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Conference 7.286::pet_birds

Title:	Captive Breeding for Conservation--and FUN!
Notice:	INTROS 6.X / FOR SALE 13.X / Buying a Bird 900.*
Moderator:	VIDEO::PULSIFER

Created:	Mon Oct 10 1988
Last Modified:	Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	942
Total number of notes:	6016

215.0. "Amazon, sick or not?????" by FSADMN::LSIMPSON () Thu Jul 13 1989 13:11

    Hello.
    
    Can anyone tell me whether there is any wort of problem that a bird
    can have with his crop which sounds as if he has respiratory problems?
    
    Maybe I'd better explain.
    
    
    About a week and a half ago, I purchased a hand-fed baby Lilac-crouned
    Amazon.
    He seemed to be perfectly fine in the store but since I got him
    home, he appears to be having respiratory problems, at least that's
    what I thought at first.  
    About 2 days after I got him home, at least once a day, he started
    sneezing or coughing several times in succession.  This usually
    happened while he was eating, although it did happen once after
    he had done a bit of exercise.    He would suddenly start coughing
    or sneezing and would do it about 10 times or so.  So, I took him
    to the vet ASAP!!!
    
    But the vet didn't find anything wrong.  So I took him home and
    proceeded to try straining his food in order to cut down on dust,
    and other things in case he was having trouble with some sort of
    irritation.
    
    Well, yesterday, he started sounding like he was congested when
    he was breathing.  However, his nostrils are not clogged, he looks
    very alert, and is eating like a little pig.  So, I look more closely
    at him while he breathed and I noticed that when he seemed to be
    congested, his crop seems to move up and down.  I know this all
    sounds kind of strange but has anyone ever had or heard of any
    experience like this?
    
    Should I take him back to the vet?  I've started giving him some
    Ornison Plus, in case it is some sort of respiratory problem.
    
    Can anyone help?
    
    The bird is about 4 months old.  I'm feeding him Kaytee Fortidiet
    with some Superpreen vitamins in his water.
    
    
    Help!!!!!
    
    Thanks very much.
    
    Laurie

T.R	Title	User	Date	Lines
215.1	Few Suggestions..	ANT::MPCMAIL	`Thu Jul 13 1989 18:20`	16
	First thing I would do is check yor bird droppings! We have a yellow nape amazon and when we first purchased her we checked the droppings. We also found out that giving her the forti diet was too rich for her. So we just put vitamins into her drinking water. Our bird also seems to breathe heavy after physical exeration, but so do humans! The store that we bought her from Tropic Isle Was very patient when we brought her back twice, new owners of this type of bird, the man in charge of the birds has birds himself, Amazons I think, showed us how to clean her nose, told us that sometimes the bird will sneeze when we can't see things because just like humans somee things can tickle the nose, BUT.. If it keep contining then bring her to a vet. I hope everything works out for you and your new bird, as an upbeat ending ours is about 10 months old and is a laugh a second! Lise
215.2	Allergy ?	MUNCSS::BURKE	`Fri Jul 14 1989 05:56`	9
	We had (or thought so) a respiratory problem with our Grey (Basil). [Istarted a note on this somewhere] The facts that: his droppings were OK, his feeding was normal, and there was no nasal discharge, gave us peace of mind. However, a NOTEr suggested allergy. It wasn't relevant in our case, since his environment had not changed, but it may be of interest to you. Any good ? Jim Burke
215.3	Thanks to all who replied to this note.	WARLRD::SIMPSON	`Mon Jul 17 1989 16:12`	16
	RE: .2. I thought of this posibility over the weekend. The bird cages on either side of him had cedar in the bottom of the cages. He did not have any in his cage, but I wondered if he could still be breathing any cedar dust and was alergic to it. I have removed all cedar from any cages and am now using corn cob for the bottom of the cages. He seems to be doing much better. He only coughs or sneezes once in a while and selcom sounds stopped up any more. I will be taking him to my regular vet in about 3 weeks just for another examination. I just want to be sure he is really all right. Thanks to everyone who replied to my note. Laurie
215.4	Anybocy had experience with Proteus?	WARLRD::SIMPSON	`Tue Aug 01 1989 17:59`	30
	Anyone ever had a bird with proteus? You remember the bird that I asked about in .0? Well, I took him to the vet and he was diagnosed as having proteus. I'm rather upset, in a way, because the first vet I took him to as well as the pet shop seemed to be very insistent that it was an alergy. Well, I thought so too, at first. But the bird began to lose weight rapidly and his breathign difficulties got much worse. The first vet I took him to did give me some antibiotic. It was like pulling teeth to get anything though because he was so sure it was an alergy. The vet I am currently seeing did some blood work, cultures, sensitivity tests, the whole nine yards. He diagnosed Proteus. He said the antibiotic I was giving the bird was all right but not the best one to cure the problem. Thank goodness I think the bird will be well soon. Laurie P.S. I kept telling those other people it was not just an alergy, but they would not listen. Oh well, sigh.....