Sun conure terrible appetite

[PeteyBird]

New member:

I have a wonderful and very bonded-to-me sun conure. He’s about 4 and I got him as a weanling. He’s energetic and Fun and spends a lot of time with me. Recently he started acting “off”. And I noticed he was acting “puny” with fluffed feathers. I called a random breeder I found on line to ask some questions. He was perfectly fine and then he’s wasn’t. She advised a VERY WARM cage, wrapped it, used a space heater in the room and used a red heater bulb and got a really warm room.

I ended up taking him to a 24 hr vet around 2 in the morning. as he was uninterested in being with me and very weak.

He wanted to do xrays. ($300 on top of the $175 visit) and Then blood work extra etc. I declined the pressure to have xrays and I took all the notes they write about him that I was given and read them in the car first (before having X-rays) as I planned to go back in and do xrays but wanted to think and read first,, but a couple comments about feeding him stood out. Don’t feed sunflowers (he eats a lot of those) body scale 4 out of 10 (!!) and so on. Now this bird is always in my food and has a lot of variety but I started noting he’s “picking” and not really eating. I had asked for “what would you do if he was yours and no xrays” and was suggested to “force feeding” baby bird food by syringe and baby food every 3 hours. So I diligently have fed him every 3 hours for about a week. He rallied and started being more sturdy and back to wanting to be with me and yelling at me to come get him etc. Flying to me if he gets the chance and so on... so he’s much better

But

I’m still feeding him a variety of baby purée (veggies and fruits and yogurt) plus baby bird food. I bought him a couple bags of beautiful seeds and essentials (no sunflowers) he picks but just wants to chew them up and go on to the next seed. I dropped a few sunflowers in also to watch and he goes after them but mostly just chewing them up. This is crazy. I’m fighting him to eat the baby bird food, but I get it in him and he will nibble on the fruits and veggies And yogurt Purées in the syringe. He’s screaming at me when I take him off my shoulder to feed and. He will fly to my husband’s shoulder to get away from me when he sees the “feeding station” .

What is going on???? What can I do? Help! (Also yes, I feel bad for not realizing he was getting skinny and not eating. Since I gave him a big bowl for free grazing it didn’t register)
Thanks

 

[Jen5200]

Welcome! I’m not sure where you are located - do you have access to an avian vet to consult with? An emergency vet likely isn’t specialized in avian, but thankfully was there when you needed someone. Did they do any bloodwork? I couldn’t guess what is going on, but definitely would recommend at least calling an avian vet to see what they recommend. Keep him on the feeding you are doing until he starts eating enough on his own....if you haven’t tried it, he may like finely chopped veggies/fruit, maybe mixed with his seeds? So sorry you are going through this, I hope he improves.

 

[Scott]

As Jen suggested, the vet you saw at 0200 was unlikely avian certified. There is likely an underlying issue depressing appetite and causing weight loss. Whether it is infection, fungal, potential metal poisoning, or other malady is best determined with blood labs and possibly throat or fecal cultures. If he is stable, X-Rays, if warranted, can wait until lab results available - especially if mild sedation required.

Has he had recent access to unusual items, possibly chewed and swallowed? Have you noticed changes to his droppings?

A sensitive scale measured in grams is one of the best early warning tools. Fairly inexpensive, weigh at same time of day, preferably after a morning poop. Birds are masters of hiding illness, but weight loss is an early clue.

 

[PeteyBird]

Well the vet office said they were avian and the info he gave me was pretty knowledgeable (and he had an African gray in the waiting room). He also told me that I should not have “all you can eat” access and should give limited access to food so he’d be inclined to eat.

I want to wait til after the corona virus stay at home we are under to get blood work done.

Also he wants me to literally hand him the seeds from his cup.