Is something wrong?

Tonifrax

Guest
Hi, so this morning I went to work with my parrotlet on stepping up and he was acting very odd. I put my hand in his cage with a treat and he as sitting on his perch, neck extended but it was almost as if he couldn't see the treat that was right in front of him. He kept moving his head like he was looking everywhere else except my hand. I put the treat right up to his beak and he just dropped it. Unfortunately he flew out the cage and now I cant get him back in. He's currently hiding on my light shade
 
lets get @Michael Reynolds and @dianaT in on this they might have some suggestions

Thank you, after sitting with him for a bit I am really worried that there is something wrong. He was flying yesterday and attempted to fly from the top of my curtain to the door frame but misjudged it and ended up on the floor. He has had incidents like that before where he has gotten spooked by something and fallen but hes been fine. When he landed on the floor he made a squawking noise but i picked him up and he seemed fine just a little spooked by the ordeal. I got him down off the light and hes sitting on top of his cage, hasnt moved at all. I dont know if hes just gotten a fright or if i should be worried theres something more seriously wrong with him. He has flown since and has not crashed into anything or had any other accidents but he just hasnt really moved much. hasnt had food yet and refused the treats i offered
 
I wonder whether he had a 'night fright' or has flown into something and you were unaware of it. Are his legs and wings all okay he could have hurt one of them. For now if I were you I would put him in his cage with his food & drink and let him rest.
 
I wonder whether he had a 'night fright' or has flown into something and you were unaware of it. Are his legs and wings all okay he could have hurt one of them. For now if I were you I would put him in his cage with his food & drink and let him rest.

He is flying around okay, legs and wings look perfectly fine. He doesn't like going back in his cage so i am currently trying to pick him up and put him in but he always flies off before i can get him in and I dont want to cause him any more stress
 
I wonder whether his sight is good.

I managed to get him to step onto a towel and into his cage without having to cover him with the towel. He luckily is quite used to the towel so he was fine with stepping onto it and it didn't cause him any stress. He's now back in his cage preening himself. I really hope he is okay. I have to admit out of my two parrotlets hes always been a bit of a worry for me. He came to me pretty bald from being over preened by his mate but its been a couple months almost that they have been seperated and his feathers are still quite scruffy. I also noticed one of his toes is missing the nail and his feet have always kind of sat at a weird angle. The weren't cared for properly before. I will just give him some peace for a while and check in on him later. hopefully he will be fine
 
Up the beta carotene in his diet by offering things that are red and things like sweet potatoes ,
Parrots are unusual in the fact that they can improve things like cataracts by converting beta carotene into vitamin A when they need it don't give vitamin A specifically let his body do the conversion.
Missing toe is nothing to worry about the twisted feet sounds like a condition called splay leg that they have as a youngster / chick nothing can be done for that after their bones "set" they do learn to just live with it if it's not too seriously effected.
 
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If you are really concerned that he is not himself then you could ring up a avian vet (make sure they avian vets that you see) for some advice. You have been given great advice already above.
 
Sorry been very busy today, how is your little fellow now?

Hi, he seems to be okay as far as I can tell. He's definitely eaten and when I came back in from the garden he was being very vocal with my other parrotlet. I went in and offered him a sunflower seed to see if he would take it as when I tried this morning he just kept dropping them, he took it from me and ate it. Hopefully he just got a fright and I'm worrying for nothing. I would be gutted if anything happened to them :crybaby2:Thank you all for the advice and support
 
@Tonifrax One thing that I am a little worried about and something I have not come across in a parrolet but I have had with other birds is the stiff stretched out neck and not even reacting to your presents. I am not a vet but I will advice you to contact your vet, tell them my following thoughts and that I think your bird was having a fit, this can happen at any time even when flying and something I have seen before in birds I have taken on and looked after. its something that can be controlled but not always cured, its not normally some thing that will cause death so do not panic, first of all get your birds bloods checked to see if the body needs help in a nutrient. Advice in the cage, have a soft floor, put the perches in a position that if your bird dose fall off them he will not hit any thing on the way down. I do not think this is a problem with the eyes or a fright. unfortunately its a problem that birds I have taken on have had. please update us on what the vet advices
 
@Tonifrax One thing that I am a little worried about and something I have not come across in a parrolet but I have had with other birds is the stiff stretched out neck and not even reacting to your presents. I am not a vet but I will advice you to contact your vet, tell them my following thoughts and that I think your bird was having a fit, this can happen at any time even when flying and something I have seen before in birds I have taken on and looked after. its something that can be controlled but not always cured, its not normally some thing that will cause death so do not panic, first of all get your birds bloods checked to see if the body needs help in a nutrient. Advice in the cage, have a soft floor, put the perches in a position that if your bird dose fall off them he will not hit any thing on the way down. I do not think this is a problem with the eyes or a fright. unfortunately its a problem that birds I have taken on have had. please update us on what the vet advices

