Conference 7.286::pet_birds

    Hi Jane...
    
    Make an appointment with a vet...In the mean time, put Shirley in
    a cage by herself with a heating pad under it, get the temperature
    up to 85 degrees.  Put white paper towels under her and count the
    droppings.  There should be 45 to 60 per day for a healthy bird.
    Make sure the color is right.
    
    How is Pepsi, is he showing any signs too?  How long were you on
    holiday?  Who fed the birds while you were gone?  Were the birds
    without water for any length of time?  Have they been trying to
    breed?  Shirley could be egg bound.  If she is egg bound, there
    will be considerably fewer droppings too.
    
    When you put her on the heating pad, wrap the cage in Saran Wrap
    on all sides, leaving an inch or two open for air and if she won't
    eat on her own, then try to force feed her.  Sick birds rarely eat
    and nutrition is vital at this point!  Another thing you can do
    for the time being, before seeing a Dr. is to give shirley some
    plain yogurt -- with *active cultures* to replace intestinal bacteria.
    You can do this by eyedropper, syringe or pipette, and only a drop
    or two at a time.
    
    Please keep us posted Jane!  I don't want to hear about sick birds
    a I *darn* sure don't want to her of any demise!!!
    
    Things sound simple enough...But call the vet, please.
    
    Jean

    
    I took Shirley to the vet on Saturday morning, the vet said that
    she had a chest infection but we caught in the early stages so she
    should survive it.  She had also strained her leg so she was finding
    it hard to balance.  The vet gave me some antibiotics to put in
    the water which didn't matter is pepsie drank it as well he also
    gave me a sarynge and told me to mix homey and water and feed it
    to her little and oftem.
    
    We took her home and put the antibiotix in the water Pepsie seemed
    a bit agitated cause he new there was something wrong but didn't
    know what.  She seemed to pick up a bit when we put them in the
    sun and she drank quite a bit of the water.  We went out to get
    shirley some honey and some other bits and pieces.  When we came
    back I checked to see if shirley was alright she was just settling
    down to go to sleep.  I mixed up some honey and water and went to
    catch her to give it to her and she had died in her sleep.
    
    Pepsie go really agitated when Mum took her out the cage cause he
    knew that she wouldn't be coming back so we rang the pet shop to
    see if they had any female cannaries and so we rushed down there
    before they shut but they didn't know what sex they were so we got
    one wich looked like it could be a female but wern't quite sure.
     Pepsie seems a bit happier now but he still gets cross cause cola
    tries to boss hem about, but they do seem to be getting on most
    of the time and they havn't been fighting only the occasional cross
    word.
    
    Jane 

    Oh Jane, I'm so sorry to hear about Shirley!  There is one thing
    that concerns me though.  The honey.  Did the vet actually tell
    you to use it?  I have had several vets say emphatically not to
    use honey, because it is not processed well, and lots of bacteria
    is still active.  That's why we use sugar or Emeraid.  I gave some
    honey to a pigeon I was rehabilitating last summer and almost lost
    him.
    
    Since Pepsi an Shriley lived together, ask your vet about keeping
    Pepsi on the antibiotic for a few more days.  Upper respiratory
    infections travel quickly and are not picky about who they debilitate.
    Birds are very suseptable to infections...all birds. I'd strongly
    recommend keeping a close eye on Cola now too, especially since
    you put her right in the same cage Shirley came from.  
    
    Best of luck to you all, and again, I'm sorry to hear about shirley!
    
    J

    I'm very sad about your loosing Shirley.  I hope that Pepsi and
    Cola will be happy and healthy together.  
    
    Karen
    

    Pepsi and Cola are very happy.  Pepsi is starting to sing but Cola
    just opens his beak and looks a bit stupid for a bit then shuts
    it cause he can't work out how to sing, I think that Cola is probably
    a male because he is a different shape to Shirley and is much more
    domonante towards Pepsi.  Neither of them show any signs of being
    ill.  Cola is not shy about anything except he dosn't want to be
    handled just yet but then Pepsi dosn't either.  Pepsi seems to have
    forgotton about shirley for most of the time although he still gets
    very agitaed when he thinks that she should be there.
    All of us realy miss shirley probably me and Pepsi most of all,
    but then she was a realy lovable little bird with a lot of Charactor.
    
    jane  

    
    Jane!
    
    Glad to hear things are looking up!!!
    
    J

    Hi
    
    I had a lot of problems with (Spot) my cockatail he kept getting sick.
    After about 7 months of medication and a LOT of vet bills the 
    vet asked me if I had washed the cage and disinfected it.
    I never knew you needed to wash the bird cage, I would just
    clean the bottom and change his water/food dishes. After the vet
    told me this, every day I would wash the food dishes . 
    There was a time that he did not have the chew toys that
    I could not wash.
    After 1 month and a lot of work he got better.
    I hope this helps you.

    
    P.S.    I bought the disinfectant from the vet.
    
