Is this behavior due to molting?

[natv]

Kiwi will be 1 year old next week.

I haven't been able to figure out if he's sick in some way, or if this is due to molting or something else.

The last few days he's been acting VERY different. For example:

- last few days not much of an appetite at all. Has barely touched his food for the most part. I normally give him a chop mix but I also tried pellets today to try something else (he had very little of it). He didn't touch his other bowl either (bell peppers and carrots)

- he seems lethargic. He still naps during the day when I'm at work which is normal. But when I get home he used to have more energy (climb around his cage, maybe call out some hello's). When I take him out on his playstand he used to walk around. Now he's either spaced out or literally keeps falling asleep or almost (he closes his eyes slowly), and often does sleep. He barely has been climbing around his cage last couple of days.

- He does end up on his high perch in his cage to sleep eventually, but for example, right now he's sleeping on the perch in front of his food bowl for the last couple of hours, which is very odd. He did the same thing yesterday.

- he's been more aggressive than usual. Normally he only growls when I serve his food in his cage. But yesterday when he on his playstand I tried to give him some sunflower seeds which he usually loves and usually gets him a bit excited. He couldn't care less really, he ate a couple and on one as he was taking it from my fingers he lunged to bite my fingers, which never happens when I'm feeding him snacks by hand.

- I was also trying to cheer him up by playing kisses (where I touch my nose to his beak and say "kisses!"). He does often open his mouth when I do that and slowly try to bite (not agressivly and by that time I'm no longer touching his beak) but never goes out of his way to actually bite me, well yesterday he lunged and bit my nose (ouch).

- He hasn't said much last few days, just a very quite noise he used to make when he first got him (kind of hard to explain, just a cute grunt under his breath if I talk to him (but rarely) or if he decides he wants to say something (but no loud "hellos" like he used to say, or anything loud really last couple of days.)

- I put him by the window earlier on his rope, and he fell asleep there, with one foot hanging over the rope (usually he'll sleep with one foot up or at least on both feet, but one foot hanging below the rope was kind of weird(?). I was observing him when I woke him up to take him back to his cage, at first it almost seemed he was losing his balance a bit on the rope and he didn't willingly step up to come back to his cage for a bit, but did eventually and he seems to be using both feet OK.

- I weigh him once in a while, last time was this weekend. I haven't weighed him last few days but I'm sure since he hasn't been eating much he'll show some weight loss because of that.


I was very concerned yesterday afternoon/evening. This morning he was still aggressive in his cage (before I brought any food in), but I thought he may be a bit better as for a minute he was playing a bit with me as far as I can tell (been trying to teach him peekaboo, he said peekaboo but it was right after he growled at me, lol. Not sure if he was playing really, but at least he said something more than a grunt which I took as a good sign.

I checked on him on the web cam from work and he basically napped all day (which is normal)


As far as his feathers, I don't see many pin feathers at all, but he has been shedding smaller feathers more and I do see some gray areas (like on/near his wings) and he has a new tail feather.


He doesn't have any obvious signs of being sick (his nose is clear, he's not sneezing, his eyes are clear, he's not all puffy). I can't tell about his poop I think it's dryer than usual but that would be normal I guess if he's not eating his veggies. I have seen him drinking. And today I tried giving him some pellets so wouldn't expect very runny poop today. He didn't really touch the other bowl of food we left for him (bell peppers and carrots)


So does this all just sound like molting behavior, or should I be worried? Earlier this weekend he was fine (talking all coocoo when we were vacuuming like he always does which cracks me up), but since then hasn't been himself at all.

Thanks

 

[sodakat]

No, it does not sound normal. I'd call your vet and ask to come in for a checkup. Could be a minor bacterial infection that can be easily cured.

 

[moni.k]

I second the vet visit. Loss of appetite and lethargy are pretty big concerns. Remember that birds are prey animals and they don't show signs of illness till it's too late, if you notice differences from his normal behavior I would take him to a vet asap. Nalani is going through her first molt (she'll be hitting a year in less than a month) and I can tell you, she hasn't experienced any of the symptoms and behaviors stated above. Better safe than sorry. I wish that it's nothing too serious and kiwi a quick recovery.

 

[lpolliard]

What you are describing is not typical moulting behavior.

 

[mtdoramike]

I agree with the above. I wouldn't wait very long, I would get him to the vet for a thorough checkup to include blood work. But be advised, just the blood work alone could run a couple hundred dollars. If you can get him to open up his mouth so that you can get a glimps of his throat, check to see if the inside of his throat looks whitish or redish in color. Birds can come down with a throat infection.

 

[jacksmom]

Agreed - vet visit for sure! Wishing the best for you both!

 

[natv]

Thanks everyone, I've already notified my work that I'm taking off this morning and have an appt at his Vet for 10:30am

Appreciate the quick replies, and I hope he's ok too

 

[jacksmom]

Natv, excellent parronting...that is wonderful you were able to take off work and prioritize him so much! We will be crossing our fingers for you!