He's never fallen for no reason as far as I'm aware, usually spooked or in poor lighting incidents have occurred. He was just acting quite odd, neck stretched and head moving back and fourth when I tried to interact with him. I'd say hes pretty comfortable around me as he steps up onto my hand every day inside his cage but some days he will flap around as if hes scared when I approach him and next thing i know hes back on his perch accepting treats. I also worry about how active they are because they seem to sleep a lot during the day and when I have gone in to their rooms during the night they are clinging to the side of the cage but don't really appear to be sleeping. They just seem to sleep a lot during the day. Usually I go in and try to get him to step up but after a couple repetitions he will stand on one leg and laze about. Not even treats seem to motivate him. They are a bit more active when they are together but I only let them interact with one of them out and the other in the cage because he gets bullied otherwise. They get a varied diet with beans, pulses, veg and a small amount of fruit. The mix includes carotene rich veg such as carrots, squash, sweet potato and red peppers. They get their chop in the morning and then seed mix in afternoon. They have plenty of toys but don't really play. They never had toys at their last home before I got them a year ago. The male, Pan, occasionally plays with shredding toys and sits on a swing but his mate just sits on her perch. I will contact my vet and see what they say just to be on the safe side. Thank you very much for your input :)
 
When a bird has a seizure its not always fitting as in shaking as many may think, the bird dose not even notice them selves that they have had one, they can come out of the seizure very quick and just act normal again. birds that suffer seizures normally will sleep or rest more, there is no question on the good diet you are giving your bird but owing to the birds body it may be that it cannot digest some needed minerals or nutrients although its eaten the best food for it , this can only be found out by a blood test. your account of how your bird was for that short time and the little accidents when flying are what I have observed with more than one bird that had seizures that I have looked after, your bird is more like being in a trance normally from a few minutes to just a couple of seconds. it is clear that your bird is not suffering and its not badly affecting his ways but it still needs to be checked so that the seizures do not escalate. its not that uncommon for birds to have seizures and also that they can get clear from them, I hope your vet will be able to advice more.
 
When a bird has a seizure its not always fitting as in shaking as many may think, the bird dose not even notice them selves that they have had one, they can come out of the seizure very quick and just act normal again. birds that suffer seizures normally will sleep or rest more, there is no question on the good diet you are giving your bird but owing to the birds body it may be that it cannot digest some needed minerals or nutrients although its eaten the best food for it , this can only be found out by a blood test. your account of how your bird was for that short time and the little accidents when flying are what I have observed with more than one bird that had seizures that I have looked after, your bird is more like being in a trance normally from a few minutes to just a couple of seconds. it is clear that your bird is not suffering and its not badly affecting his ways but it still needs to be checked so that the seizures do not escalate. its not that uncommon for birds to have seizures and also that they can get clear from them, I hope your vet will be able to advice more.

Thank you. I am glad that I brought it up. That does sound like what I experience with him. Sometimes it just seems like he's in a world of his own and then he's back to himself again. He does tend to just sit and do nothing if he's in his cage although my female is quite similar in that respect. When they used to be out together they would fly up onto the top of the curtain and just sit there for the whole day and not move at all, often just falling asleep. I wasn't sure if I should be concerned or if it was due to them not being very comfortable around me. Now I let one out and have the other in the cage on the floor where they can still interact and they do seem to venture further, walking across the carpet and coming over to check out what I am doing, usually knowing I have a treat for them. Better to be safe than sorry though, I would hate for anything to happen to them. I think they are about 3 years old and from what I was told they had only ever been fed a budgie seed mix and no fresh food so I wouldn't be surprised if that has negatively effected their development.
 
I am pleased you was able to describe how your bird reaction was so clearly, well done. the bloods are important to get as sometimes a change in diet can stop the seizures. Do not try to give extra vitamins with out your vets approval, sometimes fits can be a sign of too much getting into a birds system as well as too little. there is the other side that your bird may of had slight brain damage and there is not a lot apart from time that you can do, the biggest problem is trying to keep your bird from injury although in cases of seizures it is a very unlikely happening providing you bird dose not panic as it gets over the seizure.
 
Please keep me updated not only with the results from your vet but each time you notice him being in a trance like stat or missing his target when flying
 
Please keep me updated not only with the results from your vet but each time you notice him being in a trance like stat or missing his target when flying
I will keep you posted when I know more. Today he is like a completely different bird from yesterday. Went in and offered him a treat and he took it straight away and was eager to step up onto my hand whereas yesterday he began flapping around in the cage when I put my hand in. Trying to get him to stay on my hand after stepping up rather than jumping straight off again so we worked on that for a little while and he seemed quite content wagging his tail and definitely more alert
 
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