What's wrong with my Lucy?

AFP520

Banned
Banned
Jun 7, 2012
202
0
NJ
Parrots
Lucy, Sun Capped Conure
Lucy has been acting funny the last couple of days. She will slowly bob her head up and down, then flap her wing quick like a twitch. Is she molting and is this a sign of pain? :31: She has never made this kind of light squawk/wing twitch before.

I recorded a quick video of her. She is otherwise pretty normal, preening my face and cuddling. Does anyone know what the typical weight for a Gold Cap Conure should be? She is over 100 Grams and almost 5 months old. We just started her on a mostly organic pellet diet.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXaLUhn10ZE"]What's Lucy doing? - YouTube[/ame]
 
Last edited:

greycloud

New member
Mar 21, 2010
1,034
1
Baltimore, MD
Parrots
Sammy-Umbrella Too-rescued,
Dexter-CAG-rehomed handicapped,
Sterling-CAG-rehomed retired breeder.
Sunshine-12 yo CAG-adopted
It appears that she is not feeling well. A vet check is needed. Also, have you been keeping an eye on how much she is eating and drinking? I don't like the closed eyes. I think she is regressing and the food switch may be causing this. She may be hungry. Offering some warm mushy food may help. What is her entire diet?
 
OP
AFP520

AFP520

Banned
Banned
Jun 7, 2012
202
0
NJ
Parrots
Lucy, Sun Capped Conure
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
She is eating plenty of food and drinking lots of water (I change it about 4-5 times a day) but we just switched her to the organic pellets on Friday. Do you think we should stop and go back to the other food mix? It was called "custom 9" from the store where we purchased her. It included a bunch of mixed things like seeds, pellets, dried fruits, some nuts, raisins, banana chips, etc. I just didn't want her to be hooked on sugary foods.

She did yawn a few times before I took the video, but as I said, she seems fine other than this little chirp/twitch of the feathers. When I first walk into my apartment, she ALWAYS goes crazy and is excited to see me. Would she still do that even if she's ill?
 

MaraWentz

Banned
Banned
Mar 27, 2012
1,023
Media
8
2
St.Leonard, MD
Parrots
Red Front Macaw, Elvis, 10,male RIP

Red Front Macaw, Erin, 1.5,female

Goffin Cockatoo, Blossom 2,female Rehomed

Blue & Gold Macaw, Oscar, Male, 21 years old, Rehomed

American Bulldog Mix,
They get up to 150 g, but then again she is young, but you still might want to get her checked. all my birds do the little purr/chirp noise and small flap when tired. So I would say she is tired, but why is he hunched over with her head kinda down? That worries me. I would get her to the vet ASAP though if you worried because it's the small signs you see now that you have little thoughts of and don't worry about that mean the most. Once the big signs show, that say 'oh my gosh take her to the vet' it is usually too late. I would schedule an appointment.
 

cdog

New member
Feb 20, 2012
1,489
0
Newbury Park, CA
Parrots
Sully-2 year old cinnamon and Bella-3 year old normal
breeding pair of gcc, Scooter & BeeBee-Sully and Bella's normal son's, Rosey- Bella and Sully's cinnamon daughter, Ella & Sunny-American budgies
You can't just stop one diet and give her a different one, you have to convert her over slowly. It looks like a hungry sound, my babies did that when they were weaning. I would give her her old food and slowly switch her over at her own pace, then see how she acts. If she still looks sleepy and puffed take her to the vet because it could be an infection.
Sully was acting like that, except for the noise, and I took him to the vet and I found out he has an enlarged heart and fatty liver disease.
 

greycloud

New member
Mar 21, 2010
1,034
1
Baltimore, MD
Parrots
Sammy-Umbrella Too-rescued,
Dexter-CAG-rehomed handicapped,
Sterling-CAG-rehomed retired breeder.
Sunshine-12 yo CAG-adopted
Yes, it is never good to just switch a bird no matter what age onto a new food. It should be a slow weaning process. To fast a change can cause the organs to over work and cause illness.
 
OP
AFP520

AFP520

Banned
Banned
Jun 7, 2012
202
0
NJ
Parrots
Lucy, Sun Capped Conure
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
I will add some of the old food back in for her then and see how she does.

I don't think she is getting the sleep that she should. We put her to bed no later than 9PM, but we getup at 615AM and head out the door by 7AM, and she is definitely already up and moving at that time. We live in a 1 bedroom apartment and there isn't really a place to put her that is completely quiet.

I found an avian vet and I will have my girlfriend bring her in for a checkup.
 

mrob

New member
Mar 22, 2011
207
0
New Zealand
Parrots
Gizmo:Male RS Eclectus
R.I.P Merv Hughes: Cockateil
Booger: Alexandrine
Take your bird to the vet, just in case.

I think it may have something to do with your pellets. Have a look at this :

toe tapping and wing flipping

Hope she feels better soon!!
 