    Donna

    Donna,
    
    What do you mean by wash and disenfect the cage every day?  As opposed
    to cleaning the bottom and changing food/water dishes?
    
    	-Nancy

    Hi Nancy..
    
    The cage needs to be cleaned and disinfected too because the bird
    is climing on the bars, throwing food on the bars and if he has
    an infection of some kind the bacteria is still sticking on the
    wire...This should include walls behind cages too!
    
    Rather than buy Novalsan or Roccal D  from the vets though, just
    plain clorox bleach will do the job every bit as effectively as
    the veterinary disinfectants!
    
    Jean
    

    I hope you don't mean to imply that the cage needs to be disinfected
    every day, however.  Max's cage gets completely cleaned about once
    a month, although I haven't been using a disinfectant - just hot
    water.  Once a week I change the paper in the bottom tray and scrape
    off the worst of the droppings.  His food and water are changed
    every day, of course.
    
    Should I be doing anything different?

    Hi Laura!
    
    I think you are doing fine!  If, however, Mad Fastidious Max came
    down with something...you'd need to do more.  Once a week, I walk
    thru the aviary and spray a bleach and water solution.  The bleach
    kills what every bacteria might be hanging around!
    
    Where you are a one bird household, you have less to fear than multiple
    bird households!
    
    Glad your back m'aam!!!
    
    J

    OH NO.  What a sleaze of a mother I am.  In the 2+ years that I
    have owned Hansel and Gretel, I don't think I have ever washed their
    cage.  I clean food and water dishes everyday, and I clean out the
    bottom of the cage every now and then.  But as far as washing the
    bars of the cage  -- I'm thinking that I may have done it hwen I
    moved from New York to Massachusetts.
    
    Bleach isn't harmful to them?
    	-Nancy
    
    On a positive note though, they have never been sick since the first
    month that I got them. . .

    Hi Nancy,
    
    We don't think you're a sleeze!  Gee wiz!  But bleach is great stuff!
    I often put a drop of bleach in water when I do acquire a new bird,
    it eliminates harmful bacteria and leaves the good stuff there!
    
    When using bleach, use a 1/2 cup per gallon of water...not straight!
    We bleach dishes...rinse and wipe.  If there is any bleach residue
    I don't worry about it!
    
    J
    

    So, I can just mix up a batch of bleach mix, and then take a sponge
    and wipe down the cage?  I don't have to let H&G out?  [They have
    never been out of their cage]
    
    I tell ya.  I'm learning so much from this file:  I should wash
    their cage; I shouldn't feed jsut seed; My birds might be of the
    homosexual persuasion.  No wonder, I've never gotten eggs.  I don't
    treat my feathered friends properly . . .
    
    I just better not join the pet fish file - heavens knows how poorly
    I'm treating poor Horace. . .
    
    	-Nancy

    I mean just that I had to wash/disenfect the food dishes and the
    whole cage every day...WOW what a job....but I am noticing that
    I spoke too soon Spot is getting a cloggy nose and a little bit
    of a sneese. I am wondering if a bird can have a pluged nose and
    still be normal ? 
 

    Nancy, that was the best chuckle I've had this week!!!
    
    Don't disinfect *every* day, unless you are compelled to do so!
    Just keep 'em clean, and disinfect like weekly...change bottoms
    every day...
    
    I'd recommend taking the birds out for this though...Direct fumes
    could cause you a problem!  Besides, a wet sponge and new activity
    could send them into spasams!!!
    
    No, birds should not have clogged noses...that may be something
    to have checked...but, if you look closely, most birds have a second
    stage to their nostrils...you may just be noticing this for the
    first time, and sneezing could be from dust. It is not unusual for
    a bird to sneeze after scratching or preening!
    
    8^]   8^}  8^0
    
    J(ean)
    

    re .11
    
    Why Jean, I've been here.  I read almost every day.  But I only
    write when I have something to contribute, you 'most always beat
    me to the punch on answers I know!
    
    I was using a commercial bought disinfectant which I sprayed on
    after washing with hot water, but that ran out this summer, so i"ve
    just been doing the hot water.  Maybe I'll get my lazy rear in gear
    an mix up some bleach water the next time I clean.
    
    re. 15  No I don't believe a bird can have a plugged nose without
    being seriously ill.  I've read it several places now that once
    a bird gets sick enough to show symptoms that they have had the
    illness for a while.  I'd get him to the vet.
    
    Laura

    Laura made a real good point!
    
    Because of the social way birds live...if they display being under
    the weather, the stronger birds will pick on him till he dies. 
    Even cage birds that live alone will hide symptoms of illness. 
    It's just in their genes.  
    
    That's why it is so important to watch habits, count droppings and
    monitor how much food is eaten and what kinds are left behind. 
    One trick I learned is to count feet on perches.  If a bird is sleeping
    or resting, he should only be on *one* foot.  If I see 2 feet on
    sleeping birds...off to see Uncle Dr. Brian we go! 
    
