Need help, my conure has a cold?

baron1282 · Jul 24, 2014

Hey guys.

For the past week, my conure has seemed less active. I always see him up by the light with his feathers ruffled out, but as soon as I get near the cage he comes up and looks all happy. Still to me, he seems a little different. Just not as active.

Now, my issue is not so simple. I live in Indiana (Batesville), and there is NO and I mean NO avian vet near me. Not for at least 150 miles! :-( I can't make a trip to see a Vet, because of a newborn baby and my job. I work at Petsmart (Go figure) and none of their banfields have a avian vet. Sure they can look at birds, but none are approved. :-(

What can I do? His feet seemed a little blue to me today, when they are normally nice and yellow. His wicks are normally redish, but today they were more dark. So I am just holding him now, and letting him warm up.

I put a radiator heater next to his cage now and turned it to 80 degrees. I live in a basement (Still) and I think it gets cold still even thou it's winter. I am going to buy a thermal perch in two weeks!

It just seems in the winter I had no issue, because I kept the basement warm with all the heaters, but now being it's summer and I turned all the heaters off, the basement might be getting too cold?

Anyway, I am building a makeshift heater unit right now. I put a heating pad under a cleaned cat carrier, and put a towel over the bottom of the floor of the carrier. I also put a wooden perch inside. I am hoping the heat will help him warm up. I hope that's the only issue. Any suggestions? Should I just take it to my normal vet? Again, not having any avian vet sucks. :-(

Phlox · Jul 24, 2014

I would take him to the vet. Even a non-avian certified vet is better than no vet at all.

baron1282 · Jul 24, 2014

after holding him, his feet are back to normal. He is sneezing a little, but no discharge.

his eyes seem fine, no gloss or cloudiness. He seems a tiny more active when warmed up. He did fly to me from a nice distance.

I just think a thermal perch will be the ticket!

The other good news, I am moving out of the basement within 8 months! I got a good job now, so I can buy my own home! I am just hoping I don't kill him before that. :-(

baron1282 · Jul 24, 2014

What can a non-avian vet do for me? if they don't know what they are doing, it could do more harm than good. :-( Unless I can ask for a medicine they can give me, if anyone knows what medicine I can give a sick bird.

Phlox · Jul 24, 2014

Even non-avian certified vets typically have general training in avian medicine. If I'm having a heart attack, a pediatrician can still save me, even though they don't specialize in adults.

And its definately better than doing nothing if your bird has symptoms of an infection.

SolarEclipse · Jul 24, 2014

Phlox said:
I would take him to the vet. Even a non-avian certified vet is better than no vet at all.

That's true. I would also monitor him/her closely and jot down any changes in his behavior or physical appearance to give to your vet. Even a stool sample (i would do this by taking his newspaper out of his cage when u clean it)
Those are just some suggestions

baron1282 · Jul 24, 2014

Ok, I will talk to my vet tomorrow.

I know his poop looks fine. It's still green and white without being too watery. I am just wondering if it's just because he is been too cold.

baron1282 · Jul 25, 2014

I called a Vet, and thankfully there is a bird doctor that is next to me. He was just really hard to find.

So he is about 45 miles away, which is doable.

I have an appointment for tomorrow. I was just really worried today, he pooped a lot of watery stool within the last 45 mins. He is drinking, and the doctor is not concerned tonight being he is drinking. He just said I need a heat lamp for him tonight and to get the room up to around 80 degrees.

I put a heat lamp on, but what scared me is that he was sleeping with a wing out a little and just sitting on the wire cage. I called the doctor again, and he said I heated him up too fast. So now he is resting on my chest. I put a Rad heater next to the cage and turned it all the way up. I hope to God nothing serious and it's just a little cold and he will be fine. He is on me right now with his eyes closed sleeping. Maybe it's because he is still overheated? I don't know. :-( I am going to be worried until tomorrow. How am I suppose to keep a BIG basement 85% all the time? I mean I never had it that high in the winter and he was fine! :-/

SolarEclipse · Jul 25, 2014

Do you have access to upstairs? Is it cooler up there? It might be possible for you to go up there till hes cooled off then go back down to the basement, just make sure its not too hot down there.

baron1282 · Jul 25, 2014

he is sleeping in my hands! Something he has never done before!
the whole basement is cool. I am just going to skip the heat lamp and stick with the heater next to his cage!

baron1282 · Jul 25, 2014

He was able to get into his happy hut alone, after I watched him drink some water. So I hope he will be fine.

I wish I could go tonight, would suck if he were to die tonight. :-( I know birds only show signs of illness when they are close to death, and he is diffidently showing sings! Sleeping in my hands which he has never done. At least he still has his balance, so I know he has enough energy to keep him up right.

baron1282 · Jul 25, 2014

One last thing, I know birds can feed off how you feel and act accordingly. Do you think some of the way he is acting is just trying to get me to feel sorry for him?

