend.
He's being handfed Zupreem Fruitblend from me and his cage has a constant supply of varieties of seeds.

How my parrot eats & How it's spending it's time

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