how do I nurse galah back to health.

[Asalar]

Ok sorry but English is not my first language.

okay, I'm really stressed and exhausted and, just freaking out. My galah was tired and droopy yesterday so I took him to the vet yesterday, the vet suspected some kind of poisoning but the lab results are not in yet. The doctor gave him medications, saline, and, antibiotics I think, to get him back on his feet, but unfortunately, a day has passed but he is not improving, he has droopy wings and, seems a little worse than before. I am currently giving him medication and, force-feeding him.

I just want to know how to help him even a little, I have no emergency vets near me and, the only walk-in vets are closed as it's 3 am. I am stressed and, don't know what's gonna happen

help

P.S forgot to mention this but my thumb is bandaged so I have little control on restraining him and, administering medication.

 

[Laurasea]

I'm sorry you have a sick bird friend.
It is so scary, we love them so much.

It sounds like you have done the right thing getting him to the vet, and getting medicine.

I have had to nurse a very sick bird myself. I almost lost her, and I had to fight hard to save her life. The important things, are getting medical help. Keeping them warm , and as stress free as possible. Support feeding with warm baby bird formula. And getting the medicine in them. And time, it takes time to heal and recover.

I do not trust or use heat lamps, they are to unsafe in my opinion. Feed stores or places that have supplies fir baby chickens. They sell radiant heat panels. These are nit lights but radiant heat. You have to find the right distance to set them back from your bird because you don't want them to over heat sbd they are to weak to move away.

If you can't find something like that. You csn use a heating pad and attach to the outside of the cage and partially cover the cage. Be safe don't start a fire, don't let the bird chew on it. Watch fir signs of over heating. Warmth helps them heal, and saves them calories .

If the medicine is given by mouth, you can just add to the baby bird formula you are feeding by spoon or syringe.

You can try the least restraint needed. For me I made a circle with a roll up towel around her, then I sort hovered my other hand over her. When I had the formula the thickness of Greek yogurt and warm. And if I went slow she wanted to eat it, and didn't fight me

What are yiu useing for your support feeding? By my guess for your birds size, I would aim fir 15ml of baby burds formula at a feeding. Adult parrots crops don't stretch like baby bird do. I fed about every 2 to 2 abd one half hours during the day. I stopped at 6pm and started back at 7 ish in the morning. They need their undisturbed sleep at night.

I used a digital kitchen scale to weigh her daily.
Birds hide being sick until they can not..so usually they have been sick awhile before they show it. Tgey will fo everything to hide being sick, even fake eat, and play
Why do they think poisoning?

How old is the burds? How long have yiu had? Any other birds in the house? What us the normal food you fed before sick? What are your burds symptoms of being sick?,

Big hugs to you. Stay strong, keep things calm around your bird
This is a link to article on sick burds
https://www.littlecrittersvet.com/sick-birds.pml

 

[Asalar]

Ok sorry but English is not my first language.

okay, I'm really stressed and exhausted and, just freaking out. My galah was tired and droopy yesterday so I took him to the vet yesterday, the vet suspected some kind of poisoning but the lab results are not in yet. The doctor gave him medications, saline, and, antibiotics I think, to get him back on his feet, but unfortunately, a day has passed but he is not improving, he has droopy wings and, seems a little worse than before. I am currently giving him medication and, force-feeding him.

I just want to know how to help him even a little, I have no emergency vets near me and, the only walk-in vets are closed as it's 3 am. I am stressed and, don't know what's gonna happen

help

P.S forgot to mention this but my thumb is bandaged so I have little control on restraining him and, administering medication.

I'm sorry you have a sick bird friend.
It is so scary, we love them so much.

It sounds like you have done the right thing getting him to the vet, and getting medicine.

I have had to nurse a very sick bird myself. I almost lost her, and I had to fight hard to save her life. The important things, are getting medical help. Keeping them warm , and as stress free as possible. Support feeding with warm baby bird formula. And getting the medicine in them. And time, it takes time to heal and recover.

I do not trust or use heat lamps, they are to unsafe in my opinion. Feed stores or places that have supplies fir baby chickens. They sell radiant heat panels. These are nit lights but radiant heat. You have to find the right distance to set them back from your bird because you don't want them to over heat sbd they are to weak to move away.