Still taking him to the vet, no questions asked. Just wondering!

Birdman666 · Jul 25, 2014

Phlox said:
I would take him to the vet. Even a non-avian certified vet is better than no vet at all.

I wouldn't trust Barnfield with a bird! These are the same idiots that clipped all the secondaries on a simple wing clip, and left all the primaries...

It's a waste of money. They'll just look it up in a birds for dummies book anyway.

Barnfield clinics are good for doggie shots, and doggie grooming, and flea dipping. Not much else...

Birdman666 · Jul 25, 2014

baron1282 said:
Hey guys.

For the past week, my conure has seemed less active. I always see him up by the light with his feathers ruffled out, but as soon as I get near the cage he comes up and looks all happy. Still to me, he seems a little different. Just not as active.

Now, my issue is not so simple. I live in Indiana (Batesville), and there is NO and I mean NO avian vet near me. Not for at least 150 miles! :-( I can't make a trip to see a Vet, because of a newborn baby and my job. I work at Petsmart (Go figure) and none of their banfields have a avian vet. Sure they can look at birds, but none are approved. :-(

What can I do? His feet seemed a little blue to me today, when they are normally nice and yellow. His wicks are normally redish, but today they were more dark. So I am just holding him now, and letting him warm up.

I put a radiator heater next to his cage now and turned it to 80 degrees. I live in a basement (Still) and I think it gets cold still even thou it's winter. I am going to buy a thermal perch in two weeks!

It just seems in the winter I had no issue, because I kept the basement warm with all the heaters, but now being it's summer and I turned all the heaters off, the basement might be getting too cold?

Anyway, I am building a makeshift heater unit right now. I put a heating pad under a cleaned cat carrier, and put a towel over the bottom of the floor of the carrier. I also put a wooden perch inside. I am hoping the heat will help him warm up. I hope that's the only issue. Any suggestions? Should I just take it to my normal vet? Again, not having any avian vet sucks. :-(

In the wild, they survive in temps down to the mid 40's at night... so I think you're probably over reacting on the cold issue. They have a down jacket on 24/7 to help them ward off the cold...

80 degrees is too hot! Heat, more than cold, can kill them. Temps in the low 70's would be better.

A simple blood test should tell you if he has some sort of infection. And that can be cured with anti-biotics.

Getting him to take the medicine is the hard part...

MrsKay · Jul 25, 2014

Please be careful of a fire with those heaters.
I hope your bird gets well

JellyBean · Jul 26, 2014

How is your little bird? Did you take him to the vet? Let us know how he is....

baron1282 · Jul 27, 2014

I took him to the Vet a two days ago. He has an upper respiratory infection. :-(

I know why he has it, I had the heater next to him in the basement because I knew it dropped to below 70 degrees in the basement at night. The issue is we kept turning it off and on causing different temps. This is not my fault, the people I live with always argue with me about keeping the heater on in the dead of summer. I told them it cost nothing as long as the temp stays at 75 degrees.

Now, I have no choice. My bird is in my babies room (which really does keep a more stable temp). I moved him there because of how easy it is to keep the room at 77 degrees while he heals. I am also giving my bird amoxicillin three times a day.

I can not WAIT to move out and be able to care for the animals I have. I know it was a lot for them to help my wife and I while I was unemployed and laid off, but they KNEW before hand I had animals and I pay my fair share of the Electricity bill.

baron1282 · Jul 27, 2014

By the way, my Baby has not slept in her room yet. She has acid reflux so she has to be propped up when she sleeps. We have a swing that has been a life saver for us! She has been in our room now for the past 2 months and most likely will be that way for at least 2 or 3 more months. LOL

Phlox · Jul 27, 2014

Birds get sick from germs, not temperatures. I live in WI and it's often below 70 in my house. My birds are fine. That's not why your bird got sick.

As a mom of both birds and a kid, I am pretty sure a bird sharing an infants room is just a really bad idea.

baron1282 · Jul 28, 2014

It's not the temperature so much as it's the constant change in temperature. Hot to Cold, Hot to Cold in quick secession. Just like humans the bird can catch a cold from that constant quick change, which can lead to worse things if not treated.

For instance, had I a thermal perch he might have never gotten sick.

The Vet I went to, told me to keep his room right now up around 77 degrees or 80 degrees while giving the medication for a week. By the end of the week, we hope he will be better. HE sees the vet on Saturday again.

I also agree with the bird being in the infants room. It's the only room in the house I can regulate while he is sick. Being that my infant is not using the room and hasn't even been in the room yet, I am going to keep my bird in it until he is better. Once he is better, I plan on moving him to another part of the house that is not as easy to control the temp, but will not fluctuate temperatures so quickly.

Need help, my conure has a cold?

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