MaraWentz

Banned
Banned
Mar 27, 2012
1,023
Media
8
2
St.Leonard, MD
Parrots
Red Front Macaw, Elvis, 10,male RIP

Red Front Macaw, Erin, 1.5,female

Goffin Cockatoo, Blossom 2,female Rehomed

Blue & Gold Macaw, Oscar, Male, 21 years old, Rehomed

American Bulldog Mix,
put a dark light proof cover over her cage, She will wake up when she hears you but will go back to sleep and just have some one stop by around 9 to uncover her. Workedliek a charm when I would leave at 6 for work in our studio apartment.
 

Spiritbird

Banned
Banned
Aug 20, 2009
5,749
Media
10
6
Birds need 10 to 12 hrs. of sleep at night. Please put her in a place that is quiet and dark for a good nights sleep.
 
OP
AFP520

AFP520

Banned
Banned
Jun 7, 2012
202
0
NJ
Parrots
Lucy, Sun Capped Conure
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #12
Thanks for the tips everyone. Again since we live in a 1 bedroom apartment, it's hard not to make any noise when we leave, but we will definitely get a cover for the cage. I don't have the option of letting anyone in at 9 to wake her up.

She definitely has been eating more of the pellets but I'll be home by 510 and add plenty of the mix food. We are also making an appointment for the avian vet. I definitely don't think she is seriously ill at this point. She still acts as she did before, just this quick flap/chirp is new, and only after we started feeding her the organic pellets.
 
OP
AFP520

AFP520

Banned
Banned
Jun 7, 2012
202
0
NJ
Parrots
Lucy, Sun Capped Conure
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #13
Well as soon as I got home, I put the normal food in and she swarmed right to it. She didn't make a peep for about 10-15 minutes. She did still have the slight wing twitch as she ate. I brought her to the water bowl and she gulped it down about 5-6 times. Then I brought her into the shower (her favorite) and now she is drying off. It's been about 10-15 minutes and she hasn't made the weird chirp or twitched a wing. She's back to her normal "ribbit" frog sound and enjoying herself.

From that link posted I wonder if she is starting to lack calcium. She does not get into the sunlight at all, and even if I could position her properly, she would not get the sun until the afternoon (our windows face north-northwest)

What kind of light do you suggest I purchase for her? Only 30 mins of light is suggested per day?
 

cdog

New member
Feb 20, 2012
1,489
0
Newbury Park, CA
Parrots
Sully-2 year old cinnamon and Bella-3 year old normal
breeding pair of gcc, Scooter & BeeBee-Sully and Bella's normal son's, Rosey- Bella and Sully's cinnamon daughter, Ella & Sunny-American budgies
Birds need UVA/UVB light for a min of 6 hours a day. You need to order a UVA/UVB bulb to have on every day.
She was doing that chirp because she was hungry, and now that she has a food that she actually considers food, she is no longer hungry.
 

mrob

New member
Mar 22, 2011
207
0
New Zealand
Parrots
Gizmo:Male RS Eclectus
R.I.P Merv Hughes: Cockateil
Booger: Alexandrine
Well as soon as I got home, I put the normal food in and she swarmed right to it. She didn't make a peep for about 10-15 minutes. She did still have the slight wing twitch as she ate. I brought her to the water bowl and she gulped it down about 5-6 times. Then I brought her into the shower (her favorite) and now she is drying off. It's been about 10-15 minutes and she hasn't made the weird chirp or twitched a wing. She's back to her normal "ribbit" frog sound and enjoying herself.

From that link posted I wonder if she is starting to lack calcium. She does not get into the sunlight at all, and even if I could position her properly, she would not get the sun until the afternoon (our windows face north-northwest)

What kind of light do you suggest I purchase for her? Only 30 mins of light is suggested per day?

Heya, Glad she seems better!
I wathed your video of Lucy and it looks exactly like wing flipping to me. It common in eclectus - mine got it when i put him on a pelleted diet. I can occur in other birds though - especially with fortified nutrient enrched pellets. It causes involuntary flipping or tapping. If you still want her on a pelleted diet I hear harrisons is quite good but even that was too much for my eccie - bearing in mind that eccies have a longer digestive tract than conures so are more sensitive.

Just introduce them gradually - you can always combine them with her normal fresh food and a bit of seed too. I dont believe in 'all pellet' diets - fresh foods, veges, fruit, nuts for treats etc etc are v important! Take her to the vet for peace of mind, and then just use trial and errror till you find a system that works for you. I think as long as she is getting plenty of nutrients from a balanced diet, and is happy, alert and healthy, then she will be fine and you wont have to religiously stick to just pellets.

really happy she is feeling better! p.s. she is gorgeous!

p.p.s remember to mention the excessive water drinking to the vet
 

Most Reactions

Top