If you can't find something like that. You csn use a heating pad and attach to the outside of the cage and partially cover the cage. Be safe don't start a fire, don't let the bird chew on it. Watch fir signs of over heating. Warmth helps them heal, and saves them calories .

If the medicine is given by mouth, you can just add to the baby bird formula you are feeding by spoon or syringe.

Birds hide being sick until they can not..so usually they have been sick awhile before they show it. Tgey will fo everything to hide being sick, even fake eat, and play
Why do they think poisoning?

How old is the burds? How long have yiu had? Any other birds in the house? What us the normal food you fed before sick? What are your burds symptoms of being sick?,

Big hugs to you. Stay strong, keep things calm around your bird

Hey, thanks for responding, the temp outside is around 30C so I don't know if should add more heating elements, I have a portable radiator heater and, I think by putting it in the same room away from him then he might get the warmth he needs.

I have had birds in the past but he is my first large bird, it has been 2-3 months now with him but, I think I need a little more time to be able to read his body language fluently, I know nothing about him prior the 3 months I've had him, he was found outside by a family member and, they tried everything to find his owner but they haven't gotten lucky. My flock has 7 birds but only one is in the same room as him, he ate chop and, large bird seed mix.

I assume the vet suspected poisoning maybe because of his symptoms but I am not really sure and, as I said, I am still waiting on the lab results. I guess his symptoms are lowered wings, looking tired, sleeping a lot, being in the lower part of the cage and, not eating.

may ask, how much and, how often should I feed him formula. I am currently giving him 1-2ml of it every 2 hours until I reach 6-8 ml, is that too low, too high, or what?

He has been a pretty amazing bird so far and, I really don't wanna lose him. hope everything I said helps and, I really wanna thank you again

 

[Laurasea]

that is a little low..you can for sure give 10ml at a time. But since you started low, just try 5ml st next feeding, then the next after go to 10, if that goes well then the next go to 15.

Yiu are useing baby bird formula? Is he willing to eat anything on his own?

Sadly I dont know Celsius . I will have to Google. But in Fahrenheit, you want their ambient temp to be 80-85 f
Edit: ok 30c is 86f so yiu probably dont have to support heat.

I know nothing of if the portable radiant heater us burd safe.

What do poops look like?
Hiw much fecal matter, is is low on fecal matter, is the fecal matter formed? Is he poop with normal frequency, or less or more often
How much liquid is in the stool? What color? Is the creamy urate part present?

What antibiotics

 

[Laurasea]

And to give you hope. My sick bird was fluffed and slept the whole day, wasn't eating or moving. For 9 days. At least 10 days I support her with the baby burds formula as she didn't eat at all. Then fir a week after she started eating I still gave formula twice a day.
She had an infection called psittacosis. We started her on Azithromyacin, then later 60 days of doxycycline. She survived, as is normal and healthy now.

So I am hoping you can save yours to. It can take longer than you think. You hsve to go one day at a time

 

[Asalar]

that is a little low..you can for sure give 10ml at a time. But since you started low, just try 5ml st next feeding, then the next after go to 10, if that goes well then the next go to 15.

Yiu are useing baby bird formula? Is he willing to eat anything on his own?

Sadly I dont know Celsius . I will have to Google. But in Fahrenheit, you want their ambient temp to be 80-85 f
Edit: ok 30c is 86f so yiu probably dont have to support heat.

I know nothing of if the portable radiant heater us burd safe.

What do poops look like?
Hiw much fecal matter, is is low on fecal matter, is the fecal matter formed? Is he poop with normal frequency, or less or more often
How much liquid is in the stool? What color? Is the creamy urate part present?

What antibiotics

the doctor told me to use baby formula if he won't eat anything.
He holds seeds inside his mouth but then the seeds fall, I tried opening the sunflower seed but the same problem still persists.

Ok his poops don't look normal, they are green, it is formed, it has little to no liquid, the urate is covering the poop but it is creamy, not wet and, I wasn't tracking the frequency but, it seems lower than normal

EDIT: okay he is not holding his straight, I'm gonna give 5 ml of baby food. oh god

 

[Laurasea]

ok green is normally indicating a bacteria infection, and most times green is linked with a psittacosis ( in the chlamydia bacteria infection) ask yiur vet about it. It is one of tge more common bacterial infections. Doxycycline for at lest 45 days is recommended to treat this type of infection.