    One time I took a sleeping on 2 feet bird to see Uncle Dr. Brian
    and he laughed at me!  The bird was a baby...babies seep on both
    feet till they master balance!  8^}  So I panic big time!  Imagine
    what I'd do to my kids if I had any?!  8'}
    
    J

    Jean,
    
    Rita and Tweety always have slept on 2 feet, but they sleep on a
    swing perch. Does this still mean they are sick ?
    
    Doug

    Dear folks,
    
    I am truly sorry for not being clear. Some time it is hard to write
   write what you mean.
    Spot was sick for about 7 months off and on at first the vet said
    it was an infection in the lungs then he said it was a yeast infection
    from the medication . We played this game for a while finaly I 
    said to the vet what is going on a bird should not be sick for this
    long. The vet asked me at this time..if I washed and disinfected
    the bird cages. I said no.. The vet then sold me the disinfectant
    and told me for two weeks disenfect every day dishes and all ..
    then for two weeks after that I wanted to be sure so I did it every
    Sat.
    
    I am still wondering if I should get Spot checked again to make
    sure if he is healthy, and also I don't know if I should seek out
    a new vet or not...
    
    Thank you for your help
    
    Donna
     
  

    Hi Doug!
    
    No, sleeping on 2 feet on a swinging perch is fine!  That's balance!
    :').  It's when they have both feet clamped on, heads tucked back
    and ruffled, extra ruffled, feathers!  Sorry, I did'nt mean to alarm
    you!
    
    It is also normal to 'fluff' when sleeping or resting though...believe
    it or not...that's how they keep warm!  When I finished going through
    my ordeal with Halley, my cockatiel, NO birds were allowed to sleep
    or rest if I was around.  I couldn't take it!  I've since learned
    about normal behavior and what is expected....but thats after 4
    years and a couple of hundred birds and TONS OF $$$$ at the vet!
    
    Tail pumping...that's different...I know, what's that???  :')
    
    j

    My cages get cleaned once a month with a dulute solution of apple
    viniger.  once a week new paper on the tray.  for the parrot every
    other day.  if any large food is left over it gets picked up in
    each AM.
    
    WHEN I have an infection going on cages got cleaned daily, new paper
    2 times a day.  throw  out all wood purches and made them new ones
    for each day.  all dishes got disinfected every day and then run
    through the dish washer.  the only one who exhibited smyptoms was
    me.  I got the pusidicosis.  cuttle bones were also eliminated and/or
    replaced.  Did not loose one bird.  suspect I got the problem form
    a breeder I visited but I did not won't to take any chances.

    
    
    Hi
    
    Here is an update on Pepsi and Cola.  Cola has just learnt to sing,
    so I get both of them singing down my ear now.  It was better while
    Pepsi was moulting at least it was quiet, but I missed Pepsie singing
    and now I getting ear ache.
    
    They have there cage disinfected usually every other week and there
    paper changed once a week.  There perches are changed every month
    with Pepsie hates so I leave the top one the same for him so he
    dosn't get to sulky.
    
    Cola is becoming very pushy but so far they have only had the
    occasional cross word.  Pepsie usually tollorates Cola for a while
    then he sorts him out and everything goes back to normal.  Cola
    should grow out of being pushy as Pepsi and Shirley used to fight
    sometimes when they were yung and as they got older they grew out
    of fighting and kept within their bounds, so I am hoping Cola will
    settle down.
    
    Jane 

    Hi Jane!  Wonderful news!  Looks like Cola's a boy after all!  I
    have a good friend that breeds canaries...I wonder, if there are
    two males, singing, in the same cage, if they will ever settle their
    pecking order strategies!

    Jean
        
    

    May I introduce a new subject into SICK CANARIES?  Don't know how
    to start a new subject -- and this is about a sick canary!
    
    Has any one had experience with feather cysts?  My female Gloster
    has several.  The Vet wants to do surgery but he is terribly expensive
    (my last encounter, a broken leg, cost over $500!!) and there is
    no guarantee that this is necessary, helpful or anything else.
    
    A rather reputable dealer has told me to make the bird as happy
    as possible and accept that this is a form of cancer and she will
    die.  So far, while she looks 'lumpy' her feather condition is good,
    she is active and eats well.  She is isolated but can see and hear
    the others from her small cage.
    
    I cannot find anything about feather cysts in my limited range of
    books. Anything, experience, advice, whathave you, would be
    appreciated.
    Regards,
    
    Eileen

    Hi,
    
    I beleive I have a sick Canary. He has stopped singing ever since he
    started molting. The molting is over but now it sounds as if he has
    lost his voice. Further he seems to be breathing heavy. He always has
    his mouth open. I don't have a bird vet to take him to so I'm hoping
    someone can help.
    
    Thanks
    
    
    Rocco

    From what I read Canarys stop singing during molt. You should watch his
    dropping and see if they have changed. I don't have canaries so I can't
    help much more.