Healthy?

Just trying to alleviate some of my anxieties. Do Munchie and Harry look healthy? Munchie is on the right, and Harry, the left. They've been acting normal, aside from Munchie beginning to wait at the front of her cage whenever I go past. What could she want? She's always out of her cage, has plenty of toys, food, water etc.

Other than the obvious, they look great!

The obvious? You can see, they are waiting for you to turn your back, then........

Whenever my birds do that, they wany to be on my shoulder with me.

When was their last vet check? The vet will obviously be able to tell you if they are healthy, the correct weight, how their lungs/heart sound, etc.

Yeah, I agree, they look healthy, but that means nothing. If you don't already have one, you need to find an experienced Certified Avian Vet or an Avian Specialist Vet, and should be taking them at least once a year for a wellness-exam that includes routine blood-work and a Fecal culture. That's really the only way to know, and also to stay ahead of any illnesses they may develop.

They do look like they really want some attention in that photo though...

Such beautiful GCC!!! Great feathers great beak great feet lookije great body condition. When they see you go by they want to a ride on the shoulder pkease lol. What great food are you feeding the kids?

Yeah, birds notoriously hide any illness...

In case you don't have a vet, here are some links.
Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet.

Laurasea said:

Such beautiful GCC!!! Great feathers great beak great feet lookije great body condition. When they see you go by they want to a ride on the shoulder pkease lol. What great food are you feeding the kids?

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They get plenty of fresh fruit and veg, as well as some seeds because we can't afford pellets, nor even find any in the local pet stores. I also give all my birds some safe foilage to forage through and have a chew on!


For the other people here, I'm getting them to the vet asap for a check-up, but I'm in Australia and I don't think there's any around here. Still actively looking though! I know birds are good at hiding illness, I was just checking to see if their more physical traits looked good.

Beautiful birds

There are many Avian specialists in Australia and New Zealand, and we have more than a few members here that are from all over Australia that may be able to help you find the closest and most reputable one to you. Have you done a search online for one? I've not ever heard of anyone in Australia having a problem finding a Avian Vet, a Reptile Vet, etc.

Also, if you can't afford to feed your birds pellets as their main-staple, and you have to feed them a seed-mix as their regular, daily, staple diet, please, please make sure that it is a seed-mix that contains NO SUNFLOWER SEEDS! If they eat sunflower seeds on a daily basis they will without a doubt end-up with Fatty Liver Disease, which is the main reason that most captive parrots die long before they should. Also, try to find a seed-mix that is fortified, and that is also "varied", meaning it's not just seeds, but also contains different grains, legumes, and veggies, and little to no nuts, due to the fat that they contain. And definitely no peanuts, as they can carry mold and different fungi.

And they also should not be eating fresh fruit every day, in fact they should only be getting fruit 3-4 times a week at most, and in very small quantities. This is because all fruit is loaded with natural sugar, which simply ends-up being stored as fat in their liver, just like the fat from the sunflower seeds and the nuts become. So lots and lots and lots of fresh veggies every day, that's a great replacement for the pellets if you have to do it that way (never onions or avocados, they are toxic), lots of different veggies and dark, leafy greens (no iceburg or other watery lettuces, they are worthless and contain no nutrition at all)...Dark, leafy greens such as Mustard, Turnip, Dandelion, Collards, Bok Choy and Pak Choy, Spinach, Romaine, Chards, and other dark green, leafy lettuces, and then pretty much any and all fresh veggies except onions. Bell Peppers, all different types of squashes, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, peas and pea pods (my guys love pea pods), carrots, okra, sweet potatoes, and eggplant are all great choices for them, and you can make different "Chop" recipes where they get a little bit of everything at once....But again, limit all of the fruit to only a few days of the week, and in very small quantities...and no seed-mixes that contain any sunflower seeds at all, or nuts, especially peanuts.

It's okay that you can't feed them pellets for one reason or another, but you then really must make sure that what you are replacing the pellet-staple with is extremely healthy and not loaded with fat, sugars, oils, etc.

I'm fostering two cockatiels. Bibi, who has been picking at her back, has otherwise appeared perfectly healthy. Beau on the other hand was clearly not feeling well. No clue on how old Beau is, other than "older bird". Bibi is about 2 years old. Bibi had 30% bad bacteria in her digestive tract and Beau had maybe half that? And both had budding yeast. Bibi *never* appeared sick and always fought tooth and nail to *NOT* take her meds! Beau? Once you caught him, he just consumed it.

4 weeks later (aka this Saturday), they were given the all clear! They were still sick at 2 weeks, so they required another 2 weeks of meds.


As the others have said, they look great! Visually speaking.... but we aren't vets and we can't tell what's going on internally...


Based on the AAV site, the closet vet that treats birds is in Emu Plains which is a 2+ hour drive away... might be worth contacting local vets and seeing if they could recommend someone closer?

Generally, GCC's hanging at the door means they want more of your attention. This usually simply means keeping the cage door open and letting them come and go as they please. Pyrrhuras, as opposed to Aratingas, like to decide their actions for themselves and are usually more intuitive than owner's imagine. Even so, be ready for a little assistant as most birds think you need help with everything you do.

Off- topic: Is your profile picture a Lory?
It is super cute, whatever it is!