Tho sometimes you get green stool with nit eating, or liver infection.

Because he us not eating or drinking, you are under feeding . You are going to work up to 15ml to 20 ml at a feeding. Its important to know what your bird weighs. So you can adjust.

Baby burd formula usually weighs 1ml when mixed up If you weigh your burd before you feed and after yiu feed. The weight will go up by the number if ml you fed. Then go down Slightly before next feeding if things are moving normal. The weight first thing in the morning us the true weight. So each morning you weigh to see if loosing or gain . Im sure his weight us low right now. It can take a dsy ir 2 to start seeing true gain back. Unless he is really dehydration, then yiu might see a jump as you rehydrate him with the baby burd formula. Never give straight water as this is a huge choking hazard. They will get tge fluids they need in the formula.

Baby burds formula is perfect . Start increasing tye amount. Make sure no thicker than greek yogurt.

 

[Asalar]

ok green is normally indicating a bacteria infection, and most times green is linked with a psittacosis ( in the chlamydia bacteria infection) ask yiur vet about it. It is one of tge more common bacterial infections. Doxycycline for at lest 45 days is recommended to treat this type of infection.

Tho sometimes you get green stool with nit eating, or liver infection.

Because he us nit eating or drinking, yiu are under feeding .

Baby burds formula is perfect . Start increasing tye amount. Make sure no thicker than greek yogurt.

I will definitely call and, ask the vet about that when they open. Ok, so should I give him the food every 12 hours or 16? My experience comes from baby lovebirds so this is my first time syringe feeding a large bird.

 

[Laurasea]

Its after midnight for me. So I'm signing off. I will check back first thing in the morning.

I pray with the right antibiotics, that he can pull through this. You are doing good.

 

[Laurasea]

Feed him every 2 to 3 hours, during daytime. Try and feed at least 15ml at each feeding. But start at 6ml next feeding, then in 2 hours go to 10, then 2 hours Let after go to15ml . You might be able to work up to 25ml at each feeding ( usually 4 a dsy) tomorrow, depending, i wouldn't go higher than that. Let him sleep and dont bother him at night.

For example my quaker weighs 100 grams. When I hand fed, she took 10 ml at each feeding I fed her 4 times a day . Her daily total was 40ml. Tho I paid attention, weighed her, some days more done dsys a little less.

And a quaker is much smaller than your bird

 

[Laurasea]

Ok I'm stressed. What's happening?

 

[Laurasea]

I've been thinking of you and your sick birdie all day. I'm hoping you will give an update, and maybe things have improved slightly?,

I know you have a very sick baby.

 

[Asalar]

I've been thinking of you and your sick birdie all day. I'm hoping you will give an update, and maybe things have improved slightly?,

I know you have a very sick baby.

Hey thanks for worrying about my bird, after talking to you I went to a better vet and, they identified the problem immediately, it was a bacterial infection, they gave him more IV with some medication. When I returned him home he was tired from the IV and was fast asleep, a few hours go by and, I try to wake him to feed him, but sadly he passed away in his sleep. I am happy that he passed away in a calm manner but also I am sad that he passed away. I have been crying for the past hour or so but, nothing I do will make him come back, so I have decided to move on and, clean out his stuff. I will always remember him because even when he was sick he crawled to me and, sat in my lap.

Thanks for everything, I am really happy that I posted here, hope you have a great life and, I hope no one has to go through this again.

R.I.P The Galah Who Was Just Misunderstood

 

[LaManuka]

I'm so sorry that your birdie didn't make it Asalar, this is terribly sad news indeed. The bonds we have with our birds are very deep and it's so hard to say goodbye. Please accept my condolences, I'm so very sorry for your loss.

Godspeed to the Rainbow Bridge, sweet one, until we all meet again.

 

[Scott]

I'm very sorry, my deepest condolences for the passing of your galah. Very sad to know the vet identified likely problem but your bird was unable to recover.

