Eclectus in pretty bad shape..

Today I 'rescued' an Eclectus parrot.
I was going to buy a new friend for my male Eclectus today but when i got there i was quite shocked.
The bird looked horrible (not like pictures i saw)
He had no wing feathers left to fly, the overal color of his feathers was not to good either. Also his beak was not as bright as it's probably supposed to be.
So I asked them what's wrong with him, they told me he did not like the noise from the kids and that the previous owner had a macaw who attacked him occasionally.
They could not tell me more since they only had him for 2 weeks.
I asked about his diet and they told me that the previous owner gave him sunflower seeds and pellets and so did they...
So i was not to happy to buy this bird from them but i just could not let him suffer like that.

So i paid and took him home.
First thing i did was give him a shower since he smelled bad and was as dusty as a cockatoo...
Then i cut off all the shredded feather pieces to make him look a little better.
I'm trying to get him to eat healthy food so i cooked some peas, beans, corn and grains for him and some banana but he refuses to eat it.
To make sure he's not starving i fed him some baby formula with a crop needle.

Later i noticed something strange...
His spine is sticking up. i dont really know how to explain this but, You all know Quasimodo from the Disney movies? Well something like that.
I've been carefully touching him to see if he's in pain but i dont think it hurts him, i get 0 response from him when touching it.
Does this mean his spine might have been broken at some point?
Might his diet have caused his spine to deform? Any ideas?

I'll be taking him to the vet when i can but it won't be this week i'm afraid...

He's 2 years old by the way.

I honestly dont think if he has been eating pellets that his diet was all that bad. Pellets pretty much provide complete nutrition that a bird needs. Yes, it would be great if you could vary his diet, but of course that will take some time.

I am kind of leaning towards something broken here since they did tell you that he had been attacked in the past. Or he could have fallen off his perch at one time.

Otherwise he is a cute bird and I am so glad you got him.

eagle18 said:

I honestly dont think if he has been eating pellets that his diet was all that bad. Pellets pretty much provide complete nutrition that a bird needs. Yes, it would be great if you could vary his diet, but of course that will take some time.

I am kind of leaning towards something broken here since they did tell you that he had been attacked in the past. Or he could have fallen off his perch at one time.

Otherwise he is a cute bird and I am so glad you got him.

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But the thing is that eclectus parrots should not eat pellets and it can really damage their bodies pretty bad. It has something to do with their digestive system.
As far as i know most other parrots do fine on pellets without health issues.

Oh that poor baby! I'd get him to a vet ASAP but my best guess is stressful home environment and a pelleted diet (which it seems you understand is not suitable for an eclectus) is responsible for the poor feather quality. Are you sure the lump is his spine or possibly some kind of tumor or growth? If I were you, I'd be on the phone with the avian vet first thing tomorrow booking that checkup and getting advice on what to feed in the interim. And as precious as this sweetheart is, keep him well away from any other birds in the house, change clothes and shower after interactions etc... (full quarantine procedures) until he tests negative for contagious diseases.

Best of luck with him! He does have sweet eyes and I bet he'll make a big turnaround in your care

Firstly thank-you for taking this little guy in!

And you are correct about his diet. You can work on moving him onto a healthier diet slowly. If he isn't interested in the fresh foods you offer, you've got to eat them infront of him, making a big fuss about how yummy it is (so that he get jealous and curious). This technique works well with mine You can mix his food in with healthy food and gradually reduced the unhealthy over time. By changing his diet from mostly dry, to mostly wet food, you will see a change in his droppings.

If you are going to feed pellets, use organic ones like Harrisons (nothing fortified or anything with added vitamins, minerals, or colours). Too much of any particular vitamin or mineral can cause spasms such as toe tapping and wing flipping in eclectus. Their long digestive tracts are not designed for food high in nutrition or fat, they can easily get liver disease and die prematurely as a result. So a teaspoon of seeds is the typical ration for eclectus per day, any more than that on a regular basis will cause liver problems.

I would definitely recommend taking him to an avian vet for an x-ray and blood tests. This will be a starting point for knowing where he's at and then being able to aim for where he should be. If his spine is curved it could be a birth defect, a developmental issue from poor diet, or it could be an old injury. The only way to know is to have him seen by an avian vet. The blood tests will let you know what dietary changes should be made and if he has any other underlying health issues.

Hopefully someone else with a bit more experience will chime in.

Once again thanks, and good luck!


ADDED:

It seems Kiwibird was typing while I was - definitely agree QUARANTINE is a must.

Also, my most recent eclectus came to me with no wings or tail (he'd plucked them all out). His behaviour was seemingly triggered by separation anxiety, possibly coupled with too much seed and a cage that's on the small side. His humans went on holiday and he was not happy during their absence. I've found that with a better diet, plenty of toys, a good routine and nearly daily bathing - he's finally growing his wings back. Those pin feathers and broken shafts can be itchy and annoying and can encourage more chewing and plucking from the irritation. A good shower can really help.

Merv said:

eagle18 said:

I honestly dont think if he has been eating pellets that his diet was all that bad. Pellets pretty much provide complete nutrition that a bird needs. Yes, it would be great if you could vary his diet, but of course that will take some time.

I am kind of leaning towards something broken here since they did tell you that he had been attacked in the past. Or he could have fallen off his perch at one time.

Otherwise he is a cute bird and I am so glad you got him.

Click to expand...

