How I met my best friend and almost lost him. (White-Eyed Conure)

[akalabeth]

Greetings.
I am here to share our story: Zé, an approximate 5 years old White-eyed Conure and Me, a 29 years old Brazilian.

May 2014 - My mother-in-law was going to work in the morning and found a bird on the sidewalk. The bird's wings were extremely trimmed and the street was full of stray cats. She took him inside the house and offered food and water. Soon she asked the neighbors if any of them have lost a bird.
A couple of weeks passed and no one was looking for the bird. New plan: take care of him, wait until his feathers grow again and let him fly away.

(My opinion: I think one of the neighbors took the bird very young, as they hatch in December. Probably find it cute, until it grew and started yelling really loud. Maybe that was the reason that he was abandoned.)

Since his wings were clipped, he taught himself how to be a skilled climber and how to slide down poles like a firefighter. At this time he was sleeping in a bathroom, he also learned how to make sounds: squeaky door noise and Samsung cellphone charging sound. That was when I first met him, however, he was more interested in my wife than in me.

His feathers grew again, everytime that I visited my mother-in-law, he was becoming more and more docile and playful with me. I started to encourage his flying on a big sized room. He never flew away (the windows were always open).

August 2016 - Due to a change in events and to not leave him alone on weekdays, he moved to my apartment. Another city, another home. It was a bit stressful to him.

I was unemployed and really depressed. Every day that I was unable to get out of the bed, the little fella stayed there. He even refused to eat if I didn't get up. So I needed to get my **** together, or else the bird wouldn't eat.

The bird became more and more attached to me. To the point that he would attack my wife if she touched me. It turned impossible to watch movies on the bed.

March 2017 - Even living on a 3rd floor, we always had our windows open. One day in the morning I wasn't paying too much attention. He went to the window and just flew away, yelling. I ran and woke up my wife, we both went to try to find him with. We started looking on our block. Every neighbor was very kind allowing us to check parking lots, soccer fields and other common areas. After two hours looking for him, we found him over the roof of a house. We called him many times but he was stoned. I managed to borrow a ladder and rescued him.

That day is marked on me. Our neighbors allowing us to enter their buildings without any hesitation, on times when you can't trust anyone. Somehow, that restored my faith in society.

October 2017 - We decided that he needed a girlfriend. By the way, I am writing "he", but at this point, we didn't know that he was male. We ordered a DNA gender test. To our surprise, the result was "male". We always thought that he was a she and was attached to the opposite sex.

I started some business travels and my wife always takes care of him. He got softer and the attacks reduce.

December 2017 - We ordered his girlfriend. She arrived in February. He was very curious on the first day but tried to attack her on every opportunity since day one.
He now shows a huge territorial behavior. Almost doesn't attack my wife, but doesn't accept the presence of the female bird.

October 2018 - As part of our routine, I took them off my office in the morning to feed. He had a goo from ear to ear. That was vomit, but I had no idea.
I was waiting for my daily meeting with my coworkers, he wasn't eating and drank a lot of water. He was sleepy and quiet on my shoulder, then started to vomit all the water that he drank before.
Enough, we went to the veterinarian.
After a long interview, there was a possibility that he swallowed something unusual or it was caused by super bacteria. He took an x-ray exam and a stool test.
After discussing the pros and cons with my wife, we decided to hospitalize him. Since they would be able to feed him through a food probe and to administer the needed shots.

Tough days and tough decisions. On his second day hospitalized the doctor called us telling that he tried to run away, lifting the roof of his cage(besides sleeping on a cage at home, he was never locked there). The cage's roof then pressed against his head. Removing a bunch of feathers and part of his scalp. The day after that call he was discharged and we kept the treatment (antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-hemetic) at home. He lost 25% of his body weight in only two days while hospitalized.
Arriving at home he, besides weak, was over excited and happy. For the next 7 days, he slept by my side. And, on those 7 days, he was only sleeping 6 hours/day (following my schedule, he used to sleep 12 hours/day).

After that first week after the incident, I had to travel again. Someway he managed to be kind with my wife and the female bird. He even tried to interact with her(bird), however, she didn't let him approach her.

By this date, he already finished his medicines and his feathers are growing again on his head. There is still a small scab patch though.

It's hard to abridge such experience in a tiny text. But this little fella taught me what is unconditional love and many other feelings.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums, what a testament to how companion birds become close family members!

