Fluctuating Weight

[Akraya]

allo allo

Just want to get some answers as to why Nimbus' weight would be fluctuating.
About two weeks ago I was monitoring her weight (am/pm) it would go from 212g to 219g, it was daily so I figured it was ok. But today she's down to 207g.

My conures' weight doesn't change at all, so I'm wanting to know if this was normal. Nothing came up on a quick google search and forum search.

She weighed her most on Roudybush so I'm going to put that back in her cage as well as the Vetafarm. Also she has been climbing around her cage a bit more so perhaps all this worry is for nothing. It's just hard not to worry when we had such a rough start with her

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Do you weigh her when she is empty? A big poo can add a bit of weight, and also food. Normally Rosie weighs between 278-280, but today right after eating she weighed in at 290. I always try to get a empty weight, normally this is in the morning right after she poos or sometime in the afternoon. I"ll weigh her before I put her back in her cage to eat.

If your bird is fluctuating that much when empty I would worry a little. It's possible that 207 is her empty weight if you weigh her randomly through out the day though.

 

[Akraya]

Guess I'll monitor it again for a week and just do the morning weigh in!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Guess I'll monitor it again for a week and just do the morning weigh in!

Another thing you can do to get an accurate weight is to remove her food after breakfast, then weigh her right before you give her lunch. I don't do this, but I know a lot of people who do as a training diet.

 

[MonicaMc]

I'm just going to copy and paste this info from someone else on another forum... and it was posted back in 08.

I’ve weighed Pepper, my Sennie, every day since early December 2006. I’ve recorded his weight daily and his average weight is 139.4 grams. I always weigh him after his “morning poop” and before he begins eating or drinking for the day. I weigh him two or three times in succession to verify that I am getting his correct weight. If his weight seems odd, I shut off and restart the scale and weigh him again.

The largest 24-hour weight loss was five grams. The largest 24-hour gain was 12 grams (this followed an eleven gram loss over the previous seven days, I believe this loss was caused by multiple days of fireworks in my neighborhood). Pepper typically shows weight fluctuations two to three grams above or below his previous day’s weight. I’ve learned that when I feed certain foods, such as more beans, his weight will be higher the following day.

After only a week, you have an idea what Joey’s weight is, but you don’t have the full average yet. I’ve observed that Pepper’s weight correlates with the seasons or more specifically, the hours of daylight. During the shortest days of the winter, his average weight is around 138 grams. During the longest days of the summer, his average weight climbs to 143 grams.

Here’s a graph showing Pepper’s daily weight since early December 2006:

If Joey’s weight is going up or down two or three grams from the previous day, that would be a normal fluctuation for his 117 gram average weight.

I hope this information is of some help to you.

 

[LadyJ171]

Hi!

I think it depends on the bird as with any of the other factors listed here and in other's posts. When I was in vet tech school the standard to be concerned at was more than a 7% change in body weight, at 10% change in weight there was health factors to start looking for. However, my Blue and Gold often fluctuates up to 10% regularly and she has been very healthy (except for a little bump that she got on her face a few days ago). My conure, I can tell you his weight like clockwork based on what he ate the day prior-he's as consistent as the sun.

Plus, you noted that the bird has been more active. What other environmental factors could there be? Warmer/cooler? Sleeping more/less? Eating more/less? New foods, or extra treats? Abnormal stress? Hormonal due to spring? Those can all play a part as well.

It is good to also weigh at the same time every day-just like you would a human.

If you are very very concerned, you can also weigh in and out the amount of food you are giving, this can tell you if the bird is eating normally and if the weight change is food related or not. Don't forget, certain foods "stick" in the body more so I would offer a 100% consistent diet for a while and not vary the choices to see if that makes a difference in the weight.

As always, if the bird is not acting normal, you should consult a vet right away.

Hope all is well with your baby!

 

[noblemacaw]

Every baby parrot I have had always had such drastic changes in weight. I have noticed that when babies they were always very lean.

4 days after I got Valentino I took him in for his well bird check up. To me his keel bone was very pronounced and he was very lean. I weighed him upon his arrival and he weighed in at 402 grams. At the vet's 4 days later he weighed in at 405 grams. It took a few days for him to accept the hand feeding from me to be comfortable enough to take at least 30 cc's of food. As Valentino settled in and began to eat better he gained weight to about 428 grams.

I also began to fly him a lot with the training I was doing with him so in a day he could lose up to 20 grams especially if I flew him heavy that day. Eventually over more time I cut back his hand feedings (Valentino was weaned when came here but I took to hand feeding him because I felt he was too lean and to help him feel more secure and comfortable with us) to only the night before bed feeding. He now weights in between 448 to 450 grams. The chest and muscles going to the wings are very developed and this bird can fly crazy all over my house. His flying skills include flying forward, backward, sideways, up, down sometimes he zig zags around with his body wiggling back and forth (kind of looks like he flies drunk and makes me laugh) He has pulled his wings in and "rolls" in flight thinking he is some kind of bird of prey. I will fly Valentino all over my house until he is winded with wings drooping. Poor parrot.

I digressed here..sorry about that. Anyway it has been my experience that young parrots weights fluctuate a LOT and the bigger the bird the more dramatic the weight changes can be. Baby parrots are lean and need to grow into their sizes and my vet had to remind me what Valentino's weight was alright that he was not too skinny. Wait until I bring him in now. I put 45 grams on this parrot and it is all muscle. Valentino will probably fly all over the clinic laughing like a rabid monkey.

 

[MrSquak]

How did things turn out? Hope nimbus is doing ok, he's one of my favorite birds on this forum!

 

[Akraya]

Wow so many replies and I missed them all!! So sorry I wasn't trying to be rude <3

She put on weight again shortly after this post, up to 220g but now she's back down to 202g -.-

I'm thinking possibly because she's a lot more active, she tries to fly with her butchered wings, little fool, but she does jump flap to perches pretty well now =D

Just don't know what to think anymore because we had such a rough start =(

 

[MrSquak]

That's ok! Just trying to keep up to date on nimbus. Any new pictures?

 

[Akraya]

I'll put some up when I can =)

 

[MrSquak]

Please do! My gf and I are big nimbus fans ever since seeing the picture of nimbus turning up her beak at the little conures...that was hilarious!

She looks so funny with her wings clipped so short, I think after she molts they should grow back normal right?

Go nimbus!

 

[Akraya]

Yeah she'll be normal, harness training her now for that wonderful day!
She's practising her flapping, she loves it.

 

[MrSquak]

haha yeah Tango is a good flyer but sometimes just likes to flap...will fly over land on my head and just flap for 30 second or more.

 

[Akraya]

Don't those claws feel amazing on your scalp

She also calls out when she flaps, so loud!! Or imitates black cockatoos, because you know, why not...

 

[MrSquak]

Tango has replaced the screechy call with a whistle fortunately, he's like a songbird!

Keep whistling around nimbus and he'll want to imitate it!