# Trying to figure out if my diamond dove is sick. PLEASE HELP!



## Hylianprincess7 (Apr 7, 2012)

Hello. I'm new here and this is my first post. I'm very saddened that I have to start it off with sad news.

Roughly 4 days ago, I bought a female cockatiel and a mated pair of diamond doves as companions for my female that I've had for about 6-7 months. I also have a grey male tiel, and they all share a cage and fly freely throughout my room. To be honest, my room is a bit cluttered, but not excessively messy and posing any immediate danger (there's no dangerous chemicals or other things of sorts in my room that the birds could get ahold of.

Well, the male diamond dove had seemed very casual natured and relaxed. Both of the females are very hyper. Since I just got him, I figured it was only his personality.

It was only today that I started to suspect that something may be wrong with him.

He fluffs up alot, and he closes his eyes often. I will make small noises to get his attention and evaluate his 'condition', in which maybe once out of 7 times, he will turn his head and open his eyes half way, but immediately return to his prior state. I'm pretty sure he's sick after discovering that his droppings are a very runny white. He's stopped cooing and flying around, and ignores any attempt to get his attention.

I'm going to throw this out there, but he and his mate had 6 eggs in a nest at the pet shop. None of them hatched and the hen (Saihyou or Sai for short) refused to lay on them due to stress of the new environment, which I completely understood.

This morning he was his usual relaxed state, but he would very frequently coo and fly everywhere from the light-up tree in the corner of my room, to the cage, to my shoulder, leg, or whatever exposed limb there was at the moment. He's an absolute sweetheart.

There's no behavioral change in my two females, Kuon (japanese for 'eternity') and Saihyou (diamond dust)

To make things easier, my male is named Koukai (Ash, as if from a volcano), but I just call him Kai for short.

I also noticed that it seemed like it's been hard for him to swallow, as if his throat/crop is dried out. 

Being that I got him from a pet store, my possible theories are:

-He's extremely stressed due to environmental change, and the stress is affecting him more than it should

-Being I am unsure of his diet at the pet store, he may be starving himself due to a different kind of seed selection he's not used to now

-It gets 80+ degrees in my room, so SELDOMLY I will open a vent. Owning birds, I know the dangers drafts can cause to them. I try my best to keep the vent shut at all times. Sometimes I crack the door to cool the room, but we also own two very hyper pit bulls that would probably consider a diamond dove as LITERAL dog food (being they have diamond dove brand dog food. A joke to ease the denseness)

-Being that it gets so hot, he may have dehydrated rapidly because he's such a small bird. Since he likes to be where his mate is (often on the tree), he may have been ignoring his thirst in order to be next to her

-It may be territorial stress, being that my tiels are very cautious not to let the doves get near them when they're eating/preening themselves. In general, they get along exceptionally well, and sometimes the tiels even groom the doves.

If there's anything else that's needed to boil down the clues, let me know, and I'll see what I can do. I'll have some pictures of the bird and his droppings soon to help identify the problem.


Since the first day, I noticed he was unusually calm, fluffing himself out (in a non-threatened way, unlike most new diamond doves that swat at you with their wings). I would pick him up, and he wouldn't even attempt to fly. He loves head rubs and despite only having him less than a week, I already love him to death. 

I lent him to a woman that helps the wild life refuge, and she's free of charge, often taking care of injured animals the wild life refuge sends over, such as owls, falcons, abandoned parrots, rabbits, snakes, and even deer that she keeps in her back yard until their ready to return to the refuge and can operate normally. She said there's no doubt that he's sick.

She has given him a small drink of pedialyte just incase it happened to be dehydration. I'm back at home, and worried sick. When he arrived at her house, he seemed a little more alert though. I'm just hoping I caught whatever it was before it's too late. :/

I've only owned diamond doves for about 3/4ths of a year, and I live in Oklahoma, where the weather changes more than a schizophrenic bipolar woman with PMS mood swings.



*UPDATE*

Well, I tried my best, but unfortunately, it was too late. We discovered he came down with paratyphoid, which makes perfect sense as to why (I forgot to mention this) he would fly and frequently miss landing where he wanted to. She gave him the medicine required to stop it, but it didn't kick in soon enough, and he died around 3:15 AM this morning. I'll definitely have my eyes open in the future to prevent this in any other bird. She said that soon after we left, he started to get a wobbly neck, and went completely unresponsive, not eating, drinking, or even leaving any droppings for the rest of the night.

