Nico’s Thread 😊

[Terry57]

I can do that. I’ll wait until I make Nico a new collar to take more detailed photos, and explain the process.

Thank you so much, I think it will be helpful to a lot of people.

Nico, and Charlie are doing well. It’s spring so I’m going through molts, and hormones. Charlie & Kiwi (Jenday & sun conure) still aren’t getting along. I don’t think they will ever be sharing a cage. I still try! Maybe one day they will change their stance on one another.

Jazz, my Sun, and Jury, my Jenday don't get along because Jazz hates the colour yellow and attacks any bird who has even a little bit of yellow on them. I can't even let them out at the same time, and when I had my lutino cockatiels Rex and Spike, he had to stay in his cage while they were out as well. That's when we realized that it was their colour he was attacking.

Sorry to hear that Ekko feather plucks like Nico. I’ve came across articles of you talking about your Ekkie, but I’ve never heard you go into great detail on the things you’ve experienced with Ekko. It could be that it’s so far back as you’ve been on here for awhile.

I'm honestly not sure if I've gone into depth about my struggles with Ekko, except for privately. I felt a lot of shame when my stress and anxiety over other things caused him to start plucking , and found it difficult to talk about.
I should have shared, and I believe I will start a thread about him in this forum. It's way past time.
Thank you for giving me the push I needed

 

[kme3388]

Nico just had a scary moment. Now I’m wide awake, and worried. He went to bed hours ago. I heard a loud thump from Nico’s room. So I went in there. He was sitting at the bottom of his cage. So I went to pick him up, and I asked him to step up… He couldn’t…. So I picked him up, and he could only grip my hands with one of his claws. The other one was completely curled up. I held him for about 5-10 minutes. He seemed disoriented. He wasn’t making noises or anything. Then randomly he snapped out of it. He became alert, uncurled his one claw, and gripped with both claws. He started making noises/honking. So I put him back in his cage. I have a blink camera in his room so I’ve been checking on it, and now I’m wide awake worried. Im hoping Nico is okay, and just had a nightmare or something. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[onamom]

Nico just had a scary moment. Now I’m wide awake, and worried. He went to bed hours ago. I heard a loud thump from Nico’s room. So I went in there. He was sitting at the bottom of his cage. So I went to pick him up, and I asked him to step up… He couldn’t…. So I picked him up, and he could only grip my hands with one of his claws. The other one was completely curled up. I held him for about 5-10 minutes. He seemed disoriented. He wasn’t making noises or anything. Then randomly he snapped out of it. He became alert, uncurled his one claw, and gripped with both claws. He started making noises/honking. So I put him back in his cage. I have a blink camera in his room so I’ve been checking on it, and now I’m wide awake worried. Im hoping Nico is okay, and just had a nightmare or something. Has this happened to anyone else?

I often shower with Ona and we had one time where she flew down from the shower perch, landed roughly on the tub floor, and was "in shock" for a few mins where she wouldn't move, make noise, etc. Eventually she snapped out of it after several long minutes. Hasn't happened again since.

Maybe Nico had a bad dream and fell off his perch and was in shock?

 

[ravvlet]

Kirby has had issues with foot curling; his is due to a combination of arthritis and heart disease causing poor circulation. It has improved dramatically since he started taking enalapril daily.

If Nico doesn’t have a history of arthritis or heart disease, I’d reach out to his vet to ask if it’s possible he had a stroke or seizure. Sorry, I know all of that sounds very grim, but it’s probably better to be safe than sorry! Hope the little fella is feeling better now!

 

[kme3388]

Nico has something called bornavirus. I was just working with his vet on transferring him back to over the counter pellets instead of prescription. I’m wondering if this may have something to do with it? I did message Nico’s vet to gather her thoughts.

 

[saxguy64]

Oh, poor boy! Hopefully it was just a night fright which can be scary for everyone involved, and disorienting until they calm down. I hope Bornavirus has nothing to do with it and your vet can provide some insight. 🙏 My Tucker is positive for it too, so I'm always on edge if anything changes. He had a reoccurrence of toe tapping a few weeks back and that always makes me panic until I look closely to figure out what could be the trigger.

Keep us posted.

