Alexandrine Losing feathers and refusing to eat

Ashham

New member
Feb 21, 2021
3
0
Parrots
Alexandrine Parrot
Hi, I have an Alexandrine. His name is coco and he is 70 days old, he used to be very eager for feeding time used to make noices jumping up and down etc. For the last few days he's been losing feathers, 13 feathers until now, all from wings. Since yesterday he started refusing food. He looks healthy and active. His complete refusal to eat scares me. His diet includes various pulses, feeding formula once a day, sprouts , watermelon ripe plantain black grapes and grated apple a few times in a week. He stays in room temperature Alexandrines are native to my place. Since he refused to eat i had to force feed him twice, to keep his energy. Waiting for your expert opinions and advices. Thanks.
 

noodles123

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2018
8,145
472
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
Do you have an avian vet near you?
If possible, I would get him there ASAP- by the time they show symptoms, they have often been sick for a long time, as they are programmed to hide it in the wild for survival.
What does his food routine look like daily?
What feeding formula and temperature did you use?


When you say he stopped eating, do you mean he wasn't eating anything (from his bowls)?

I thought they didn't start weaning until 12-14 weeks...


How often have you been feeding him formula for the past month or so (each day)?
 
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Littleredbeak

Well-known member
May 27, 2020
622
870
I am not an expert by any means and am actively still learning.
I recently came across two doves with one who appeared to be ill (he was/is). So the I’ll dove was substantial less weight than his buddy. He is currently on an antibiotic, heat therapy (space heater and heating pad[underneath hospital cage]), oxygen therapy. I gave the little dove apple sauce (recommendation from Laurasea- please look at her threads). What made the difference was adding a sprinkle of magnesium and milk thistle to his apple sauce ( so far I did it once) and afterwards he is eating more apple sauce when I give it to him and gaining weight. I believe they were on an all seed diet (seeds block mineral absorption).
Another instance of this is a family member’s dog who wouldn’t eat because of an infection and a very bad reaction to an antibiotic. Milk thistle and glutamate really helped her kidneys recover and her to stop feel nauseous and able to eat on her own.

Have you ruled out illness? Have you gone to a vet? He may need antibiotics or have something else going on with him. With my parrot Anne I didn’t know she had an upper respiratory infection because she showed no signs (she was having her leg looked at) and they heard a clicking in her lower airsac showing an upper respiratory infection. I did a culture and it turned out to be a very bad infection requiring heavy antibiotic.

How is your birds weight doing? Is it staying pretty steady or has he lost a lot of weight? What is his activity level?
I hope this is helpful and am wishing you and your bird so many well wishes!
 
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