Green Cheek baby is fluffy - ill?

[Kinny]

One of the 4 Green Cheek Conures I've been hand-raising since 2.5 weeks old (who is now 7 weeks old) has been rather fluffy (poofy) in appearance for the past few days.. all the time! The only times he isn't fluffy is when he's startled or concentrating on 'climbing up the ladder' (i say 'up' and keep putting one finger above the other so he has to climb up up and up).

His stools are normal. He is eating normally (just started eating seed/pellets etc so he still has one feed of formula a day). He is acting all cuddly as usual.

I've noticed he's been sleeping with his beak tucked into the feathers along his back, so it's not 'under' his wing. He's also been scratching his cheeks a lot with his feet, even though he has no mites or lice.

All the Green Cheeks go fluffy when they're getting scratches of course because it's just oh so lovely, so is this little guy just permanently enjoying himself? (I don't think so, but why not ask anyway? ^^)

Do you think perhaps he could be ill? Or is he doing this for another reason?
Should I take him to Vet?


NOTE: I am an experienced hand-raiser, so no need to worry yourselves. ^^ I just thought it might be best to check here to see what your thoughts are, as I can't get him to a Vet until tomorrow.

 

[Julianna]

Have there been any other changes in behavior? Is he just as energetic as before, or is he acting sleepy? A change in sleeping position can indicate sickness, and if he changed from sleeping on one foot to sleeping on both feet that can also indicate sickness. If he's acting normally then you might just wait a day and see if the puffiness goes away. However, it's very important to catch sickness early on with birds, so a visit to the vet might be a good idea just in case. Good luck!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Do you weigh your babies daily? This is very important, I weigh Rosie daily and wish Kenji would let me weigh him, it's especially important when hand raising young birds. Constant fluffiness can be a sign of illness, as well a a drop in weight which is why a gram scale is important.

Jaimieleigh(Bird tricks.com) made a posting on her blog about how she lost one of her sun conures that she was hand feeding, she didn't see anything wrong until it was too late.

What I didn’t know until raising these fragile little conures was that a stool without any little ‘green worm’ of any sort (that’s how I see it best described to us non-know hows) means their system is shutting down. That an abnormal amount of water drinking indicates organ failure (I knew it to be a sign that your bird could have metal toxicity only) and that baby birds that are learning to fly have to be 100% or not be allowed to fly at all until they are as it expedites by underlaying medical issue.

If your conure seems to be acting strange it's a good idea to take them in, or at least call your vet and tell them about your concerns.

 

[Kinny]

Well he's never really been hugely active, more into cuddling. But he has seemed rather sleepy today, a tad more than usual. I'll certainly keep an eye out for the changes in sleeping positions. Maybe ill take him and his 3 siblings to the Vet tomorrow for a health check? Seeing as I can get them all checked at one visit for the price of just $40.. *is a worrywart*

 

[Kinny]

Copperarabian, yes I do. ^^ I haven't weighed him today however.. will do that right away. Yeah I heard of that.. such fragile little things.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Well he's never really been hugely active, more into cuddling. But he has seemed rather sleepy today, a tad more than usual. I'll certainly keep an eye out for the changes in sleeping positions. Maybe ill take him and his 3 siblings to the Vet tomorrow for a health check? Seeing as I can get them all checked at one visit for the price of just $40.. *is a worrywart*

That's a really good price, my vet charges $65 for just the office visit.

 

[Kinny]

Yeah ^^ the other vet clinic here charges $69. My husband doesn't want to 'waste' money on a vet check.. he thinks they can't tell anything with such a small bird without blood tests.. *grumpy face*

Oh, and I just realized, it has been cold since last night... Could that have something to do with this?

EDIT: Weighed him. He's lost 1 gram.. but that's not concerning me at all. Not at the moment. I Called the Avian Vet. I explained everything to him and he said the almost constant fluffiness, even if everything else is fine, is definitely not normal. And to keep the bird (it's name is Sepha) under a warm light globe, and see how he is tomorrow. So I've put him in the incubator and set it at 20 degrees Celsius. There is a reptile heat-mat underneath the bedding, and then a warm globe above. Got a thermostat etc. so the light will turn off and on when required to keep the incubator at that specific temperature.

I think he might have a tiny bit of Zinc poisoning... After further thinking i recall that Sepha got into our Aluminium Foil pack but i didn't think he'd actually eaten any, as i took it away from him immediately. But then today I noticed a TINY little speck of foil on the floor... so it may be possible he tore off such a small speck of a piece, small enough for the piece of foil to not look 'damaged'. :/ I really hope not.. because I've been reading and apparently there is no cure? I'm desperately hoping (and praying ^^) that if he did ingest some, it was only enough to make him a tad sick and not lead to death. *snugs my little boy.. or girl.. DNA results haven't come back yet*

 

[Kinny]

The little mr is ok! Turns out he was just a little cold and slightly dehydrated, so got him in the incubator at night, cage and free-reign in the loungeroom during the day. *flops into a puddle of relief* Should be ok to have him out of the incubator all-together in a few days. *snugs little birdy*

 

[MonicaMc]

That's good he's fine! But do keep an extra eye on him!

 

[Pajarita]

Yeah, I would not be 100% convinced nothing is wrong just because he rallied a bit with the extra heat (even very sick birds do).

 

[Kinny]

I had my Vet and his friend an Avian Specialist Vet round this afternoon to do a thorough Health Check. They are very pleased with our baby Green Cheeks and said that they're better than very healthy. As healthy as they could possibly get. HOW AWESOME IS THAT? Will get the Health Certificate/s in a couple of days. Cost me $70. But the other $40 place turned out to ne $40 for 1 bird, and an additional $10 per bird. So would've been $70 anyway, and yet my guys came to my house to do the check. Saves the birdies a stressful hot trip in the car ^^ *is over the moon *

 

[Pajarita]

$70 for checking 4 birds and blood work? WOW!!! That's how much it costs for a single bird without blood work over here!

 

[Kinny]

This vet is amazing with prices never over-charges you. I remember I took my Kakariki into him when she snapped her leg, he saw her but didn't really do much, even so normal vets charge you from the moment you walk in the door. He didn't charge me anything because he "didnt really do anything." awesomeness