My baby lovebird died

hpgirl1890

New member
Jul 24, 2018
6
0
Hi everyone,


I just feel like I need a bit of closure on this. My baby lovebird died on Sunday and we're all devastated about this. What we don't understand is that it's very sudden. He was all happy and chirpy and playful. Then half an hour later, we found him at the bottom of his cage, unresponsive. I don't know what we did wrong, or where it went wrong. My in-laws are devastated over this because they were bird sitting for the weekend. I would be grateful if anyone can shed some light on this issue.


The baby bird is getting all the love and attention from everyone. We got him around 6-7 weeks old and we had him for about 2 weeks (so that makes him approximately 8-9 weeks old). We let him out of his cage daily so he gets his exercise. When he's out of his cage, he is carefully monitored. He was eating a a lot, and I thought maybe he's a growing boy so he has to get all the energy he needs. As I mentioned before, my in-laws was bird sitting. They didn't cook during the weekend and they don't have any air purifier/incense around. The baby bird stayed with them before and he was fine. The apartment is climate controlled and they kept the cage in their room. My thought is that maybe it's a new environment for the baby bird and he's not used to it. Or maybe some seeds got stuck in his trachea when he woke up to eat.



My Baby:



This is 藍藍 (Stands for Blue in Chinese), also known as The Boy, The Captain, Morgan, and Poop Master. He was loved by all. He loved cuddles and head rubs until he falls asleep, and would wake up and give you a sleepy stare when you stop. He loved to explore anything and everything. He loved jumping from high places and climbing, especially climbing up and sitting on top of your head to get a nice view of the room (hence, the Captian Morgan name). He loved his food and would wake up to get a small munchie in before falling back asleep.
 

Attachments

  • 38177060_10156463242853764_2360572257048199168_n.jpg
    38177060_10156463242853764_2360572257048199168_n.jpg
    88.6 KB · Views: 663
  • 38178428_10156463242678764_126687464919138304_n.jpg
    38178428_10156463242678764_126687464919138304_n.jpg
    91.8 KB · Views: 1,073
  • 38160616_10156463243303764_7155694305758150656_n.jpg
    38160616_10156463243303764_7155694305758150656_n.jpg
    93.7 KB · Views: 882

GaleriaGila

Well-known member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
May 14, 2016
15,045
8,742
Cleveland area
Parrots
The Rickeybird, 38-year-old Patagonian Conure
I'm so very sorry. We here can really feel your pain, and what it means to lose a parrot.

Your best shot at learning what happened would be via a necropsy from a Certified Avian Vet. Here's a link.
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
If you decide to pursue this, be sure to refrigerate the little darling, not freeze.

My heart goes out to you.
 
OP
H

hpgirl1890

New member
Jul 24, 2018
6
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
I'm so very sorry. We here can really feel your pain, and what it means to lose a parrot.

Your best shot at learning what happened would be via a necropsy from a Certified Avian Vet. Here's a link.
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
If you decide to pursue this, be sure to refrigerate the little darling, not freeze.

My heart goes out to you.

@GaleriaGila


Thank you. We considered this but we don't want to disturb him anymore and wanted let him rest in peace.
 

ChristaNL

Banned
Banned
May 23, 2018
3,559
157
NL= the Netherlands, Europe
Parrots
Sunny a female B&G macaw;
Japie (m) & Appie (f), both are congo african grey;
All are rescues- had to leave their previous homes for 'reasons', are still in contact with them :)
So sorry for your loss.


not wanting to sound creepy, but keep an eye out, you may meet again
 

itzjbean

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2017
2,572
Media
4
119
Iowa, USA
Parrots
2 cockatiels
So sorry for the sudden loss.

I lost my cockatiel hen this year and getting a necropsy done brought me both closure and ensure that she wasn't diseased or passed anything to her mate. It was something that she was born with and beyond my control, bad breeding.

Unfortunately, no one will be able to give you answers as it really could have been anything. Birds get sick very quickly and hide illness very well.

Where did you get this little bird? Sometimes lovebirds are bred so prolifically that (irresponsible) breeders let brother and sister birds pair and have babies, which over time makes unhealthy babies with genetic problems and health issues.
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
I'm so very sorry for your loss, this is never easy, and a necropsy really is the only way that you're going to know for sure why he died, unfortunately. Necropsy's also help with closure for you, but not only closure, if he did die from something accidental that you were unaware of doing or going on in your house, etc., then a Necropsy will ensure that you correct the issue and that it doesn't happen again if you happen to bring-home another bird.

