# This little guy was looking a little off-color, so I grabbed him...



## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

Hi everyone,

This little guy is Chocolate:









He's one of the feral flock that live in the roof next door. I've known him since he fledged, & I frequently sneak him seed, so I'm a bit attached to him...

I noticed a couple of days ago that he was looking a little off-colour, barely eating any of the seed I offered, & sitting fluffed up by himself, away from the others, looking pretty miserable. I tried to grab him 3 days ago, but missed, & he escaped back to the roof next door. Ditto for the day after. I finally got him last night, thank goodness, & he's currently in the hospital/quarantine box I use for sick, rescued pigeons. 

These are his poops from last night, which don't look good to me:









He seems a bit brighter today, which is good, but I'm reticent to let him go til his poop looks a little more like it should. 

Any suggestions as to what he might need, or whether he's sick, from his poops? He looks healthy from the outside, & there's no growths inside his mouth, however he feels a little thin - his keel is sticking out more than I think is normal. Also, is it safe to put him in with my little mate Jaws, who has the suspected canker, or should I keep them separate? The hospital box he's in is kinda tiny & dark, that's all... I've been taking him out & feeding him seed regularly, & dipping his beak in water too, to make sure he's not starving coz it's too dark for him to see to eat or drink.

Thanks in advance! 🙂


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## jonrf (Nov 30, 2017)

Hi,

I would keep the little guy isolated from your other bird, perferably in seperate rooms, and wash hands between and after caring for both birds.

The droppings look off, and the fact he or she was fluffed up is a sure indicator of pain, discomfort, or illness. I hope he has fought it off and is getting better.

The best thing would be 4-in-1 or 5-in-1 pigeon tabs that will treat most everything. He may have a bacterial or fungal infection in the GI track, or some other parasite like protozoa or nematodes. Diagnosing it may be tricky, and may require a microscope for a fecal exam or culture dishes. Combo tablets are much simpler, but identifying the issue is usually best.


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## jonrf (Nov 30, 2017)

You can add a few drops of apple cider vinegar or a little bit (1/8 tsp.) of mashed garlic clove in the water too.


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## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

@aphontus - s/he's gorgeous, huh? S/he's just one of the flock of ferals living next door... there's a pretty wide variety of colours amongst them, but he's the only milk chocolate coloured one. There was dark chocolate coloured one too, possibly a sibling, but I haven't seen that one for a couple of weeks... I'm hoping they've just moved out of home & are living happily with another flock nearby. We've got a caramel coloured racer that's integrated with the flock, some jet black birds, one salted caramel coloured pigeon, a white one with various coloured splotches, & lots of other colours, so I'm guessing this little one's just some kind of genetic throwback or something. Whatever's going on, s/he's definitely a gorgeous bird. So soft, too! ❤

@jonrf , thanks so much for the advice. I'd already been giving him/her ACV water since capture, & because I was taking Jaws (my mate from my other post) to the vet today, I made a last minute decision to load Chocolate up & take him/her too. I put a divider in between the 2 in the cardboard carrier box I used, so I hope that's sufficient to keep Jaws from contracting anything... I've been washing my hands between holding them as you suggested. On the way to the vet, Chocolate vomited up some seeds, & a little bit of greyish, thick liquid. I don't think it was motion sickness, because it happened before we even got in the car while I was walking over the road to meet my lift, but perhaps they're just a sensitive bird, or it was nerves. S/he threw up once or twice more while at the vet & in transit home.

The vet checked out some poop under the microscope while we were there & said it's either worms or coccidiosis, but she couldn't say for sure due to the small sample size. She said there were definitely things moving around in the sample though... which do you think it's more likely to be? They didn't have any coccidiosis treatment, so the vet recommended a local pet store to get some, but it was already shut by then so I'm going to get some first thing tomorrow, & some worming stuff too. Because I'm in Australia, none of those great 4-in-1 & 5-in-1 treatments like you have over there. Is there anything I can get from the supermarket in the meantime that would help? Poor Chocolate looks so miserable... 

Cheers,

Fern


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## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

I've started Choccy-bird on coccidiosis treatmemt - Vetafarm Coccivet, which is delivered via drinking water (1 drop per 30mL) for 5-7 days, & cannot be mixed with other treatments. Once he's finished that course of treatment, I've got some Avitrol Plus liquid here ready to worm him with - does anyone happen to know the recommended dosage for piggos? I'm finding it a bit confusing to work out, because I'm atrocious with maths.

He's looking a little brighter since the coccidiosis treatment's started working, I think, although his poops still smell horrible. They were still very runny, light brown, & almost mucousy-looking, until this morning... last night, I was holding him & trying to tempt him to eat some seeds, but he kept pecking & flicking them rather than swallowing them, & because he's getting so thin, I finally decided to pop some peas into him instead, because I hated to see him hungry but barely eating anything. I fed him about 20 peas before bed, & his poos this morning were so much better, albeit still pretty smelly:









I gave him another 25 peas this morning, & I'm about to give him around the same for lunch shortly, then ditto for dinner later on. Is that about right, in terms of how much he should be eating? He seems a lot livelier since I started doing it, which makes me think that perhaps some of his lethargy & droopiness was due to him just being hungry... poor guy.  Oh well, I'm onto it now, & I'll be popping him full of peas regularly til he's eatins seeds with a bit more accuracy & gusto!