Rest in peace, Koukai. :/


----------



## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Your observation is correct and your theories MAY be correct too. Your keen observation may have helped out your Dove immensely.
You have done pretty well thus far.

First and foremost....the steps one typically must take:

...separate the ill-looking one from everyone else. Put him in a warm, quiet environment. When I say warm, I mean 75-80 degrees F constantly. Sounds like he IS ill and heat helps a bird out a lot when they are ill.

Hydration was a good idea from the lady...do call her back and ask if he is being kept on heat. Also, although she probably knows this...have her check his weight and cross-reference it with online resources for normal weight of a Diamond.

....if he is losing weight, he may need hand-feeding.

It was wise of you to seek help, particularly on a weekend. Keep us posted. But do confirm with the woman that he is isolated, on heat, and eating. Ask her also if she has any medications there.

IF there are any Avian Vets in your area open on Sunday, I would suggest taking him for an exam. If you need to wait until Monday...it's better than nothing. But in a case like this, it's the safest thing to do.

Regarding your setup....no ventilation is not a good thing, it can cause respiratory illnesses. A couple of times a week you need to cage 'em up securely, barricade your dogs someplace, and open the doors and windows and let the air blow thru there for a couple of hours...

Also, I am unclear on what you mean by them sharing the same cage. Different species should NOT be in the same cage...particularly Doves and Parrots (or any hardbills and softbills together). Wasn't sure if I misunderstood that or not, but just wanted to add this....


----------



## pigeon-lover0 (Apr 1, 2012)

Jaye said:


> Your observation is correct and your theories MAY be correct too. Your keen observation may have helped out your Dove immensely.
> You have done pretty well thus far.
> 
> First and foremost....the steps one typically must take:
> ...


I agree, call your avian vet and schedual an appointment. And good luck to you!
Lucas


----------



## Hylianprincess7 (Apr 7, 2012)

Jaye said:


> Your observation is correct and your theories MAY be correct too. Your keen observation may have helped out your Dove immensely.
> You have done pretty well thus far.
> 
> First and foremost....the steps one typically must take:
> ...


Thank you for your advice. I've raised birds since I was 12 years old, and this year (August in fact) will make it exactly 10 years that I have been raising both wild and domestic birds. But out of all those near 10 years, I've never had an ill bird. My dove Koukai seemed to be rather alert at the change of environment when I brought him to the rehabilitationist, which yes--he is being kept on a heating pad. I was the one that told her to do so, and I made sure she did before I left. Luckily, she already new that as I would expect, and had one ready. 


In all honesty, I would have much rather brought Kai there than to a vet because I'm not sure that the stress (if it's stress that caused it, it would most likely happen again I figure) would not be in his best interest, and would most likely worsen his condition. 

Snother reason I would rather have him in an environment such as a house instead of a clinic is because the woman is much more cautious with the birds, plus she's free of charge. I've brought many birds in the past to avian vets in the area, and within a matter of the same day, they would die, often misdiagnosed and taking the wrong medication. 

I had originally figured he was dehydrated a bit when I noticed it seemed like he had trouble swallowing, so the electrolyte solution was one of my suggestions as well, and I made sure she gave him some of that before I left too. But I honestly didn't know you could use pedialyte. 

He didn't seem like he was losing weight, but his crop wasn't as full as a normal healthy birds' crop. I know that the first thing she usually feeds avian patients (if you want to call him that, since that's technically what he is) is a paste-like solution she sticks directly into the crop. It has immunity boosters and vitamins vital for infection fighting, and it also prevents dehydration. I trust that he's in good care, and will be calling the woman shortly to verify. 


As for the question about them living on the same cage, yes, they all share one cage, but the only time the doves ever go to the cage is to eat and drink. Otherwise, they're in a tree shaped lamp that I keep in the corner of my room. 

I was actually told by one of the local avian vets that as long as both species are native to the same country (since both cockatiels and diamond doves originate from Australia) and both eat the same kind of food, that it was alright for them to share a cage, as long as it's large enough to contain them and they get along.

If this information is incorrect, then well, you can see why I'd rather not trust the information avian vets in this area give me, let alone trust them handling my birds in general.

I appreciate your reply. Thank you. 

-Misty

P.S.-Sadly, he died this morning from what is assumed to be paratyphoid. I just now found out after calling the woman. It was too late to save him. I'm in the process of separating my birds and quarantining them should one of them have it. I'm also going to be looking for a place that may have Baytril that I can get, should another have it.


----------

