Please Help Super Worried About Parrot's Health

Hey guys! I'm new to this community but I feel I need some advice... fast. This is my first time owning a parrot and I've had my little guy (sun conure; he has been sexed) for about 9 months now. August 4th he will be one. Since we've had him he's been known to sneeze on occasion, but I've recently been getting more worried. It's not occurring a lot, (more or less 6 times a day???) but I've felt discharge before. Paco's poop is normal and looks fine, but he does scratch himself a lot around the facial area. Upper respiratory infection??? I don't know. Our vet isn't that experienced with avians either. My mother is planning to take him to the vet soon, but my father says we don't have money to take him to the vet right now. I am guilty to not taking the best care of him... He doesn't get outside often enough to soak in the sun (He had a UV lamp but destroyed it and a new one has yet to be bought). He also doesn't get much veggies but heaps of fruits (if somebody could help me out with diet that would be amazing too... I've searched around a lot but I still haven't found a good enough diet for him. He is fed 2 tablespoons of Roudybush a day but it often looks like he is just grinding it up and the next day he still has plenty of pellets. He also likes to dig in to his papaya and pineapple dried fruits as a snack). To catch all his food/droppings, I put an ordinary garbage bag underneath his cage so as not to deal with messy newspaper. Could that be contributing? When we first took him to the vet, Paco was diagnosed with a yeast infection and we were told to add some enzymes to his food. I can't tell if it's cured though! Do I keep giving it to him or stop? My family also loves to give him kisses on his beak even though I tell them human saliva is bad for Paco! Recently we just got back from vacation (as he stayed in a parrot shop) so I don't know if that could also give in to the yeast infection (along with family affection). Please help... I'm super concerned over the health of my baby and couldn't bear it if he were to die so soon.... (As I type this he sneezed around 3 times... Couldn't tell or feel discharge if it was there)

I can only speak for my own experience. When Salty had a nasal discharge, it was running on the side of his beak, unmistakable. Lots of sneezing. His avian vet had us squirting antibiotics into his mouth, so you can imagine it was severe. She said sneezing a few times a day was nothing to get worked up about. I take it your a young person, hence living at home? If true, and you can, a part time job and putting some money aside to help dad pay the vet bill will make him a lot more of the parrots friend, get where I am coming from? He'll know you take ownership and guardianship of your bird seriously .

With diet, you have to experiment to find out the way Paco likes the pellets best. Ezample, Salty likes his mixed with his fresh fruits and or veggies, so the pellets are kind of soft, but not mushy. Ask your family to save the fruits for treats, and start to train Paco some simple tricks and use the fruit as the rewards.. you family will feel involved. Good luck and keep asking questions if you have any. Fill out you profile more , it helps us all.

wrench13 said:

I can only speak for my own experience. When Salty had a nasal discharge, it was running on the side of his beak, unmistakable. Lots of sneezing. His avian vet had us squirting antibiotics into his mouth, so you can imagine it was severe. She said sneezing a few times a day was nothing to get worked up about. I take it your a young person, hence living at home? If true, and you can, a part time job and putting some money aside to help dad pay the vet bill will make him a lot more of the parrots friend, get where I am coming from? He'll know you take ownership and guardianship of your bird seriously .

With diet, you have to experiment to find out the way Paco likes the pellets best. Ezample, Salty likes his mixed with his fresh fruits and or veggies, so the pellets are kind of soft, but not mushy. Ask your family to save the fruits for treats, and start to train Paco some simple tricks and use the fruit as the rewards.. you family will feel involved. Good luck and keep asking questions if you have any. Fill out you profile more , it helps us all.

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Thank you so much for all the info!! I feel a lot better about my situation now. I will start experimenting with his diet, and try to get my family more involved. As for now I will track his sneezes to make sure it doesn't become more severe. Again, thank you so much for the help!!

Welcome to the forums! Happy to have you and Paco join us. It's really hard to guess how serious Paco's persistent sneezing is, a trip to an Avian Vet would be the best thing if at all possible, maybe your mom could be talked into taking him a little sooner rather than later. Yeast infections can be tough to clear up without antibiotics and it's possible Paco picked up something from the parrot shop while he was being boarded. I'm not trying to scare you but there may be reason for extra concern.

Dry air can cause parrots to sneeze more often than usual. You should ask your mom or dad to help you test the humidity level and adjust it with a cool mist humidifier if you need to.

Fresh fruits are great but more vegetables than fruit is usually better. Here's a link with lots of foods and different ways to prepare them. Sprouts are nutritious and most birds really like them.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

Best of luck with your little one, I hope the sneezing clears up soon. Please keep us updated.

Allee said:

Welcome to the forums! Happy to have you and Paco join us. It's really hard to guess how serious Paco's persistent sneezing is, a trip to an Avian Vet would be the best thing if at all possible, maybe your mom could be talked into taking him a little sooner rather than later. Yeast infections can be tough to clear up without antibiotics and it's possible Paco picked up something from the parrot shop while he was being boarded. I'm not trying to scare you but there may be reason for extra concern.

Dry air can cause parrots to sneeze more often than usual. You should ask your mom or dad to help you test the humidity level and adjust it with a cool mist humidifier if you need to.

