My Baby Conure Passed Away

Hi All-

I'm new to the bird world! I owned a parakeet years ago, but that's about it. We adopted a baby Green Cheek Conure on Friday from a local pet store (a well known chain one) and he passed away this morning after only 3 days. He was just shy of 3 months old. We are devastated and cannot figure out what would have caused this so soon. I'm wondering if anyone has any feedback.

We have children who handled him, but we were always there watching. The vet also did some xrays for us just to be sure it wasn't an injury. All looked great.

We have not used any non-stick pots and pans, self cleaning ovens, etc. and we did not feed him any of the no-no's (chocolate, avocado, mushrooms, etc.)

The only thing I could possibly think it might be is this morning while running our dishwasher (the bird was in our attached living room) a plastic pancake spatula fell on the metal rod at the bottom and burnt horribly. The smell was awful. He was fine prior to that incident and all of a sudden he was lying on the bottom of the cage already gone.

Needless to say, we are devastated. He really sold himself to us. He was so cheerful and friendly. Anyways, I know it's hard to diagnose without seeing the actual bird or living area, but I thought I'd just ask for any thoughts. We want to get another one, but I'm seriously terrified it's going to die again.

I am very sorry you lost your baby Green Cheek and understand your concerns for the future.

A vet can perform a necropsy (autopsy) and possibly gain additional insight beyond that of an X-Ray. It is possible an examination of the organs may yield a clue. If inconclusive, tissue samples can be analyzed for disease. Sadly, sometimes there are no concise answers.

I don't know if a burned plastic utensil can produce lethal gasses.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately I do think it was the burned plastic. Did you tell your vet about that incident? So sorry as I know it was an accident.

I'm so sorry for your loss, especially since he just came into your life and he was so young. That's such a heartbreaking situation. *hugs*

Scott said:

I don't know if a burned plastic utensil can produce lethal gasses.

Click to expand...

Depends on what type of plastic. Some plastics contain cyanides or PCB's which is a Dioxin. Halogenated plastics include:
Chlorine based plastics:
Chlorinated polyethylene (CPE)
Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC)
Chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSPE)
Polychloroprene (CR or chloroprene rubber, marketed under the brand name of Neoprene)

You might think a cooking utensil of plastic is safe, it is to a point.
However if left in heat or to burn on direct fire or heat for a period of time, the chemical compounds break down and react....thus creating poisonous gasses, maybe not enough to kill a human but will irritate you. For a bird, however, it would most likely kill it.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I am so sorry for your loss

I'm so sorry, I can't emagine how you must feel.

So sorry to hear of your little ones passing

I am so sorry, it was a horrible accident!

Sorry for your loss, it's never an easy thing to go thru.

Deepest condolences for the loss of your little one.

I'm so sorry for your loss What a heartbreaking tragedy, my heart goes out to you and your family.

That is so sad I am so sorry for you.

Thank you all so much for your kind words. I so appreciate the support. I feel so awful if I did anything to caused our sweet little guy to pass away. We definitely want to get another one, but on the other hand we just want our little guy back. I'm so terrified of this happening again if we fall in love with another birdie.