 

[natv]

Re: Is this behavior due to molting? (UPDATE - bacterial infection)

So it was a bacterial infection

Also I didn't realize he was before, but in the car (in his portable cage) I realized he was regurgitating his food from yesterday (I know this because this morning I only gave him roudybush pellets, and he was regurgitating carrots)

The gram stain found:

Clostridium - an anaerobic bacteria
Budding yeast - hyphae.

He also lost a lot of weight since I last weighed him. I weighted him last him on 6/13 and he was 445 grams. Today at the Vet he weighed 411 grams.

The vet gave him an injection of something for the infection (I forgot to write down what that was)

And I have to give him 3 drops every 12 hours for 7 days of:
Ketoconazole

and also hand-feed him juvenile formula 2x a day. Not sure for how long I need to do that for, I'll ask tomorrow. They gave me a small ziplock back of powder.

There is also one more medication he needs that the Vet didn't have in her office (she works in two locations) so tomorrow morning I'll be picking up the other drops.


I was worried about hand-feeding him (having to wrap him in a towel, etc), so I figured first I'd try seeing if he'll take it from his cage through the cage bars, and was VERY happy that worked. He immediately knew how to eat from the syringe. He got a little aggressive towards it towards the end but I think he ate a good batch of formula (some ran off his mouth of course). At one early point he made the cutest/funniest squeek as he ate from the syringe. Maybe that's what he did as a chick I don't know but it was really funny.

The vet gave him the first dose of drops of Ketoconazole earlier to show me how to do that. She had him in a towel and he clearly liked the stuff so hopefully later tonight I won't have any issues giving those meds to him too.


I want to thank you guys for the quick and accurate replies. I really didn't know he was sick. I've read stories of hormonal birds or when molting that their whole personality changes so I thought that's what this was until your replies on this post (but part of me was concerned which is why I posted in the first place, especially the lethargic part)

As for why the bacterial infection, Vet said it can either be due to water or moist food. I feed him chop mix so it could be some of that food that stood out too long, but also we JUST changed our water filter the other day and realized we waited too long to do that (it was quite dirty), so I think this was from the filtered water and we'll be changing that filter every 3 months from now on.

So thanks everyone and hope Kiwi's back to normal in a few days.

 

[moni.k]

That's great that you were able to catch the infection. Keep us posted and we all hope for kiwi's quick recovery.

 

[sodakat]

He will be fine in no time. If you have any problems getting him to take the liquid drops, buy a small pound cake. Seriously. Then cut a tiny, tiny cube and squirt the medicine on the cube of pound cake. He will happily eat the pound cake. Pound cake seems to hold up to being saturated. The little bit of cake he eats during this time period won't be harmful as far as too much "junk food".

He will gain his weight back I'm sure. He lost less than 10 percent. That is not terrible.

Good job on getting him in so quickly. And don't worry that this will be a recurring problem. Eclectus are very hardy. Normally they can injest a bit of bacteria and recover without you even knowing. Occasionally it affects them, just like it does us.

 

[jacksmom]

Bet you feel better now, equipped with a battle plan and mode of attack!

Wishing your guy a speedy recovery!

 

[natv]

I sure do! Thought going to have to put him in a towel for his hand formula, he only initially took to the syringe through the bars of his case.. now he attacks it and periodically takes some formula - mostly it's a mess though so going to have to do this differently.

Not used to the wrap in towel bit, wish me luck

 

[jacksmom]

Lol, best of luck...maybe try training him to be gentle with the syringe...he is getting very excited because he remembers being a baby and how much he likes that formula...sometimes they like handfeeding so much they are tough to wean...and start flipping out when they see a syringe, or the container you mix the formula in.

Then again, this WOULD be the perfect time for towel training...next time I raise a baby, I am going to try this...towel training with the handfeeding. My idea is they would get to see the towel as meaning something very nice...and probably would climb right in as adults.

 

[natv]

Actually that wasn't so bad. I first put him down on a table so I can put the towel over him wrap him the way the Vet showed me. (throw the towel over him, put my hand on his back and then wrap him up.

Then I took him on the couch and fed him. He kept biting the edge of the towel constantly but I was able to get him to eat in between and he ate pretty well

I'll weight him tomorrow and see how his weight is doing. He's in better spirits today. Not touching his food much but he ate this well so it's a good start.

He didn't make funny noises in the tower but it was really funny before in his case the little noises he was making, like little squeeks and sometimes almost sounded like a little chicken(chick) sound.


Wish there was something *I* could eat that would make me feel that young, haha.

 

[drlisaort]

Oh my gosh how scary for you and Kiwi! I'm so glad you got to the vet and he's on the mend. At times like this it would be nice if our feathered kids could tell us what's going on instead of hiding it....

 

[natv]

Yes it was scary but the good news is that Kiwi is back to his normal self, he's been talking and eating last few days.

I'm still giving his meds and hand feeding him (so he can put back more weight). For now I'm only giving him Roudybush pellets for now (instead of chopmix) since I can't know for sure what caused this.

The Vet said moist food could do it, and it is possible if his chopmix stayed out too long for example it got some bacteria growth.

Once his weight is back I'm going to give him Roudybush pellets in the morning and chopmix in the evening (so I can take it out of his cage within a couple of hours), the pellets can stay out all day so not an issue while I'm at work.