Virus in Lovebirds?.

slugsiss32

New member
Jul 30, 2012
6
0
London
Parrots
5 Lovebirds
A Senegal
A Common Raven
Is there some kind of disease that Lovebirds can pass on to each other? I had 8 Lovebirds and one by one they have died...they arent even old...their diet is fruit, veg and Lovebird seed mix..they hate the fruit and veg for some reason so sometimes I give them just fruit and veg for a day or so so that they eat it, and they defintely do so I cant imagine its diet related, unless its some kind of vitamin deficiency, but I have done the whole vitamins in the water thing as well...

Basically what has been happening they have been showing weird signs of being a bit dull looking and fluffed up for a week or so then they drop dead. I can only think I have some kind of virus going round them. At the moment there are two that dont look fab...and three that look really healthy. One is just a bit fluffed up, but the other cant fly and has loads of chest feathers pulled out just showing his down. I know he is unwell because I was able to catch him...couldnt really do much of an examination though because his beak still works pefectly well!

I might have to take that one to be pts if he doesnt improve because I had one with the same signs who I had with a heat lamp...daylight lamp...oral fluids...baytril etc to no avail for 9 months until he died...so I felt rubbish, like I had prolonged his death when he could have died without going through all of that...so I would never do it again.

So yeah just wondering if anyone else has ever heard of a similar problem? Their aviary is so tall he just thudds to the floor so it sounds horrible as well. Want to sort this out or I will have none left and if I Senegal got whatever it is I would be so upset. ...Cheers guys x
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
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Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
Sorry but I doubt any of the members here can help you. You need to find an avian vet who can treat them and/or do necropsies on the bodies of the ones that have passed (storing in fridge, not freezer until their bodies can be examined) - find out what's going on, then get the appropriate treatment for them.
 

crimson

New member
Oct 8, 2012
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Ontario,Canada
Parrots
Senegal-Martini,1 pineapple conure~ Kahlua,1 GCC~ Flare, spl/b, 4 Lovebirds Halo,Tye-Die,Luna,Violet,8 Cockatiels,Num Num&Tundra,8-Ball&Angus,Magnet&Sunkist,Pearl, Blush, 1 gouldian finch, 7 canaries
sorry to hear your birds are not well!, how terrible, especially not knowing....I agree with monica, save your money on any future testing and have a necropsy done.
you will get the answers you are looking for. they cost around $100.00

I would separate any healthy birds from the ones that are showing signs of illness.
even better separate all the healthy ones into separate cages if possible.

any time you have an ill bird, you should immediately remove them from the healthy ones to prevent the other ones from being infected. eating & drinking out of the same water dish is a recipe for disaster.
 

Kalidasa

Active member
May 8, 2013
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Michigan
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1 green cheek conure (Kumar)
2 male budgies (Charlie and Diego)
If I'm reading this right, are you saying you're going to have one euthanized? Is there not an avian vet near you? Aren't you going to find out what's wrong before you star putting them down? And, are you housing a raven in the same room with parrots?
 
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slugsiss32

slugsiss32

New member
Jul 30, 2012
6
0
London
Parrots
5 Lovebirds
A Senegal
A Common Raven
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Yeah been to the avian vets before but the treatment didnt work and they didnt know what the virus was and the one bad bird keeps tumbling to the floor like 6 ft down so I have padded out the floor and they have a daylight lamp which he likes so that might improve his feathers. I have been making their fruit more squishy etc so maybe with the extra help he will fight it himself but I doubt it...

To answer your questions, Kalidasa...

I do not believe in prolonging an animals death if its obvious they will die...its not fair in my opinion, so if he is very sick, and only if he is in pain and laying there helplessly then yes I will have him euthanised becaus its the kindest thing to do...but yes...I would like to find out the problem...hence the post ;)

Erm also not that I brought the Raven into the conversation but I am sure you know how big these birds are, you cant go round keeping them in houses...another thing that isnt fair! So no...he lives outdoors where he can get natural sunlight and rain and room to play because they are very intelligent, he would trash a house in an instant!

The idea was that the Lovebirds go outside as they have a purpose built aviary and I am sureit would be good for their feathers but with the British weather thats not possible :(( :rainbow1:
 
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slugsiss32

slugsiss32

New member
Jul 30, 2012
6
0
London
Parrots
5 Lovebirds
A Senegal
A Common Raven
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #6
The really sick one is now soooo sick. :( Hes had baytril now, has a IF lamp, I am hand feeding him like at 7am and 8pm a couple of mls of a kind of concontion that I made up..need to get some formula in...hes in a small cage with just his mate now because he kept falling...towels on the floor. He is still perching though so I will give him a chance but I cant sit and watch him keep falling and laying upside down because he cant flip over so might have to make the dreaded decision...his mate will miss him though so hopefully he will get better! ..xx
 

weco

New member
Nov 24, 2010
3,342
12
USA
Parrots
Nanday, suns, parrotlet, Patagonian
You say they've been to the vet for treatments.....treatments for what?

What kind of cages are your birds in? Are they, by chance, constructed with galvanized metal?

Do you know what kind of piping is in your home?
 

HalfInsane

New member
Dec 23, 2011
420
0
British Columbia, Canada
Parrots
Pixel: female senegal, hatched Dec 15, 2011
This must be a really difficult situation for you.

The vet you've been seeing, have they done blood work and/or a gram stain test on any of the sick birds? Baytril is kind of just a generalized antibiotic that seems to be prescribed when the vet doesn't know what's wrong (not blaming you at all here! but it is somewhat concerning). If the vet you've been seeing cannot do either a blood panel or gram stain I'd begin searching for a vet who will.
 

MikeyTN

New member
Feb 1, 2011
13,296
17
Antioch, TN
Parrots
"Willie"&"Lola"B&G Macaw,
"Dixie"LSC2, and "Nico" Scarlet Macaw.
You either need to ask the vet to do more testing or look for another vet!!!! IF you could isolate all the sick birds into a smaller room where you can bring up the temperature during treatment. Turn the humidity up! Also you need to feed some yogurt to get some good bacteria back into their stomach and either get hand feeding formula or make some high protein stuffs to feed such as boiled egg and remove the egg yolk after done and mix the yolk with cottage cheese. Mix some warm water with the formula to liquid and feed with a syringe. If you want to use pedialyte instead of water, it would be perfect to rehydrate.
 

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