 

[Asalar]

I'm so sorry that your birdie didn't make it Asalar, this is terribly sad news indeed. The bonds we have with our birds are very deep and it's so hard to say goodbye. Please accept my condolences, I'm so very sorry for your loss.

Godspeed to the Rainbow Bridge, sweet one, until we all meet again.

I'm very sorry, my deepest condolences for the passing of your galah. Very sad to know the vet identified likely problem but your bird was unable to recover.

Thank you both for the support, I really appreciate this community even tthough I have only been here for a few days. I have been sleeping a lot to take my mind off of this and, your condolences mean so much at this time. Also knowing what is the problem is and, having the solution in front of your eyes but then the bird passes away is very difficult to process on my end. I just hope that I made his life happier and, better than before.

 

[Laurasea]

Im so sorry for your loss..you did everything!!

I didn't want to say before, but when they are so sick that they are on the bottom of tge cage.....most dont make it. I didn't want you to give up hope tho, because it is a powerful thing. And giving thrm a chance and treatment, some can pull through. But they are critically ill.

Birds evolved to hide being sick. I wish they did not. I wish they let us know so we could help them sooner..

Please weigh every other parrot you have..and log it. And because of this I would weigh every other day fir 2 weeks then weigh weekly. I learned when I has my sick birds how important this is. That most sick birds will loose weight as their first sign something is wrong. Making treating them so much easier, because they aren't in critical condition yet. A kitchen food scale works great.

So if you start tracking weights it can be a valuable tool. If a bird drops 3% take to vet 5% get to vet quickly, 10% you have to probably support feeding. This. An help in case the infection spreads to the other parrots.

% is calculated by taking grams lost ÷ by normal weight, then x 100= % lost.

I'm glad you joined. I'm glad you rescue this parrot, and I know you fought to save her. Yiu did more than many people do, you got her to the veterinarian, you researchers and found us and reached out, you nursed her, fed her, and then found a more knowledgeable veterinarian. You did everything possible. You are a wonderful owner. I too am so sad.
Big hugs to you.

Please stay a part of the community here.

 

[Asalar]

Im so sorry for your loss..you did everything!!

I didn't want to say before, but when they are so sick that they are on the bottom of tge cage.....most dont make it. I didn't want you to give up hope tho, because it is a powerful thing. And giving thrm a chance and treatment, some can pull through. But they are critically ill.

Birds evolved to hide being sick. I wish they did not. I wish they let us know so we could help them sooner..

Please weigh every other parrot you have..and log it. And because of this I would weigh every other day fir 2 weeks then weigh weekly. I learned when I has my sick birds how important this is. That most sick birds will loose weight as their first sign something is wrong. Making treating them so much easier, because they aren't in critical condition yet. A kitchen food scale works great.

So if you start tracking weights it can be a valuable tool. If a bird drops 3% take to vet 5% get to vet quickly, 10% you have to probably support feeding. This. An help in case the infection spreads to the other parrots.

% is calculated by taking grams lost ÷ by normal weight, then x 100= % lost.

I'm glad you joined. I'm glad you rescue this parrot, and I know you fought to save her. Yiu did more than many people do, you got her to the veterinarian, you researchers and found us and reached out, you nursed her, fed her, and then found a more knowledgeable veterinarian. You did everything possible. You are a wonderful owner. I too am so sad.
Big hugs to you.

Please stay a part of the community here.

Thank you for saying that, I am forever grateful for your help too. I have heard of weighing birds before but, I never researched it. I think after what happened a scale is a must. I have the vet saved for emergencies but hopefully, I will never call them.

I can't thank you enough, your advice really helped me to push through and, it gave me peace of mind. Big hugs to you too from across the globe!!

 

[Laurasea]

A few years ago I had a sick parrot and I learned about weight checks from other members here. So I'm just paying it forward.

Having a scale is a must have for me now for sure. It can be so important in catching a problem early by weight loss. Or in a female a sudden weight gain let's you know she is making eggs.

Your parrot brought you into our global community. What a wonderful legacy. For all of us to know people everywhere on earth love their parrots, and want to help each other.

 

[Asalar]

I guess it is my duty to one day pay it forward. Who knows, his passing might help other birds too, and I am currently waiting for my new scale to arrive so, hopefully, any future problems will be identified immediately.