vomitting

Sassy12

New member
Aug 25, 2015
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Belle, Missouri
Parrots
Yellow Shouldered Amazon
Is vomitting natural for a parrot to do? I noticed Sassy not eating and gave her some water, which she drank about 8 big beak fulls. Gave her some bread and some string cheese. She ate a little of the bread but dropped most. Same with the string cheese. The next morning she vomitted and on me. After that, she ate a seedless grape and got the eating again.

She eats a lot of human food in her diet. The vet told us parrots can eat most foods a person eats. Like noodles, bread, cereals, cheese, fruits, vegitables, ect. So Sassy eats a variety of foods with her regular seeds. Shared my bowl of oatmeal with her, ice cream, ect. I avoid chocolate, avocodo, alcohol, tomatoes, .. but the main reason the vet said to feed the parrot human foods also, was to get interaction with the family verses treating the parrot like a bird. That the parrot would become depressed and feel like a non family member.

I know a parrot with regurdgitate its food. But never saw it regurdgitate water. This occurred around 2 months ago. It might have had to do with the string cheese. Wasn't a chedder cheese and hard on her system. So she vomitted it up. Never the less, I know now not to give her string cheese. Crackle Barrel cheese and American Cheese seems best. She eats it up.

When my Grandparents owned the biggest parakeet avairy in northern California, they could get vitimans and medicines for sick parakeets. I don't have any access to neither, except for what I see on the internet. Only vitimans. So if my parrot becomes sick with the flue like symptoms, I have know way of making sure she is fine. I notice when she is not eating, to give her water, apple juice, even koolade with no sugar.. I try to get her to eat, by choosing foods she usually begs for. We were out of regular Crackle Barrel and American Cheese so gave her string cheese. She often drinks my Koolade from my glass. It is vitiman water with food coloring. She likes it. I can't even pronounce what my Grandparent gave their sick parakeets. Something like teramycin. It was to cure the flue, have meds equivalent to bird aspirin in it. They would mix oatmeal and feed through a syring. Force liquid in birds beak. Set aside in desperate cage and warm up with light bulb and cover cage with towel. The teramycin would come in a packet that that mixed with water to give the sick birds.

Where we live now, is in a town of 2000 people and the best vet hospital is 90 miles away in St Louis. Had her wings and nails clipped by the Owensville vet, but he said, he usually works on dogs and cats. He gave Sassy a clean bill of health. It has been a few years.
 
Ok so vomiting/regurgitating food is natural behavior of parrots in the wild. it is how the parents feed the baby chicks. however a possible reason for your bird regurgitating/vomiting is that you have been feeding it cheese. parrots cant handle the lactose in milk products, cheese being a milk product so i would recommend removing cheese from your parrots diet and then see if it stops vomiting. Anyway good luck. :D
 
Would you give a child anything and everything it wanted to eat? They are stupid and driven by simple desires/pleasures. Stop giving your bird so much human food, especially processed junk foods. Most of the food-like products you mentioned aren't even things you should be eating!

It also sounds like the vets you have visited may not be very knowledgeable about psittacine birds (e.g., parrots). What is more important: a healthy bird or a friendly/sociable bird? To me, the ethical thing is to keep the bird healthy first, then work on socialization.
 
We eat with our parrots but they get their own dish of goodies. My Ekkie is ill due to vitamin A deficiency so both fids get foods high in vitamin A, colorful fruits and veggies finely chopped or grated. I'll put their food in a bowl and they will sit with us all eating together. Because my plate is better, they will try to take from my plate so I put their good stuff on a spoon and show them. They eat it feeling like they scored off my plate. The links Wendy gave are great. I also like making chop and mash. It's easy to store and helps with feeding each day.
 
That doesn't sound like regurgitating to me.

One, birds can't digest milk so feed cheese, Ice cream etc in moderation.
Two, human saliva contains toxins birds can't handle so they should never drink or eat after you. My amazon LOVES my toast only if I'm eating with her so I tear a small piece off the opposite side of the part I am eating from. None of them are allowed to drink out of my glass. If I ever remembered to share my tea they would have to have their own cup.

What your grandparents gave for a sick parakeet may not have been correct all the time. And if it was Terramycin it won't really treat the flu. It treats bacteria. Definitely not something YOU should give anyways.

I would work on the diet based on the links Wendy shared.
 