Open windows are a serious threat, thankfully you recovered Zé. You'll have to determine whether carefully verifying windows are closed or fitted with screens is the best technique for the future, or possibly clipping his wings.

It is impossible to know how a second bird will be received. Might be welcome, possibly seen as a threat, or a middle ground of indifference. As long as you are able to manage them both you should be fine.

Did you ever receive a specific diagnosis? That is a broad span of meds to potentially cover all bases. Do you know if the vet is "avian certified" or equivalent?

 

[EllenD]

Welcome to our community, I'm glad that you found us. There are many very experienced parrot owners and breeders here that can offer you help and advice on almost any topic relating to your birds. So please do not EVER hesitate to post and ask any question that you might have, no matter how big or small it may seem. There is no such thing as a stupid or unimportant question.

***You've already learned a few very crucial lessons on your own regarding owning a parrot, as well as why it's important to totally disregard most "myths" or "internet myths" about parrots and caring for them. You've been extremely lucky in that you still have your bird, as most people who have gone through the things you have no longer have their birds...

#1) Never ever leave any windows in your house/apartment open without having a screen in them, and never leave any doors open or propped-open either. If you have to prop-open a door to the outside or open a window completely for some reason, please always first put both of your birds inside of their cages with the doors latched. And never ever take your birds outside unless they are inside of a latched carrier or on a secure harness and leash that is attached to your body securely. You can never, ever, ever simply trust that your birds will not fly away, no matter how closely they are bonded to you or your wife. Birds fly, that's what they do. And even parrots who have been extensively "Free-Flight" trained, meaning that their owners have spent literally years training them to fly freely outside but always come back to their owners when they call them, even they often take-off, never to be seen again. All it takes is one sudden noise that they hear or something that they suddenly see that scares them and that's it, they're gone. Also, do not ever let your birds outside without being inside a carrier or wearing a harness with a secure leash attached to you even if their wings are clipped! This is a tragedy that happens all the time, people have their bird's wings clipped, and then they think that means that they can't fly, so they take them outside with them on their shoulders without a harness/leash, and low and behold their birds fly away. A bird with it's wings clipped can fly for miles by simply gliding with the wind/air currents. So the bottom-line, regardless of anything, is that you absolutely cannot allow your bird access to the outside, whether through an open window or door or just by taking them outside even if their wings are clipped, unless you have them on a secure harness and leash, or inside of a secure carrier.

#2) Never bring home another bird to be a friend to the bird you already have. Birds are not at all like dogs, cats, rodents, horses, etc. when it comes to the way they form relationships and bond-to other birds; In reality, birds form relationships/friendships with other birds in pretty much the same way that we as human-beings do! If you introduce your bird to another bird, regardless of whether it's a bird of the same species as your bird or not, and regardless of what gender it is, there is absolutely no way of knowing how the two birds are going to react to each other, or what type of relationship/friendship they are going to have, if any at all. When I say that "birds form relationships with each other much like human-beings do", what I mean is that when you introduce two birds to each other, they may absolutely love each other and bond very closely with each other over time (and if they are the opposite genders they may start mating), they may like each other a lot but not enough or in the right way to start mating/breeding or to want to be housed together in the same cage, they may like each other but not be closely bonded or bonded at all, they may simply tolerate each other because they feel they have no choice, they may dislike each other and totally ignore each other, they may dislike each other and purposely stay far away from each other and become aggressive when they do come close to one another, or they may hate each other and be constantly aggressive and violent with each other whenever they see each other...They may also injure each other or kill each other as well...So there is absolutely no way to know how two birds will get along, and much of the time when someone has had a pet parrot at home for a while and it has bonded with them closely, and then a second bird is brought home as a "friend" or "mate" for the current bird, that current bird becomes so territorial over their "person" or "people" and of their home that are immediately violent and aggressive with the new bird...So the bottom-line to this topic is ONLY buy a second bird because YOU want another bird to be YOUR MATE or YOUR FRIEND, and you are totally prepared to have to keep the new bird and your current bird completely separate at all times, including separate out-of-cage-times with you, and possibly having to locate their cages in two totally different rooms where they can't even see each other. Otherwise, don't bring another bird home.

