# Pigeon keeps opening mouth 3 to 5 times every hour.



## eres (Aug 13, 2016)

I am from Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. 

I have purchased a pair of pigeons a week ago. From the day I purchased them, one of them (probably female, no sure yet) keeps opening her mouth. She opens her mouth 3-5 times every hour, and sometimes more. 

She eats totally fine and everything else looks great. Why does she opens her mouth?

Here is a one minutes video to show you how it opens mouth so often.






Her mouth and throat also look fine. Here are the pictures of her throat. 



















Here is one more picture for closer look.











What could be the problem? How should it be treated? 

Thanks in advance.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Isolate her for now, (keep her warm out of drafts) so you can keep a close eye on her, how many poops she is doing and how well she is actually eating. Even if it seems like they eat well, that may not always be the case. Also, best to isolate any bird to protect the rest of your flock. Is her keel bone sharp or protruding?

It looks to me like she is trying to clear her throat by stretching her neck and opening her beak. She does look a bit fluffed up too. Does she have any bad smell coming from inside her mouth?...any fluid? Is there any noise, like rasping or gurgling when she breaths? 

You might want to ask the former owner about her and any history. Has she been treated for mites/lice/worms? Any canker going around? 

Could be anything at this point, (and stress from moving doesn't help) from blockage, disease or more. If there is some kind of blockage, it is important to note if food is passing well or not.
*


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## eres (Aug 13, 2016)

I am not close to pigeon right now but I can answer some of the questions.

- She eats very well and food is passing through her throat, her crop is filled like normal healthy pigeons.
- She looks almost like her mate and they have same keel bone. Not much difference. Doesn't seem sharp or protruding.
- She had bad smell coming out of her mouth 2 days ago. I am not sure about now. (I will confirm it again tomorrow). But there was no fluid.
- Her breath is normal and there is no special sound.
- I don't have contact of former owner, so I can't reach him. Doesn't seem like cranker because peak and visible part of throat looks clear as you can see in images I have attached at my initial post.

- Is it necessary to count number of poops? It looks difficult. 

I will again confirm all your questions tomorrow when I will be close to her. Meanwhile, any idea?



Skyeking said:


> *Isolate her for now, (keep her warm out of drafts) so you can keep a close eye on her, how many poops she is doing and how well she is actually eating. Even if it seems like they eat well, that may not always be the case. Also, best to isolate any bird to protect the rest of your flock. Is her keel bone sharp or protruding?
> 
> It looks to me like she is trying to clear her throat by stretching her neck and opening her beak. She does look a bit fluffed up too. Does she have any bad smell coming from inside her mouth?...any fluid? Is there any noise, like rasping or gurgling when she breaths?
> 
> ...


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*If you put her in a seperate cage and put her on a white paper towels, you can see poops and know which are hers.

If she has smell coming from her mouth, that can be due to several issues, sour crop, crop statis-even canker. Canker does not always show up in throat. 

Crop status: http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/cropstasissourcrop.htm

Canker: http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/canker.htm *


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## eres (Aug 13, 2016)

It is not sour crop because today, I kept her hungry and I checked her crop that was almost empty. Then I fed her and she ate well and crop was filled normally.

Only possibility left is Cranker. I have already started its treatment and I am giving her 30-40mg metronidazole once in a day. 

Now I noticed that her frequency of opening mouth is reduced a little. So, I think he is getting well. Also now, there is also no smell from he mouth. But after giving her metronidazole, I saw her poop color is changed. Here is an image. Is it okay?












Skyeking said:


> *If you put her in a seperate cage and put her on a white paper towels, you can see poops and know which are hers.
> 
> If she has smell coming from her mouth, that can be due to several issues, sour crop, crop statis-even canker. Canker does not always show up in throat.
> 
> ...


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Sometimes they do that when moulting, if they get any feathers or feather debris anything caught down their throat. Other than that, I have seen that with canker. Also with canker they would have a bad smell from their beak. Canker often isn't going to show in the throat. If you can't find another reason, I would treat with Metronidazole for canker. You want the tablet, not the liquid or powder that you put in the water. You want be able to give it right down the throat to be sure she gets the right dose. 50 mg one time a day for 7 to 10 days. And yes, she should be separated from others. You can't monitor how much they are eating or pooping, or anything else, if she is in with the others.
New birds should always be quarantined for a month before putting in with your birds which gives you time to monitor, worm, and treat any problems.


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## eres (Aug 13, 2016)

*My Pigeon is well now *

After treating with Metronidazole for 4 days, today she has not opened her mouth. She is almost good now. 

