Is he SICK or just TAME?

[Miki]

I'm going to make it short and sweet. 😌
have an 8 month old male lovebird. He is usually extremely energetic but now all he does is lay in my hand and sleep or he climbs into my shirt and then he sleeps. He is very loving and easy to handel that's why I'm wondering if he is just very loving and wants to cuddle or is he sick?

[linda040899]

Based on my own personal experience, behavior out of the ordinary usually means that something is wrong. I would say you need to make an appointment with your avian vet and see what the problem is. He's sleeping with you when he would usually be playing so he's feeling under the weather. Being close to you keeps him warm. I would not wait very long. Birds, being predator animals, will hide illness as long as possible so they do not appear to be vulnerable. Please let me know how he is doing.

[Miki]

Thanks. I will try to make an appointment. The only problem is that the vet where i live doesn't specialize in birds. So the nearest avian vet is a few hours away��

I still have some antibiotics left that the vet gave me last time with my other lovebird (Stitch) before he passed away in December. Maybe i can give Lilo some of it and see if he gets better?

[linda040899]

Without knowing what is wrong, I would not use an antibiotic that was prescribed for another bird unless you are sure the problem is the same. The only exception to that might be a broad spectrum antibiotic. Perhaps check around and see if there is a vet that is closer that simply knows a lot about birds. I have one avian vet and another one who simply knows birds well. In a pinch, experience can be just as good.

What medication do you have on hand?

[Miki]

To be honest i think there stands "BNROVET" or "Brovet" or something like that on the little bottle what the vet gave me and told me to put in their water daily.

[linda040899]

What was the medication supposed to treat? Using medication is water is not normally the best way to administer treatment because you have no control over how much medication actually gets into the bird. If the bird doesn't like the taste, it may not drink any of it at all. For cats/dogs, it's used to treat seizures. However, since there are no medications specifically approved for parrots, vets use what works, regardless of what kind of animal it was intended for.

[Miki]

So Stitch was super sleepy and very droopy. He kept swaying (he didn't have any balance) and eventually he started regurgitating up his food and spitting it out. So the vet said that i must put it in his water and he also got a vitamin injection of some sort.

[linda040899]

This is a different situation so I would not use the medication. See what this vet has to say about the sleepiness. I, personally, don't like medication in water because you can't control dosage.

[Miki]

I understand. I'll get him to a vet. Also.. when he sleeps on my hand and i keep him verg close to my ear then i can hear him breathing.. i don't know of that's normal or not.

[linda040899]

As long as the breathing isn't labored and raspy, it's probably normal breathing. Hard to say, sight unseen.

[Miki]

Just an update on Lilo. He had a broken blood feather and he looks much better today. He is active and still as cuddly and loving like he use to be although his breathing is strange.

[linda040899]

Broken blood feathers can be very serious, as the new shaft can act like a straw for blood loss if the blood does not clot. I always keep either corn starch or flour on hand so I can put some between my fingers when I apply pressure to the area to help the blood clot. I make sure the bleeding has stopped before I release the pressure. It used to be that removing the feather was recommended but that can cause great pain so I use pliers to remove the offending feather only a a last resort. To do that, securely grab the feather and quickly pull it out.

Keep an eye on the breathing and see your vet if it does not improve in a couple of days.

[Miki]

I'll keep an eye on him. The bleedimg luckily stopped soon after i saw his feather sticking out.. it kept getting caught between his other feathers and then he would scream so i knew he was in pain. I just cut about half of the feather just so it wouldn't get caught again. Since i didn't want to pull out the blood feather and maybe cause him serious pain or that he'll maybe end up bleeding to death. I'm very careful since i live very far from the nearest avian vet. I Also realized he would like vibrate or shiver so i did some research and it said that it just means they are happy. So I'm not that worried.

[linda040899]

You did the best thing you could have for the broken blood feather. Lovebirds are one of the few parrot species that will vibrate when they are happy.