#3) All birds possess an innate survival-instinct in which they hide any and all outward signs of illness and pain for as long as they possibly can, as this is meant to protect themselves and their entire flocks from being targeted as "weak" by predators...As such, birds are typically sick for weeks to months before we as people ever even notice that anything at all is wrong with them, when in-reality they've been quite sick for up to months already. What you need to take-away from this one is that by the time you first notice that your bird is exhibiting outward signs/symptoms that he is sick, he has actually already been sick for at least weeks, if not months, and unfortunately by the time we first notice that our birds are sick, it's often too late to save them. This is a 100% -of-the-time rule. What I mean by that is that all birds do this all of the time, as they do it without even trying to, as it's just a natural, innate instinct. So the take-away for you is that the minute you first notice that something is wrong with your bird, even if you're not sure, you absolutely MUST take him to either a Certified Avian Vet or an Avian Specialist Vet immediately, you cannot wait. It would be the equivalent of you contracting a bacterial or fungal infection, for example Bronchitis, and just living with it and ignoring the fact that you're sick and it's getting worse and worse by the day, but you refuse to do anything about it until you've been suffering from the Bronchitis for over a month, and it turned-into Pneumonia in your lungs a week or two ago, and you're now flirting with the infection becoming systemic, making you septic. That's how birds work, unfortunately. So anytime you FIRST NOTICE that your bird is becoming lethargic and not playing/moving around as much as he normally does, he's sleeping more often than normal, he's got his feathers fluffed-up all the time, he's spending time sitting on the bottom of his cage or on the floor, he has loose/runny/watery droppings or droppings with bubbles in them, he's vomiting, or you notice/hear any upper-respiratory symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, open-mouth breathing, etc., you need to immediately get him to either a CAV or Avian Specialist immediately...And always insist that the Vet take proper Cultures, blood-work, and/or x-rays first BEFORE simply prescribing him any medication...Never allow any Vet to give your bird ANY medications, specifically any Antibiotics, on a "Just in-case" or on a "Guess" as to what is wrong with him...Most Certified Avian Vets and Avian Specialist Vets will not take chances like this and will always run the proper diagnostic tests before prescribing any medications, HOWEVER on the flip-side to this are the "Exotics" Vets and the "General" Vets, neither of which have any extra education or training in Avian Medicine beyond just general Veterinary School, and these are typically the Vets who refuse to run any tests at all, even just simple Fecal or Sinus Cultures, and just put the bird on a broad-spectrum Antibiotic on a "guess" or on a "just-in-case" basis, which should not ever be done with birds, who are so very sensitive and who have usually already been infected/sick for months by the time they get to a Vet at all...

 

[akalabeth]

Hey Scott, thanks for welcoming me.

Open windows are a serious threat, thankfully you recovered Zé. You'll have to determine whether carefully verifying windows are closed or fitted with screens is the best technique for the future, or possibly clipping his wings.

Since the escape, the windows are always closed here. When there is a necessity to open the windows, such as when we are cleaning the house, we lock the doors. Otherwise, they have access to all the rooms in our apartment.

It is impossible to know how a second bird will be received. Might be welcome, possibly seen as a threat, or a middle ground of indifference. As long as you are able to manage them both you should be fine.

It may take a few years, but I think he is going to get used to her. Over the time he was able to treat my wife without charging over her and with fewer bites.

Did you ever receive a specific diagnosis? That is a broad span of meds to potentially cover all bases. Do you know if the vet is "avian certified" or equivalent?

The veterinary clinic is specialized in wild and exotic animals. Two of the vets that took care of him are avian certified, the other was a reptilian expert.
The anti-inflammatory was due to his head injury and the anti-emetic to cease his vomiting. The antibiotics and antifungal were to avoid opportunistic infection due to the bird being weak.
As soon as he got better we didn't take another x-ray. But probably the swallowed thing left his body through the cloaca.

 

[Laurasea]

Welcome to the forum can't wait to hear more and see pictures!

 

[LaManuka]

Wow what a great story so far!

Welcome to the forum and looking forward to Ze's (and "girlfriend's") next episodes... and yes pictures please!

 

[akalabeth]

Just added a few photos of Zé, Gaia and me.

 

[Scott]

Wonderful pics!

 

[ChristaNL]

I see them! Grinn, it really makes your story even more fun to read (and wow..that scalpwound really looked nasty). Gorgeous birds and nice to see you too!