***What I can tell you is that at 6-7 weeks old, you brought home an extremely young baby Lovebird, and that it's extremely uncommon for a Lovebird to be fully-weaned at 6-7 weeks old...Even Budgies don't fully wean until they are between 8-10 weeks old. Did you buy him as an unweaned baby who you had to feed hand-feeding formula to from a syringe? If so, then it could be that he aspirated some formula into his lungs, this is extremely common in that situation...

If you did not buy him as an unweaned baby and you were not told that you had to hand-feed him formula, then it's very likely that he was not Abundance-Weaned, but rather he was either Force-Weaned, or not fully-weaned at all at by his breeder. This happens quite a bit, as there are a ton of unscrupulous and irresponsible bird breeders out there, they want the babies gone ASAP so that they save money and time, and increase their profits. At 6-7 weeks old, I have to say that this is a very good possibility.

If a baby that young is either Force-Weaned, meaning the formula is suddenly and abruptly stopped and he's given nothing but solid food all of a sudden, and has no choice but to eat the solid food or starve to death, or if the bird was simply sold to you as a "partially-weaned" baby, meaning the breeder wanted him gone, and the minute the baby appeared to be eating enough solid food that it could survive, they sold it, the end-result is very often the same in each situation...The baby bird basically starves to death, not from under-nutrition, but rather from malnutrition. This means that their bodies are still very much in-need of the nutrition that the baby formula has been providing them (calories, fat, carbs, protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc.), and when the nutrition from the formula is abruptly stopped and replaced 100% with seed or pellets, the baby's body becomes extremely malnourished even though they may be eating a large amount of seeds or pellets (or they may not be eating much at all, this would also create under-nourishment in addition to the malnutrition)...And their body systems shut down, and then the baby dies. We just had this going-on with another baby bird that was purchased as an un-weaned baby by someone who had never hand-fed nor Abundance-Weaned a baby bird, and they accidentally force-weaned the baby, and it became extremely malnourished and they had to immediately put it back on 3-4 hand-feedings of formula a day. And they tend to outwardly look pretty good when this happens too, they don't necessarily lose a ton of weight if they are eating a large amount of the solid food, so it can be something that you can't see with your eyes.

I hope that this wasn't the case with your baby, again the only way you'll know for sure is to get a necropsy done, but I just wanted to point out to you that a baby Lovebird doesn't even generally start the weaning process until they are 5-6 weeks old, and usually isn't fully abundance-weaned until they are at the earliest 8-10 weeks old. So if you brought this baby home when he was only 6-7 weeks old, I find it hard to believe that he was anywhere near fully-weaned when the breeder sold him to you, and I'm guessing this at least played a part in his sudden death...This is in know way your fault, it's the breeder's fault, they no better, and as a former long-time breeder this kind of stuff just enrages me...
 
Last edited:
OP
H

hpgirl1890

New member
Jul 24, 2018
6
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #9
So sorry for the sudden loss.

I lost my cockatiel hen this year and getting a necropsy done brought me both closure and ensure that she wasn't diseased or passed anything to her mate. It was something that she was born with and beyond my control, bad breeding.

Unfortunately, no one will be able to give you answers as it really could have been anything. Birds get sick very quickly and hide illness very well.

Where did you get this little bird? Sometimes lovebirds are bred so prolifically that (irresponsible) breeders let brother and sister birds pair and have babies, which over time makes unhealthy babies with genetic problems and health issues.


Thank you. I wanted to poor boy to rest in peace and not be bothered. =(


I got it from a notable pet shop/bird shop out in Long Islang(NY). The owner and place was known for selling birds.
 
OP
H

hpgirl1890

New member
Jul 24, 2018
6
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #10
I'm so very sorry for your loss, this is never easy, and a necropsy really is the only way that you're going to know for sure why he died, unfortunately. Necropsy's also help with closure for you, but not only closure, if he did die from something accidental that you were unaware of doing or going on in your house, etc., then a Necropsy will ensure that you correct the issue and that it doesn't happen again if you happen to bring-home another bird.

***What I can tell you is that at 6-7 weeks old, you brought home an extremely young baby Lovebird, and that it's extremely uncommon for a Lovebird to be fully-weaned at 6-7 weeks old...Even Budgies don't fully wean until they are between 8-10 weeks old. Did you buy him as an unweaned baby who you had to feed hand-feeding formula to from a syringe? If so, then it could be that he aspirated some formula into his lungs, this is extremely common in that situation...

