skinny ekkie

hi all,

does skinny bird wings usually look like this?







there is no wound from what i observe. is there something wrong with the wings? the bird seems to be healthy except being skinny. will the wings back to normal when the bird gain some weight? the ex owner usually feed it with corn and sun flower seed and ocassionally a little vegie.

thanks

If he tries to fly, is it painful for him? It might be broken wings but other than that, I'm entirely sure. Other members will chime in to help.

The wings look very droopy...often a sign of illness in birds. Ekkies are a species that develop problems if not fed properly. Get him on an appropiate diet for Ekkies and a vet visit might be a good idea..

he was fed poorly by the ex owner (corn and sunflower seed mostly). will try some fresh fresh fruits and vegetables and hope he will take them readily.

will try to let him fly tomorrow and see he can fly or not.

in you opinion should i try to look after the bird and bring it back to its healty form or should i get a refund?

Did the bird have any vet care or visits with the previous owner? If you want to keep the bird and help him I would get to an avain vet as soon as you can. Poor nutrition can cause many problems for any parrot. I am glad you have the bird and hope you keep it so he will be in a happy, heathy home.

SB is correct, illnesses are so commonly caused by malnutrition. You need to get some healthy food in him ASAP, corn and sunflower seed is not a good diet for any bird. I too would have to agree that he needs a trip to the vet.

About 60% of an eclectus' diet should ideally consist of fresh fruits and vegetables. Supplement the bird with sprouted seeds, those are rich in important vitamins. Here is a link for sprouting basics: Sprouting for Birds

And here are some nice links to try for proper Eclectus feeding:
Diet

http://www.avianweb.com/eclectusfood.htm

Please take the parrot to see a vet...

The refund question is up to you. I do feel that Ekkies are more prone to health issues than ither parrots if not fed properly. Maybe consider a vet visit to see if the issues can be rectified...

Please get him to a vet, pref an avian vet or one that deals a lot with birds. That way you will get a diagnosis of what's going on, a cost of any treatments needed then you can decide on whether or not you want to talk about a refund. Ecky's are perticularly prone to malnutrition and as suggested by others need a diet high in F & V. Like PQ I'm a big fan of fresh sprouts, it's really easy to do.
Please keep us posted

Great advice given above. IMO he looks very ill so yes a trip to a qualified avian vet is highly recommended. Feeding an Ekkie a diet consisting of mostly sunflower seeds can be extremely harmful to their health, so do offer some fresh foods.

I hope you are able to keep him so you can nurse him back to good health and give him a good life.

There is not only the issue of the droopy wings which are, most definitely, not normal and not a product of his been underweight. The other serious issue is the fact that he is skinny on a diet that should have made him fat. Feeding any bird mostly sunflowers and corn would make him overweight but much more so if it's an ekkie who needs large amounts of fiber and low protein to stay healthy.

Personally, I would not return the bird because I would not trust the person I bought it from to take good care of it (he didn't in the past so why would he do it now? Besides, this is obviously not a person who loves birds because, if he was, he wouldn't have sold a sick bird). Also, I would not wait a single minute to take that bird to an avian vet and I urge you to call for an appt tomorrow. Weight loss is a serious symptom with birds and waiting to see if he gets better just on a diet is not the way to go because the usual causes for weight loss are either long standing infection or liver problems (in the final stages of it, birds are ravenous and eat a lot but don't gain any weight) and he will need an aggressive treatment right away for either of them.