sneezing 4 week old ringneck & owner nerves

this might be a little long, but i’m going to try and make it as thorough as possible. just two days ago i purchased a 4 week old indian ringneck from a reputable breeder in my area. i know many advise against getting parrots this young, and for very good reason, but i’ve had much past experience with parrots and after having the very traumatic loss of my green cheek a few months back, i knew i needed a feathered friend to get me through this season of quarantine, and my options were fairly limited. i’ve been so so thorough with every aspect of his care, as i’m too heartbroken after losing my last bird to risk anything even remotely concerning happening. just today i started to hear a few sneezes here and there, so i sat next to his tank to log any more potentially worrying symptoms for a couple hours and i noticed his most recent poop was a little runnier and had more urate than his previous poops and he also started sleeping with his head on his shoulder rather than behind his back. this all was starting to worry me, but the cherry on top of the cake was when i listened very closely to his breathing, i could hear that dreaded clicking noise. having ptsd from what happened to my last bird, i immediately took him to the vet for her to tell me that his vitals were good and nothing at face value seemed serious, and she prescribed an antibiotic for the next ten days. he’s also being tested for chlamydia as a preventative measure just to make sure. although the vet seemed confident he’s okay and the breeder called and reassured me that i’m providing excellent care, there’s still always that little nagging fear that something will go wrong. since bringing him home from the vet a few hours ago, he had another feeding at 6, which went very well. he’s been fairly active since, trying to flap his wings and walking around his tank. what worries me a little bit was seeing what looked like him trying to scratch his nose. he’s still had a couple sneezes since getting home, and there appears to be a bit of clear nasal discharge on the corner he tucks his head in so that’s kept my nerves quite high. my initial thought was maybe my room is a little too dry? if that’s so, does anyone have advice on how to raise the humidity of a baby’s tank? i know how good birds can be at hiding signs of illness, even this young, but everything about his behavior seems healthy apart from that darn sneeze. does anyone have any advice?

Is your vet a Certified Avian Vet? Or a generic vet who treats cats and dogs and also happens to treat birds? This is critical as avian certified vets have far far more training specific to birds that generic ones do.

she’s a certified avian vet, and seemed very pleased to hear my care regimen for him. she prescribed him .07ml of azithromycin for the next ten days and didn’t seem to think it should be anything major, but i still hear at least one sneeze hourly, although his development and behavior seem unaffected?

Welcome to you and Ernie! Always good to listen to your inner voice and seek good veterinary care. Seems you caught the issue early and hopefully a course of antibiotics will suffice.

Question about the breathing "clicking" and how you are feeding. Is Ernie still tube or spoon feeding, and if so, is it possible he may have aspirated a bit of liquid?

thank you! and yes he’s tube fed 4 times a day right now. it’s possible he could’ve aspirated some food during a feeding, yesterday was my second full day with him and i could’ve definitely made a mistake without realizing while giving him food. now listening up close i no longer hear the clicking, but still the occasional sneeze.

Add some probiotics for birds to his formula. Or a little live cultures yogurt...

You are useing a thermometer to check formula temp? You are weighing daily? You are jeelo warm? You've contacted the breeder as well as your avain vet for advice?

The stress on an unweaned baby going to a new home.....it's so hard on the baby....it's hard to hear a breeder selling an unweaned baby.....and that you making that choice.
It hurts to hear theses stories over and over...

Thank you for quickly getting vet attention. If the breeder would take the baby back and finish weaning, that would be my suggestion...if the breeder and vet didn't think this would out even more stress on the baby.

I hope things improve, and your baby starts to thrive and grows up to a happy healthy bird.


I'm very sorry to hear this.......

thank you for the suggestion. tomorrow i plan on running to my local bird store for probiotics. to answer the thermometer and weight question, yes to both. and if you’re asking if he’s kept warm, yes to that as well.

i was hesitant on getting such a young baby, especially being such a carefully anxious perfectionist when it comes to birds, but i was fairly confident that because i’m so precise when it comes to care he would be in good hands. i thought about the idea of taking him back to the breeder until he’s weaned but i’m not sure if that would add more stress to him. i’ll call my vet for her opinion..