If you did not buy him as an unweaned baby and you were not told that you had to hand-feed him formula, then it's very likely that he was not Abundance-Weaned, but rather he was either Force-Weaned, or not fully-weaned at all at by his breeder. This happens quite a bit, as there are a ton of unscrupulous and irresponsible bird breeders out there, they want the babies gone ASAP so that they save money and time, and increase their profits. At 6-7 weeks old, I have to say that this is a very good possibility.

If a baby that young is either Force-Weaned, meaning the formula is suddenly and abruptly stopped and he's given nothing but solid food all of a sudden, and has no choice but to eat the solid food or starve to death, or if the bird was simply sold to you as a "partially-weaned" baby, meaning the breeder wanted him gone, and the minute the baby appeared to be eating enough solid food that it could survive, they sold it, the end-result is very often the same in each situation...The baby bird basically starves to death, not from under-nutrition, but rather from malnutrition. This means that their bodies are still very much in-need of the nutrition that the baby formula has been providing them (calories, fat, carbs, protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc.), and when the nutrition from the formula is abruptly stopped and replaced 100% with seed or pellets, the baby's body becomes extremely malnourished even though they may be eating a large amount of seeds or pellets (or they may not be eating much at all, this would also create under-nourishment in addition to the malnutrition)...And their body systems shut down, and then the baby dies. We just had this going-on with another baby bird that was purchased as an un-weaned baby by someone who had never hand-fed nor Abundance-Weaned a baby bird, and they accidentally force-weaned the baby, and it became extremely malnourished and they had to immediately put it back on 3-4 hand-feedings of formula a day. And they tend to outwardly look pretty good when this happens too, they don't necessarily lose a ton of weight if they are eating a large amount of the solid food, so it can be something that you can't see with your eyes.

I hope that this wasn't the case with your baby, again the only way you'll know for sure is to get a necropsy done, but I just wanted to point out to you that a baby Lovebird doesn't even generally start the weaning process until they are 5-6 weeks old, and usually isn't fully abundance-weaned until they are at the earliest 8-10 weeks old. So if you brought this baby home when he was only 6-7 weeks old, I find it hard to believe that he was anywhere near fully-weaned when the breeder sold him to you, and I'm guessing this at least played a part in his sudden death...This is in know way your fault, it's the breeder's fault, they no better, and as a former long-time breeder this kind of stuff just enrages me...


Thank you EllenD for the insight. I felt that it was partially my fault for the oversight. I've thought about it and researched it long and hard before making the move to get the baby, but I should've done extra research, especially when I'm getting a baby one.



The pet store did offer a replacement and I think I will give the new baby to my in-laws so they won't feel as bad. I'm pretty sure it'll still be a baby. If you don't mind, and if it is not a bother, can I private message you for tips on feeding the baby so we can avoid this situation again? (Or posting it here?) I'm sure there's a lot more sites out there on the web, but I'm afraid it'll be too contradictory. I'd rather get it from one (experienced) source.


Thank you in advance.
 

itzjbean

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2017
2,572
Media
4
119
Iowa, USA
Parrots
2 cockatiels
I'm so very sorry for your loss, this is never easy, and a necropsy really is the only way that you're going to know for sure why he died, unfortunately. Necropsy's also help with closure for you, but not only closure, if he did die from something accidental that you were unaware of doing or going on in your house, etc., then a Necropsy will ensure that you correct the issue and that it doesn't happen again if you happen to bring-home another bird.

***What I can tell you is that at 6-7 weeks old, you brought home an extremely young baby Lovebird, and that it's extremely uncommon for a Lovebird to be fully-weaned at 6-7 weeks old...Even Budgies don't fully wean until they are between 8-10 weeks old. Did you buy him as an unweaned baby who you had to feed hand-feeding formula to from a syringe? If so, then it could be that he aspirated some formula into his lungs, this is extremely common in that situation...

If you did not buy him as an unweaned baby and you were not told that you had to hand-feed him formula, then it's very likely that he was not Abundance-Weaned, but rather he was either Force-Weaned, or not fully-weaned at all at by his breeder. This happens quite a bit, as there are a ton of unscrupulous and irresponsible bird breeders out there, they want the babies gone ASAP so that they save money and time, and increase their profits. At 6-7 weeks old, I have to say that this is a very good possibility.