Yes she was going through moulting, but there were other going through moulting as well. Only this was one opening mouth. So it was probably cranker.

I am expecting her to be totally okay tomorrow and I am thinking to stop Metronidazole after 5 doses of Metronidazole.

Thank you so much *Skyeking* and *Jay3* for your timely and precious support.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Please don't stop the treatment. It can come back on the bird. Also, giving meds for short periods helps the trich to build up a resistance to the drug. It isn't a good idea to stop it too soon. I always do the 10 days just to be sure. But you should at least give it for 7 days. I'm so glad your bird is doing better.


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## eres (Aug 13, 2016)

Duly noted. I will go for 7 days. Thanks 



Jay3 said:


> Please don't stop the treatment. It can come back on the bird. Also, giving meds for short periods helps the trich to build up a resistance to the drug. It isn't a good idea to stop it too soon. I always do the 10 days just to be sure. But you should at least give it for 7 days. I'm so glad your bird is doing better.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

That's great. I'm glad you caught it early. It pays to watch your birds. So much easier to nip something in the bud at the beginning. Good job.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Glad you started treatment early. Please keep us updated once treatment is completed, and keep a close eye on her mate-as he could also have it if they share water and food bowls. *


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Skyeking said:


> *Glad you started treatment early. Please keep us updated once treatment is completed, and keep a close eye on her mate-as he could also have it if they share water and food bowls. *


^Good point.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Bubbles reminded me of an earlier post here.
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f6/bubbles-in-poop-is-it-normal-84361.html?highlight=Bubbles+poop


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## eres (Aug 13, 2016)

I have treated her with Metronidazole for 7 days. She still opens her mouth but not very often. Like once a day.

*and as it turned out, it was a male. The pigeon dude sold me both male that is why I hate these guys. *

Now I will probably be finding a female and will be getting rid of one of the male and that will be it.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

We ended up with a male the owner said was a female but maybe you can just keep both and get two females. They just grow on you.  
Apparently it is very hard to tell male from female without DNA tests or history of laying an egg. If you don't want to breed maybe the two males can coexist?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

eres said:


> I have treated her with Metronidazole for 7 days. She still opens her mouth but not very often. Like once a day.
> 
> *and as it turned out, it was a male. The pigeon dude sold me both male that is why I hate these guys. *
> 
> Now I will probably be finding a female and will be getting rid of one of the male and that will be it.


If she is still showing signs of canker, or acting like there is something in her throat, then she probably should have been treated for longer than 7 days. Don't know as I'm not watching her.


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## eres (Aug 13, 2016)

Now this is so hard to tell about the disease. I had a bad experience with local vets before. They give some 3 in 1 or similar stupid stuff, which never cured my pigeons.

Any disease I came to know here is not the one he is suffering from, but there was just cranker. I tried Metronidazole for that for 7 days. I thought he is getting better, but I was wrong. He usually stops doing it for a a day or two and then suddenly starts doing again. So it is not cranker. There seems nothing wrong with his mouth, there is no bad smell in his mouth. 

One thing more I noticed is that he looks stressed. He still doesn't seem much happy at his new home. It has been more than 2 weeks. Even the other pigeon (probably his brother, which I brought with him) is so happy and trying to become the king of new home 

His brother is so disparately trying to find a mate by flirting with other pigeons but he is not.

My thought is to let him live like this - he will probably get well at his own. 



Jay3 said:


> If she is still showing signs of canker, or acting like there is something in her throat, then she probably should have been treated for longer than 7 days. Don't know as I'm not watching her.


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## eres (Aug 13, 2016)

Yes good idea. I will think about it. 



cwebster said:


> We ended up with a male the owner said was a female but maybe you can just keep both and get two females. They just grow on you.
> Apparently it is very hard to tell male from female without DNA tests or history of laying an egg. If you don't want to breed maybe the two males can coexist?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Could it be something respiratory? He sounds as though he is not well.


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## eres (Aug 13, 2016)

He was not stressed today. He was flirting and looked happy today. But he also kept opening his mouth. 

I just know about common pigeon diseases. What respiratory problem can it be and how should I treat it?  Should I try doxycycline hyclate?



Jay3 said:


> Could it be something respiratory? He sounds as though he is not well.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Without tests, can't be sure what it is or what to treat with. If having to shoot in the dark, then Doxy would probably be it. Or Doxy-T.
If treating with Doxy, be sure to remove anything with calcium in it. Calcium will bind to the drug and make it less effective.


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