6 wk old macaw eating bedding

Cheekie · Jul 10, 2012

We are hand feeding a 6 week old B&G Macaw :blue1:

and we are using carefresh natural bedding (recommended by the pet store). My wife swears that he ate a piece of the bedding (she cant remember the size of bedding). To me this doesn't sound like a good thing. Is this harmful or not

, any ideas? Bedding is gone terry cloth towel is in. He is due for his 3rd feeding of the day.

Alisana · Jul 10, 2012

Is she certain he ate it, or did he just chew it out of curiousity? Young macaws will use their beak to explore things. Though 6 weeks is rather young, but I guess it can happen.

Cheekie · Jul 10, 2012

What she has seen is this: his head was down in the bedding and she believes she saw a piece of bedding in his mouth as he was acting like he was feeding with his head bobbing. I called the vet and he seemed to think since the bedding was cellulose-paper product that there would be no problem and said that it was ok to continue with reg feeding. I hope everything will be ok.

Alisana · Jul 10, 2012

Keep an eye on the droppings. You'll be able to see if he has digested it, and also if it has changed as well.

[Edit] E.g. Colour changes, consistency, etc.

If it has, call your vet back and report your findings.

Cheekie · Jul 10, 2012

After feeling his crop it does feel like he has swallowed a piece about the size of a thumb nail and it appears to be hard. We will use a thinner mixture of formula and keep a close eye on FB restrictions of his GI. This is going to be a roller coaster ride.

Alisana · Jul 11, 2012

Cheekie said:
After feeling his crop it does feel like he has swallowed a piece about the size of a thumb nail and it appears to be hard. We will use a thinner mixture of formula and keep a close eye on FB restrictions of his GI. This is going to be a roller coaster ride.

Yeah - keep a very, very close eye on the colour. If it causes any injury inside, sometimes it'll show up in the droppings. If the macaw appears to show any discomfort or stops eating, then get to a vet ASAP.

Good luck!

lene1949 · Jul 11, 2012

Is this bedding for birds?

Sorry, I haven't heard of it... I use newspapers...

Alisana · Jul 11, 2012

lene1949 said:
Is this bedding for birds?

Sorry, I haven't heard of it... I use newspapers...

I think Cheekie means either of these products:

Carefresh FreshSorb Natural Bird Bedding & Litter at PETCO

Carefresh Pet Bedding - Carefresh Small Animal Bedding Available Online at petco.com

Just depends on which one they have.

Cheekie · Jul 11, 2012

It is the one on the bottom and it says it is for birds and brooders. I have emailed the company about the situation with RJ.

Alisana · Jul 11, 2012

Cheekie said:
It is the one on the bottom and it says it is for birds and brooders. I have emailed the company about the situation with RJ.

Glad to hear. My biggest concerns are the following

Crop infection
Internal damage if it doesn't immediately break down (e.g. solidifies)
High absorption rate causing digestion issues confused: Not very sure on this point!!! Never heard of a bird eating a highly absorptive material before)

Let us know what the manufacturer says. Fingers crossed!!

Cheekie · Jul 11, 2012

Took him to vet today appx 12 hours after he ate it. Doc could not work the piece back up or use forceps because is was too soft. Doc said the size should pass and gave us some enzymes to mix w/ formula to help break it down. His blood came back a little higher in white counts and a little lower in red counts. Have to wait on other cultures to see if there may be a prob or not. Just want him to be healthy!

GWGordy · Jul 11, 2012

We had the same issue with our baby GW, he was about 3wks and we just use towels now! He never ate it thank goodness.. but they lay down and it goes in there mouth they think food! or something to eat. I hope your baby is doing better!

Cheekie · Jul 11, 2012

:20: Well we have a reply from the bedding company:

"Unfortunately, no, we don’t have any suggestion other than contacting an exotic animal vet. I apologize we can’t be of more assistance. I hope you will keep in touch and share with us what you end up doing. We can use that in our quality log for future reference if this should ever be asked again."

Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I emailed back and said that they should review their labeling and add warnings.

So far Rio (RJ) is acting normal and we are adding the enzymes to his formula from the Doc's office.

WharfRat · Jul 11, 2012

Glad to hear he sounds ok! We use disposable bed pads for stuff like that (cages too) out of 5 birds, none have ever chewed on them, plus it's ALOT easier to clean up and you can cut them to fit.

Cheekie · Jul 13, 2012

Enzyme worked and the paper is no longer in his crop and he is still passing normally (if not even more regularly). Man we are using a ton of towels, washing machine is on overtime!

GWGordy · Jul 13, 2012

Glad he's better!! Yes, i think my water bill is gonna be out of control! from the sanitize cycles, lol..

Alisana · Jul 14, 2012

Cheekie said:
Enzyme worked and the paper is no longer in his crop and he is still passing normally (if not even more regularly). Man we are using a ton of towels, washing machine is on overtime!

Great to hear!!

Cheekie · Jul 14, 2012

The cultures are back and Dr. says the E.Coli and candida is a little high. Dr. says it is not clinical but is shipping 2 diff meds to us. RJ's weight was 445 g the 1st day we had him(her), then daily as follows: 452, 480, 518, 548, and 592 this morning. Rj is burning thru 65 ml a feeding in 6-7 hours, so we are back adjusting ~ 1 hr on feedings and bumped him up to 70 mls today and prob going to hold at 70 thru this week depending on weights. I'm using the 10-12% rule on feeding. :blue1:

He is bobbing a lot when playing, stretching his neck straight up and he loves to stretch his wings straight up. Plus, his vocals are changing too.

Cheekie · Jul 14, 2012

Here is a pic from earlier this week.

Cheekie · Jul 15, 2012

Here are some pics just taken. :blue1:

6 wk old macaw eating bedding

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Luna the Harely :P

Good read

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