If a baby that young is either Force-Weaned, meaning the formula is suddenly and abruptly stopped and he's given nothing but solid food all of a sudden, and has no choice but to eat the solid food or starve to death, or if the bird was simply sold to you as a "partially-weaned" baby, meaning the breeder wanted him gone, and the minute the baby appeared to be eating enough solid food that it could survive, they sold it, the end-result is very often the same in each situation...The baby bird basically starves to death, not from under-nutrition, but rather from malnutrition. This means that their bodies are still very much in-need of the nutrition that the baby formula has been providing them (calories, fat, carbs, protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc.), and when the nutrition from the formula is abruptly stopped and replaced 100% with seed or pellets, the baby's body becomes extremely malnourished even though they may be eating a large amount of seeds or pellets (or they may not be eating much at all, this would also create under-nourishment in addition to the malnutrition)...And their body systems shut down, and then the baby dies. We just had this going-on with another baby bird that was purchased as an un-weaned baby by someone who had never hand-fed nor Abundance-Weaned a baby bird, and they accidentally force-weaned the baby, and it became extremely malnourished and they had to immediately put it back on 3-4 hand-feedings of formula a day. And they tend to outwardly look pretty good when this happens too, they don't necessarily lose a ton of weight if they are eating a large amount of the solid food, so it can be something that you can't see with your eyes.

I hope that this wasn't the case with your baby, again the only way you'll know for sure is to get a necropsy done, but I just wanted to point out to you that a baby Lovebird doesn't even generally start the weaning process until they are 5-6 weeks old, and usually isn't fully abundance-weaned until they are at the earliest 8-10 weeks old. So if you brought this baby home when he was only 6-7 weeks old, I find it hard to believe that he was anywhere near fully-weaned when the breeder sold him to you, and I'm guessing this at least played a part in his sudden death...This is in know way your fault, it's the breeder's fault, they no better, and as a former long-time breeder this kind of stuff just enrages me...


Thank you EllenD for the insight. I felt that it was partially my fault for the oversight. I've thought about it and researched it long and hard before making the move to get the baby, but I should've done extra research, especially when I'm getting a baby one.



The pet store did offer a replacement and I think I will give the new baby to my in-laws so they won't feel as bad. I'm pretty sure it'll still be a baby. If you don't mind, and if it is not a bother, can I private message you for tips on feeding the baby so we can avoid this situation again? (Or posting it here?) I'm sure there's a lot more sites out there on the web, but I'm afraid it'll be too contradictory. I'd rather get it from one (experienced) source.


Thank you in advance.


I think the main point in Ellen's post is.... to wait until the baby is older and eating already on its own, not needing any additional heat sources and THEN you bring it home. No helping with feeding techniques, no tips to keep baby alive.... just let the breeder wean the baby and then no having to deal with another dead baby! When you get a bird that is already weaned, you won't have to go through this again.
 

brighterdaysaviary

New member
Jun 11, 2018
77
0
Florida, USA
Parrots
An Amazon Parrot and many Lovebirds.
I am so sorry for the loss of your sweet little baby :c He was so young and had so much life left to live.

Please do not purchase a baby that is not fully weaned. and make sure the baby is abundance weaned. Instead of going to a pet store consider buying from a reputable breeder or adopting from a pet store.
 

reeb

New member
Oct 23, 2017
568
Media
4
Albums
1
84
Cape Town, South Africa
Parrots
Berry (♀ Cockatiel) hatched June 2017
Opal (♂ Budgie) hatched 13 August 2017
Pearl (♀ Budgie) hatched 15 August 2017
+ an aviary of 16 other budgies! all hatched 2014-2017
Yes, I agree with others. When you don't have any experience hand feeding it really is better to just get a bird that is a bit older. Each bird weans at their own pace - for example, when I was handfeeding my two budgies (I have experience), it took Opal a much shorter time to wean than Pearl. I continued to give her formula until she decided to eat solids over it. She only weaned about 2 weeks after Opal did. They are the same age - she is just a couple days younger than him.