Cheers!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Can't answer all your questions, but regarding the peas: you can feed him more. Rather go for 40 to 50 peas 3 times a day, as long as the crop empties inbetween.


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## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

His poos are still smelly & really watery, & he's lost a lot of weight (about 40g) in the last week - I'm really worried about him. I checked to see how his crop felt 2 days ago, when I was about to feed him some more peas, & I noticed his crop wasn't emptying, & in fact felt quite full & solid. While waiting for my partner to come home with some apple sauce, to try to loosen it up for him, I began massaging it a little, to see whether I could feel whether it was full of peas from me feeding him, or whether he'd gorged himself on the seeds I'd put in with him after that. The massaging caused him to regurgitate some seeds, along with several peas of varying degrees of freshness - some quite fresh, others less so, perhaps from the day before's feeding. I tried to get some apple sauce into him once my partner got home, but didn't have much luck, & because I'm a little worried about feeding him more peas if he can't digest them, I offered him some small seeds, which he's been eating quite enthusiastically, although he's not particularly good at swallowing them... he tends to miss or drop more than he eats, but he still manages to eat some of them... his crop was partially full last time I checked on him. His poo looked a little better this morning too, so I think he's digesting them.

As I'd been teating him with Coccivet for 6 days now, of the recommended 7-14 days recommended by the instructions, but he's still quite sick, I decided to try giving him some metronidazole too, in case it's some kind of protozoan causing him to be so unwell, having read up on giardia & similar - the symptoms of those seemed to match his, with mucousy, watery, smelly diarrhea being mentioned, along with lethargy & weight loss. I'm getting a little desperate at this point - I don't know how much more he can stand to lose, as he's already so scrawny... his poor little keel is like a knife-blade, & is sticking out through his feathers at this point. I might have to see whether I can scrape up enough money to take him back to the vet to see if they can help him... Poor little guy!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

He probably has canker. I hope he gets better soon. If you can get a handrearing formula for parrots, you can feed this to him. Mix some with a little amount of water to form a soft clay. Roll small balls and feed just like you are feeding the peas. They just drink a lot of water when getting fed the rolled up balls.


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## LustStarrr (Mar 4, 2020)

Chock passed away last night - I found him/her this morning. I’m absolutely heartbroken... 

I was feeding him/her formula balls, as suggested, but yesterday, he/she had either explosive diarrhoea or was vomiting up the formula - I’m not sure which because I didn’t see it happen, however the aftermath was formula & watery liquid splattered all over the inside of the box he/she was in, to the point that I had to wash the whole thing. I went to the chemist & got some more Hydralyte (pedialyte) to attempt to rehydrate the poor bubba, but he/she was really flat when I got back, & didn’t show any interest in drinking despite having been thirsty every time I offered water prior to then. I popped a few formula balls, but didn’t give him/her as much as I gave yesterday morning, in case that was why they’d upset his/her tummy, then I put him/her to bed with a warm sock of rice for the night, as usual. When I uncovered him/her this morning, he/she’d already passed away... I think it was just getting too much for his/her poor little body. 😭

I’m sorry, Choccy... I loved you, little bird. ❤


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

I'm sorry to hear that, it's sometimes just impossible to save them all. There are so many diseases out there, without the help of a avian vet one is lost! Thanks for what you did for the little guy. xx


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Am sorry Choccy didnt make it. It is truly heartbreaking but impossible to save them all.


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## Thesis79 (Jul 16, 2020)

LustStarrr said:


> Chock passed away last night - I found him/her this morning. I’m absolutely heartbroken...
> 
> I was feeding him/her formula balls, as suggested, but yesterday, he/she had either explosive diarrhoea or was vomiting up the formula - I’m not sure which because I didn’t see it happen, however the aftermath was formula & watery liquid splattered all over the inside of the box he/she was in, to the point that I had to wash the whole thing. I went to the chemist & got some more Hydralyte (pedialyte) to attempt to rehydrate the poor bubba, but he/she was really flat when I got back, & didn’t show any interest in drinking despite having been thirsty every time I offered water prior to then. I popped a few formula balls, but didn’t give him/her as much as I gave yesterday morning, in case that was why they’d upset his/her tummy, then I put him/her to bed with a warm sock of rice for the night, as usual. When I uncovered him/her this morning, he/she’d already passed away... I think it was just getting too much for his/her poor little body. 😭
> 
> ...


I'm soooo sorry to hear about this sweet little guy soooo sad this is heartbreaking


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