 

[ravvlet]

Nico has something called bornavirus. I was just working with his vet on transferring him back to over the counter pellets instead of prescription. I’m wondering if this may have something to do with it? I did message Nico’s vet to gather her thoughts.

Ah, ok! I hope the vet has reassuring news. Keeping you guys in our thoughts.

 

[Terry57]

How terrifying for you both, I'm so sorry.

It could have been something as simple as a night fright, I hope that's what it was.
I'm also afraid that it could be related to his bornavirus, I found this when I Googled it:

Bornaviruses can spread through other parts of a bird's nervous system and cause shaking of the head, abnormal and uncoordinated movements, difficulty balancing, tremors, paralysis, self-mutilation, aggression, and seizures.

The good news is that no matter what happens with Niko, you have a wonderful relationship with your vet. That makes all the difference sometimes. It's also good news that Nico went back to normal after a few minutes.
When do you see your vet next?

Sending prayers to you and Nico.

 

[kme3388]

I usually just send Nico’s vet a message, and give it about a week as she usually follows up by then. On her website it states that she is backed up, and has limited appointment availability. Unfortunately avian vets are hard to come by so this is an issue no matter who I contact. I don’t mind seeing a vet that may not be avian certified but with Nico’s medical history usually these vets will refer Nico back to his avian vet as that makes sense. I had to use a vet who wasn’t certified when Nico got really sick, and was wheezing when breathing. I just called around everywhere that morning trying to find anyone that would see him to try to help. The non certified vet was very helpful, and knew how to flush nostrils. She checked for what she remembered in vet school for labs. She of course said Nico needs to go back to his Avian vet, but she did help Nico temporarily until he got back to his Avian vet.

 

[saxguy64]

How is Nico now? Hopefully no more episodes like that again? 🙏🙏🙏

 

[Terry57]

I usually just send Nico’s vet a message, and give it about a week as she usually follows up by then. On her website it states that she is backed up, and has limited appointment availability. Unfortunately avian vets are hard to come by so this is an issue no matter who I contact. I don’t mind seeing a vet that may not be avian certified but with Nico’s medical history usually these vets will refer Nico back to his avian vet as that makes sense. I had to use a vet who wasn’t certified when Nico got really sick, and was wheezing when breathing. I just called around everywhere that morning trying to find anyone that would see him to try to help. The non certified vet was very helpful, and knew how to flush nostrils. She checked for what she remembered in vet school for labs. She of course said Nico needs to go back to his Avian vet, but she did help Nico temporarily until he got back to his Avian vet.

I think it's best if Niko sees your regular vet unless it's an emergency, what a shame they they are so backed up I have a feeling once you speak to her that she would be able to fit Niko in sooner rather than later, and since this only happened once I don't think it's a situation of his having to be seen immediately.

 

[kme3388]

Nico hasn’t had this happen again. He is of course sensitive always. I’m sick with a fever, and soar throat. I needed to rest today so I wasn’t able to give Nico as much attention. There are now a dozen plucked feathers. Then I take him out to train with him to see if this can deter him from feather plucking. He does 1 trick (he can do many more), and he’s done! The videos are below. Sometimes it’s hard to own a parrot because I don’t have anyone I can really reach out to that can take on Nico when I’m sick.

 

[kme3388]

Nico is back on celecoxib 😢 I’m incredibly sad as Nico was doing so well for awhile. He grew in some beautiful feathers, and appeared to be in good health. His vet does think his falling off the perch and afterwards being dazed for about 10 minutes before snapping out of it was a seizure. Maybe a flare of the bornavirus.

Nico in the last 24 hours scissored every single feather on his one wing 😢

 

[kme3388]

I’m assuming Nico is sensitive to change. I’ve been trying out new toys in his cage to see if he will interact with them. Instead he is feather plucking, and won’t go near them. Has anyone else experienced this with an Ekkie? Is there any suggestions on introducing new things to a parrot that may be very sensitive to change?

 

[kme3388]

Nico’s making friends. It’s so weird every time I bring him outside we attract a bunch of other birds.

 

[kme3388]

 

[LaManuka]

Awwwwwwww Nico, you are just picture-perfect!! 😍