If this pet store gives its customers unweaned babies, I would recommend finding different options.
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
You can PM me any time you want/need to for anything, don't ever hesitate...But yes, as our wise members above have already stated, the absolute best advice that anyone in the world can give you about bringing home a new baby bird is to never, ever, ever bring home a baby that isn't fully-weaned and Abundance-Weaned at that; and never without a hatch-certificate that states it's age, and in a Lovebird you want it to be at the very, very, very least 8 weeks old before bringing it home, however, I'd feel a lot more comfortable at 10 weeks.

Myself or any of the other experienced breeders/hand-feeders could give you all the advice, tips, etc. in the world about hand-feeding and properly weaning a baby, as we d on this forum quite a lot because this is unfortunately a very common problem with irresponsible breeders, but the babies still often die, and even when they do live they often have severe neurological and behavioral issues due to not being fully abundance-weaned at their pace, and this is an issue that you basically cannot correct, it's life-long.

And please, don't you dare blame yourself or think that you are "partly responsible" at all, as this particular issue wouldn't exist at all if it weren't for irresponsible, greedy breeders/pet shops. You simply wanted to bring home a healthy, happy, hand-raised baby bird from what you thought was a reputable pet-shop for buying baby birds. And no matter how "well-known" this pet shop is for selling baby birds, the owner/breeder of this shop either doesn't know what they are doing, or they don't care about the welfare of the babies he's selling and sending home at the age where they should only be just starting to wean. It's nice that he offered you a replacement baby Lovebird, but it's probably going to have the same issues, and will likely not be fully weaned and will need at least 2-3 hand-feedings a day, if not 3-4 a day, which is a huge responsibility for anyone to undertake who hasn't ever done it before. I don't want to see you go through this again, that's my biggest worry.
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
Media
2
43
Parrots
Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
Something to consider... birds are sensitive to airborne toxins. This means pans with PTFE in them (many, but not all, nonstick cookware!), toasters, toaster ovens, ovens (especially those with a "cleaning cycle"), some hair dryers, nail polish remover, perfurme/cologne, air fresheners (plugins or sprays), etc. All these things and more can be harmful to them!

If the cause of death is an airborne toxin, then getting another bird without knowing the cause of death could potentially put the new bird at risk to the same exact cause as to why the first one died. :( This is why a necropsy can be so important! It's probably already too late now, but something to consider and keep in mind if you get any more birds.


Last year, I lost over half of my animals. I don't mean just birds, either! My dog, two cats and several birds! The necropsies I got at least confirmed that I didn't have some rampant disease running through my pets... or that I had accidentally poisoned them somehow... but it did confirm that many died due to cancer (young and old) or age related health issues. It sucked... Even my vet felt terrible for me...

I do understand the reasons for not getting one. I didn't do necropsies on the cats. One confirmed cancer so there was no point... I made the hard decision to let her go "peacefully" (as peacefully as an animal in pain can go...). The other sadly drowned in his own fluids... he was already heading downhill, then he started having fluid build up in his abdominal cavity (he did perk up for a bit). It didn't matter the cause, the end result would have been the same... if we tried to "fix" or "correct" the issue, it would have only prolonged his suffering. He was taken home and if he hadn't passed at home, he would have been taken back to the vet for the last time... didn't help any that later that day (it's assumed he died early morning hours) my sister had to put her "world traveling" cat down as well. Her cat had lost the use of her back legs and surgery was $5,000 with only a 50% chance of working... with her health deteriorating, it was decided it was best to let her go.



I'm not saying all this to make you even more sad and depressed (as I sit here with tears rolling down), just that there can be a time and place where necropsies are important to do, and when it comes to birds, especially babies, it can become even more important to get them done when you don't know the cause of death.



I do not recommend disturbing Blue now, but please do scrutinize your home and your in-laws home to ensure that both are safe for birds!
 

Scott

Supporting Member
Aug 21, 2010
32,673
9,789
San Diego, California USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Parrots
Goffins: Gabby, Abby, Squeaky, Peanut, Popcorn / Citron: Alice / Eclectus: Angel /Timneh Grey: ET / Blue Fronted Amazon: Gonzo /

RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
My deepest condolences for the loss of your baby lovebird. I hope you will cherish and find comfort from his memories.

So much great advice thus far. Adopting a fully weaned baby in the future allows for a safer transition to your home. If interested, let us know and we can walk you through the steps to "bird proof" your home against common problems.
 

walterbyrd

New member
Jun 9, 2012
111
0
Parrots
Lovebird
I am sorry for your loss.

My lovebird lived a fairly long life, but she died, about three years ago. I am still when I think about it.
 

Most Reactions

Top