Update on Toe Tapping

Hi all,

Jasper has been corn-free since January 17th and tonight his toe tapping started again

Still following the 3-4 week pattern which is baffling.

Any ideas what I should try next? Feel so badly for the little guy

Do you have him on any type of pellet? You may need to do the elimination diet to pin point what he is having issues with. If it is happening in three week cycles than I have to think that an excess of something is building up.

No pellets. I discontinued them months and months ago.

I am not sure how it could be happening every 3 weeks when he has the same foods rotated quite often.

Then it has to be something you are giving him on the week that it starts. Remember it can be something good for them that they are getting too much of.
If it continues I would take him to the vet to rule out any metal poisoning, have a blood panel done.

There's nothing hes had this week that he hasn't had in the past 3...

He has bell peppers every day, I wonder if they could be a culprit. But then it wouldn't explain the 3 week break from toe tapping :S

Wait! Grapes. I bought grapes 2 days ago and I've given him a few each day. He didn't eat all of them though....could they be the culprit?

Yes grapes could be it but did he have them before when he was doing it?

I really don't remember. I don't buy them very often. He didn't even eat a whole grape, just little nibbles....

There is no way around it we could guess what it might be but I think you are really going to have to do the elimination diet to get to the root of it.

It might be time for a visit to the vet, Katie. When was his last blood panel done?

This case really does mystify me, though. Why every 3 weeks? As Laura said, something that gets rotated in at a rate resembling a three week cycle is the most likely culprit, (and not even necessarily on the same week. Something from the week before could take a week to reach "critical mass", so to speak) but seeing as how you've looked exhaustively into that possibility, we have to start considering options a little more out of the box.

Maybe the link to the food is more indirect. Do you shop for all or your foods at the same stores? Is it possible that there is a store that you buy from roughly every 2 or 3 weeks?

Any cleansing agents used around your home on that cycle? Lotions? Air fresheners? Perfumes? Just spitballing here, in case something sticks. How about when you clean the cage or any of his perches? What do you use?

I think you have to examine anything that you do that adheres to a fairly regular routine. And then beyond that, to anything in your home that occurs at fairly regular intervals.

Oh. Question. When this happens every 3 weeks, how long does it last? Is it one prolonged occurrence? Or several? Taking place over one day? Or a few?

Wait! I remembered something else. I gave him some plain popcorn with cayenne pepper sprinkled on top on Saturday. He went to town on it.

These 'episodes' typically last 1-3 days. I didn't have much time this morning to check on him but his tapping seemed very minimal.

He's never actually had a blood panel done. When I first got him (5.5 months ago) the vet didn't think he needed any because he looked healthy and came from a breeder that guaranteed their breeding pair were negative for all the common illnesses.

Other than the grapes/popcorn I can't think of anything else.

I clean his cage weekly (wooden perches I soak in hot water and scrub down, other ones I wipe down with a cloth and water).

No cleansing products that are every 3 weeks, I clean weekly....

This one has me stumped... but I still suspect diet or food allergy.

katie_fleming said:

...He's never actually had a blood panel done. When I first got him (5.5 months ago) the vet didn't think he needed any because he looked healthy and came from a breeder that guaranteed their breeding pair were negative for all the common illnesses.

Click to expand...

Birds are experts at "looking healthy". It's how they survive in the wild, as the weak usually become prey. The vet should have known this. A visual inspection is no substitute for bloodwork, as many birds don't look sick until they are virtually at death's door.

And as for the breeder's guarantee... said guarantee is only as good as the breeder. That particular breeder might have been really good and honest. But then again, maybe not. Better to be sure.

Besides, bloodwork is about more than just identifying illnesses. It can also tell you if there are any nutritional deficiencies that could potentially lead to future issues. I'd definitely suggest getting that bloodwork done. If there aren't any deficiencies, then allergies would become the most likely culprit. IMO.

Which tests should I be asking for? Jasper came from Parrot Place Canadian Bird Breeders and all of the reviews were very positive. It says their breeding pair is negative for polyoma, and all the other ones I can't remember the names of

Could one serving of something cause the toe tapping? I'm wondering if it was the popcorn since he had a decent amount (although it was hard to tell if he was eating it or just biting it into a billion pieces). But that was 3-4 days before it started.

Popcorn is corn, I have read about and seen lots of eclectus that become very sensitive to corn. Most if not ALL corn is GMO, I just don't trust it anymore not even organic.