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Seen a television episode on 20/20 that covered the conures of San Fransisco. These parrots are not native to the Bay Area but have thrived there. Why is this? Well, people discard a lot of food that the parrots now eat. A lot are processed foods. The birds escaped from owners, breed, and now have become a flock of 200 parrots. Not native to the area, but have made it their home because of plenty of food. So are these parrots unhealthy for eating what man discards. I don't think so.

Terrimycin is a antibiotic for birds that cures running nose and respitory problems. Terrimycin has been around for some time, because the poultry use it also to cure chickens. See, when a bird becomes sick, there is only 3 days before that bird could actually die. They can't go 3 days without eating. Less for drinking. You probably will not realize, that your bird is sick, for at least 20 hours. You will notice the bird is not eat nor drinking water first. Than you will notice your bird sleeping and ruffled feathers. When you approach the bird, the bird will act like it is o.k.. meaning give the appearance of not being sick. So the ruffle feathers come down. This is because birds in the wild will kill a sick bird. So they must be o.k. to other preditors. So the bird will not say, I don't feel good. So you need to be a good observer. Looking for signs of not eating, not drinking, ruffled feathers, sleeping, lithargic, runny nose, respitory problems, sitting in bottom of cage. If you bring your sick bird to the vet, 9 out of 10, he will place your sick bird on a antibiotic called Terrimycin.Most people that own parrots, do not realize the signs of sickness. By the time they do, it is to late for the vet to save the birds life. That is why I want vitimins and Terrimycyn in my possession. Can start it on antibiotics before taking to a vet.

Sassy is healthy. No problems. By begging for human food, tells me her health condition. Cheese is not given daily but she does love cheese. Cereal like Cherios is not bad for her. I think a lot of food the conures of San Fransisco are eating, is processed foods. If Sassy does not beg, there is a problem. She gets her daily parrot mix in her own bowl. Gets mixed vegitable in her own bowl. Gets things like bread off my sandwich by me giving to her by hand, or a piece of cheese. Calcium is suppose to be apart of a birds diet too. Meaning, a party of a hard boiled egg, cheese, fish should not hurt a parrot.
 
Unfortunately I see you are set in your believes that all the junk you feed your bird is not a problem whatsoever. I'm sure the special you saw on 20/20 covered the nutrition of the 'wild' parrots in San Fran in detail. :54: Cheerios 'may' be good for you, but why not have a look at the amount of iron it contains, and then research how much iron your bird should have?

I'm glad Sassy appears to be healthy. :) Let's hope she stays that way. Good thing you have antibiotics on hand. :rolleyes:
 
I know exactly what Terramycin is.

I would never use antibiotics on my birds because they are so delicate and fragile.

I keep antibiotics on hand to use on my HORSES because I have 20+ years experience and could probably qualify as a vet in a pinch at this point.

But birds are a totally different thing. Giving them an antibiotic because they aren't eating?!? When you don't know what's causing it and therefore don't know if the medicine is actually going to work or not? No.
Could do more harm than good.

My .02.
 
FYI poultry keeping is very different from parrots.
VERY different nutrition and husbandry requirements.
 
I'm afraid I'm not as nice as Wendy. Firstly, you come to ask for help because your bird is regurgitating the awful diet you feed her and then, when experienced members advise you, you argue. Next, you maintain that wild birds eating a starvation diet of throw-away human food is evidence that your bird ought to survive on rubbish too.

Can you (please) see that doesn't make a lot of sense?

Your bird should be eating pellets, seeds, fresh fruit and vegetables (from the safe list) every day. The addition of micro amounts of things like chopped egg or fish is not frowned upon, but is not necessary. The feeding of any milk product to birds is widely known to be a) unnecessary and b) probably unhealthy in the long run. If your child were lactose-intolerant (as birds are), would you persist in feeding him ice-cream and cheese? I should hope not! My children begged unceasingly for ice-cream and chocolate when they were toddlers. They didn't get what they begged for.

The point you make about wild birds is hilarious! Even human beings can survive by eating garbage. They can even reproduce and increase their populations under such conditions, but poor nutrition inevitably results in shorter lifespans. This is why caged birds generally live much longer than wild ones. Presumably you want the best for your bird, so you should be feeding the best, not a diet calculated to reduce his health and lifespan.

Please think carefully about the good advice you have been given here. Your bird will be much more healthy if you do.

PS. Regarding your administration of terramycin (or any antibiotic) to your bird: are you well-versed in the knowledge of which bacteria are treatable by terramycin (or whatever else you might use)? Do you know for certain that giving terramycin will do no harm? Are you completely sure of the correct dosage and way of administration? Are you a vet?
 
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