Fresh fruits are great but more vegetables than fruit is usually better. Here's a link with lots of foods and different ways to prepare them. Sprouts are nutritious and most birds really like them.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

Best of luck with your little one, I hope the sneezing clears up soon. Please keep us updated.

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Thank you Allee!!! I'm going to try and find avian vets in my area (I don't feel too good about our nearby vet...) and then see if we can take Paco over for a checkup (he's due for one soon). Until a trip to the vet can be figured out, I will continue to add enzymes to his pellets.

I'll do some digging on our humidity soon.

Thank you for the link! There seems to be a lot of great ideas, I hope to try some out and make veggies a bigger component in Paco's diet. I know I'm starting to get repetitive but thank you for the help! I can't begin to express how much it will assist me in the run of parrot ownership.

I definitely will keep posted.

If Dr Orosz is near you, I would highly recommend her! I've never been to her clinic (I don't live in Ohio), but she comes highly recommended by people that I do know!

Bird and Exotic Pet Wellness Center - Toledo, OH - Home


If she's not near you, then if I had a general location of where you live, I might be able to get recommendations for avian vets in your area?

MonicaMc said:

If Dr Orosz is near you, I would highly recommend her! I've never been to her clinic (I don't live in Ohio), but she comes highly recommended by people that I do know!

Bird and Exotic Pet Wellness Center - Toledo, OH - Home


If she's not near you, then if I had a general location of where you live, I might be able to get recommendations for avian vets in your area?

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Thank you Monica! Dr Orosz isn't near me, but I think I've found an avian vet/animal hospital near me I would like to start taking Paco to. The Animal Hospital on Mt. Lookout Square? It seems like the staff know what they are doing, seeing that one of the vets owns a parrot herself. Although Dr Orosz may be out of my area, I truly appreciate the help!!! If I ever move near there, I will be sure to check her out.

I would just like to say thank you for all the help and information I've received due to this post. Today we went to the vet, and he said that Paco had a vitamin A deficiency. Paco now has to take antibiotics for a while, but he should be feeling fine soon! The Dr gave us two syringes filled with Red Palm Fruit Oil to be applied to Paco's pellets. We were also given some other antibiotics to give to Paco. One drop, twice per day. We asked about the enzymes and I am to continue applying it to Paco's food for 7 more days. After all this, Paco should be fit as a fiddle. Again, thank you all so much. It has tremendously helped. I hope to post a picture of Paco soon

That is wonderful news about Paco, I am so glad that he is going to be okay!
Looking forward to the upcoming pictures

Paco on top of his cage! Sorry for taking so long to put it up!

What ra gorgeous lil Sun Conure. I have one myself... "Booger" and he is my feathered baby. On diet... these lil birds need good nutrition .. indeed.. and lots of it. Some suggestions... Sweet potato has LOTS of vitamin A. Some birds prefer it cooked, some like it raw. For my lil Booger I bake one in a microwave the scoop it out sticking some clumps in the his fresh food dish. If you have any issue with him eating it straight, mix a bit of brown sugar in it to sweeten it up a dab. IF you can get Paco to eat pellets.. try getting some Harrisons pelleted diet for him. Its a great food as a staple and indeed you can use it and only it for him.. but I imagine eating the same damn thing every day would be boring. .. don't you? With Booger I tried the fine pellets and he more or less ignores them... but I got some of the "Power Treats" and also the standard "coarse" which he will hold in his foot at eat. I keep the bag of Harrisons in the freezer to keep it from deteriorating.. it has no preservatives, hence can lose its potency after bag is opened. U might have to order it online as I have yet to see a pet store that carries it. Also,, one good one u can get... Zupreme natural".. This stuff is mildly sweet and birds take to it well... if not as a staple, feed it to him like a treat. As far as keeping Booger from getting bored, I make a batch of fresh/frozen food compose of apple, pears, cantelope ,honeydew, green peas, crowder peas, butter peas, carrot, cherries, blue berries, kiwi fruit, etc. With the peas.. I get them in them in the frozen section ..easy to store at home, but prior to adding them to his mix I put about 3 days worth in water and nuke em in the microwave and boil them a bit then strain. I keep 2 tuperware containers in the fridge with the sweet stuff and the beans/peas/veggies separate. I warm his daily ration about 12 seconds before putting them in his food dish. Another goodie that's good for your birdie is Almond butter and or coconut/almond butter.. u can usually find it at the grocery store same area as the peanut butter. Look for the ones that don't have salt.... as birdies kidneys cant handle much salt. As for your dried fruits... watch for the ingredients!! Most made for human consumption have ..methinks Sulfur Dioxide added, which is also on the list of things lil birdies shouldn't have.
Oh and don't forget meats in their diets.. Your Sun Conure is an omnivore. Mine likes chicken, beef, pork, and scrambled eggs... which is good for them but don't overdo!. Birdies can get chloresterol issues just like us, so meats/eggs I give in lil bits a few times a week.
And a few other birdie "no nos"... caffeine, chocolate, avocado.... all bad for em.. Good luck to Paco.... Not sure how you are but I can tell ya... my lil Booger is a special lil critter that has added so much for me and my wife... one awesome sweet baby.

Oh and by al means, this is just the basic mix I noted above. Don't hesitate to try him on other stuff too.