But the thing is that eclectus parrots should not eat pellets and it can really damage their bodies pretty bad. It has something to do with their digestive system.
As far as i know most other parrots do fine on pellets without health issues.

Click to expand...

Oh wow, well you know that species and what they should be eating. Yes, cockatoos do great on pellet diets. Hopefully, your vet will fill in the answers. He is lucky to have met you.

Wow, my heart goes out to your poor little guy. He's been through a lot in just two years, and if he's so young it's possible that his development has been largely stunted. It's wonderful that you've taken him in, as he needed a change for the better in his circumstances. As April mentioned, hard quarantine is a must for him to protect your other ekkie.

The sooner that you can get him to a vet, the better.

As for the spinal curvature, it might indeed be a birth defect. One of our other members, Kentuckienne, has a macaw with a spinal curvature as well. Leaves the poor guy in some measure of pain.

As for his diet, you will have to gradually transition him to fresh foods. It'll probably take a while, as parrots are notoriously stubborn creatures of habit. But keep at it and I'm sure you'll win him over.

eagle18 said:

Oh wow, well you know that species and what they should be eating. Yes, cockatoos do great on pellet diets. Hopefully, your vet will fill in the answers. He is lucky to have met you.

Click to expand...

The thin with ekkies is their digestive system is a bit different. Many pellets come enriched, many added vitamins and supplements. Ekkies bodies can’t usually handle the added materials. Though admittedly ekkie reaction to all pelleted diet is highly individualized. There are in fact many people who feed their ekkie an all pellet diet without detriment. But it’s still safer to put on a fresh veg/grain diet.

That said there are pellets out there that don’t have added vitamins, and whose ingredients are simple natural ingredients such as quinoa and spinach. I feed these for approximately 1/3 of all meals with great effect.

Thanks for saving this very worthy Eclectus! With some TLC and a better diet he may blossom. A certified avian vet familiar with Eclectus may accurately diagnose the spinal issue. Perhaps an X-Ray can distinguish between injury/break and birth defect?

Wow, this is sad. All I can say is thank you for taking him in and seeing to it that he will be properly cared for. Please keep us updated, he is beautiful.

Thank you for taking him in.
My heart breaks for him.
Let us know what the vet as soon as you are able to get him there.

Hello Merv, I have a 15 year old male eclectus with a very similar sounding spinal deformity. If you still have the bird, I would be interested in talking with you. I am not active on this forum. Please contact a moderator for my email address. Hope to connect with you soon.

You two are BOTH such heroes for taking these darlings on. Makes my heart swell. Makes me feel so proud to be part of ts community. I hope we can follow your stories.

I just happened to hop-onto this forum and caught the new post...There was never any follow-up from the OP, probably because they said they aren't active here at all, so they probably never came back...

ULRICH: I don't know anything at all about your Eclectus, such as it's age, gender (yes, does make a huge difference in Calcium, Phosphorous, etc. levels), it's past history as far as what it's regular, daily diet has been (not just with you, but with any prior owners), or how long the lump/hump in the superior part of it's spine has been there. You may not know a lot about it's history either, unless you brought it home as a just-weaned baby or very young juvenile from the breeder/pet shop or first owner. Typically though, a hump in the actual spinal-column is usually due to a few common causes such as inadequate diet/malnutrition, an injury to the spine, such as a fracture that occurred while the bird was young and still developing and that was never properly taken care of so it healed out of alignment, an injury of the spine as an adult that healed but was not set or couldn't be set, a growth in the spinal-column, such as a tumor, cyst, abscess, etc. that either pushed the spinal column out of alignment, that caused a fracture or pushed a disc out of place, or most-commonly that developed it's own blood-supply from the vessels supplying that area of the spine/individual vertebra causing the bone to disintegrate, or a localized infection in the area that caused bone damage, or a systemic infection that specifically effects the spinal column, such as a type of meningitis that caused deterioration of the spine...

With an Eclectus, the first thing that comes to mind is an inadequate diet, malnutrition, and certain nutritional deficiencies that caused either deterioration of the spine, or if the bird was growing/developing and didn't get adequate nutrition, then this can easily happen, and that goes for any species of parrot (say a baby bird is hand-fed by a breeder or owner, but instead of feeding them with a commercial baby bird hand-feeding formula, they instead fed them a human baby formula or cereal, such as Cerelac, which is extremely common in middle-eastern and other third-world countries where commercial baby bird hand-feeding formula is not available; instead they often use either Cerelac for human babies, or they make their own hand-feeding formula from available pulses such as rice and wheat, and it doesn't contain any of the necessary vitamins, minerals, etc. that a baby bird needs to develop physically)...

***Either way, the best answer that anyone is going to give you is that you need to find the closest Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet to you, if you don't already have one (No "Exotic" Vets for this issue, you need a Vet that only treats and specializes in only birds), and get your Eclectus to them ASAP. Since birds hide all outward signs of illness and pain for as long as they possibly can, you have no idea whether or not your bird is in pain from it's spinal deformity/condition (it's an innate survival instinct that all birds possess to protect themselves and their flockmates from predators searching for "weak" prey)...They could be in tremendous pain all day long, every single day, and you could have no idea at all...

A CAV or Avian Specialist Vet will first probably do a plain-film X-Ray and routine blood-work with some select blood-tests added in order to check your bird's levels of certain vitamins and minerals, as well as it's histamine levels and such, so they can see if this is an active problem, such as a growth or unhealed injury, or if it's an old injury that healed improperly and is no longer causing any swelling/inflammation.