hello again, I was wondering if anyone in the US has exotic/avian pet insurance, and if so what is the best to use? I know that Nation Wide has insurance but have yet to look further on my part to see what they cover. If I find one before an answer I'll leave an edit for future reference!

So... Before people start pointing fingers to blame me for my self-destructive caique, please read this post. I'm looking for GENUINE advice or information, I love my little guy to death and I don't know what to do.

I moved states about 4 months ago, I brought my caique and my rainbow lorikeet with me. I moved from a really bad home life, so I pretty much just up and left with no notice or plans on what to do. I had been planning for about a year to rehome my rainbow lorikeet to a wildlife retreat or find him a new owner, as his behaviour was becoming intolerable and unmanageable. Basically, he went through a "puberty" stage and never recovered. I had Pickles (my rainbow lorikeet) since he was 8 weeks old, and he's 6 years old now. Around the time I got my Caique, his behaviour changed dramatically, and I feel heavily responsible for his behaviour change, as it was most likely induced by getting another parrot. I tried to work with him for well over a year, but he just wouldn't work with me. So I figured it was best to rehome him, which I did as soon as I found a suitable new owner for him when I moved states. Just to note, Ziggy (my caique) was never really fond of Pickles (lorikeet), and would often try and escape Pickles when Pickles would engage with him (he loves Ziggy a lot, both male birds).

Anyway, fast forward to now. Ziggy and I were doing really well after rehoming Pickles. I was able to hold Ziggy daily for hours at a time, keeping up with his cage maintenance was now really easy, and Ziggy was really happy from what i could tell. I even went out and got Ziggy an awesome new cage which is massive, along with all new toys and perches, all from certified sellers (nothing cheap from Amazon or anything like that).

The room that I ended up renting in is on the second storey of a large family home, and Ziggy's cage is placed in front of my bedroom window, where he has a full view of the entire front yard and roof in front of the window (important). The lady I rent from is a crazy bird lady, and she feeds all the wild birds. From pigeons, and lorikeets, to cockatoos. So, there are always hundreds of birds around the house. I usually let Ziggy look out the window to enjoy watching what's going on because I found he liked it. I didn't think too much of it. About a month ago, Ziggy started performing really odd behaviour.

From a young age, I trained Ziggy to poop/potty on command, by a simple gesture when he was perched on my hand. He knows what it means and performs it effortlessly, but the command is only executed when I'm holding him.

Back to the point. Ziggy has been forcing himself to poop. At first, I thought maybe it was the nuts I was giving him and maybe I gave him too many, and he's maybe consipated. I waited a day or so and observed him closely. The next day, his poop began getting stuck on his butt feathers/around his vent. This aroused a lot of concern and I took him to the vet that day, where they did a poop sample test and assured me he was in perfect health. I got his microchip done then as well because it was convenient.

Just to note, when he forces himself to poop, nothing comes out. His cloaca protrudes out and looks like he's about to prolapse, it's really disturbing and difficult to watch. I've done so much research and I don't even know what to think anymore. Is it behavioural? Is it something like vent gleet? Is he hormonal?? As I write this, he's pacing back and forth at the bottom of his cage, begging to be let out. But when I do, he just flicks dry shit everywhere and it's disgusting. I love him to bits but it's driving me mad.

A week goes by and he's getting worse. I have to clean his vent several times per day, and he often stares at me and forces himself to poop as he stares at me. I take him back to the vet, and they suggest doing an x-ray, and maybe a blood test after. So I did the x-ray, and the only thing they found on the x-ray is that his kidney looked a little "dense," and that this is most likely a genetic concern rather than anything else. Time goes on, Ziggy is getting worse, and his tail is always covered in poop, he stinks like shit, and smells like he's rotting. I had to plead with the vet tech to listen to me that something was wrong, but I don't know what, and he is convinced he's fine. He observed Ziggy forcing himself to poop and then suggested it might be hormonal, and administered Ziggy with a hormone blocker.

The week after I got the hormone blocker, I had to go help a friend move, so I took Ziggy with me and he stayed in an empty house for about a week, and for some reason seemed to have improved. He wasn't forcing himself to poop as much, but for some reason whenever he saw a male/man he would immediately start doing it again, or whenever he wanted me to hold him, he would start doing it until I pick him up. So then I began thinking, is he doing it for attention, thinking that the command I taught him to poop is a trick and he's trying to impress me??

I don't know! But it's getting worse every day. Ziggy is constantly picking at his butt feathers and often yanking them out because they're covered in solidified poop. I clean him every day and try and help keep it under control, but he's so persistent and I just go around and around with him. The main solution I found is just to cover his cage most of the day, so he can't see me or the birds outside, because when he does he starts forcing himself to poop again.

I'm desperate for someone to give me some sort of guidance or advice, please. If anyone knows what this might be or what's going on, please let me know. The vet has been absolutely useless and has just absorbed my savings while giving me no results whatsoever.

Hey fellahs and front bums I've just rescued a bird that landed in a bucket of transmission oil I need help trying to figure out how to clean it properly

Hey all, just looking for another opinion before I bring my 8-month old cockatiel to the avian vet - my partner noticed one of her eyelids is a little red and inflamed. She spends a lot of time cuddling with people and will also perch on the shower rack while I shower if that provdes any additional context. Let me know, thanks!

So today around 10 this morning I picked up my Green Cheek and Canary Winged Parrakeet from a local parrot boarding place, and as soon as we got them in my CWP sneezed a bit followed by my GCC. Now my Parakeet is known to sneeze often mostly as a routine when she fluffs and preens but my Conure doesn't sneeze often, so we take them in and I could count about 6+ times my Conure has sneezed today. He expelled some clear discharge a couple of times when he's sneezed ( mostly on my cheek) but his behavior seems to be normal besides that. He has been eating a lot, flying, and picking fights with my Parakeet as usual but this sneezing thing has gotten me concerned for his health.

the only factors I can see that could cause this are as follows:

1.) We had just moved them from three drastically different locations which could or could not trigger some irritation. I'm hoping it's just this and nothing else

2.) We had sprayed the inside of the house with insect poison before we left on vacation Saturday morning and the lingering fumes from that could be what's causing irritation. I am not sure if it could be this because we thoroughly cleaned their cages before we moved them out of the way from the spray path, took time out this morning to douse the cages in water to ensure that there isn't any residual spray that could have traveled to them, and its been more than 48 hours since we sprayed so the fumes had time to dissipate before anyone entered the home.

3.) We took our cages outside to wash them, so there might be a possibility that any pollen or outside elements could have stuck to the cage.

Im not sure if this sneezing is a means to take them both to the vet just yet, but I am prepared to if this is unusual. what do yall think? is it too soon to be concerned?

I have a chicken who is about 9. She's in great health. She lives with one other bird of mine and yesterday when I let her out she was limping. It's like she can't put weight on her one leg. She's eating, drinking, going to the bathroom but seems to not be able to use that leg. Ive seen her stretching it too, it's just the weight. I can't find any injuries, so I'm not sure what's wrong.

Any advice on care? I have her inside in her own cage because I don't want her moving around a lot. I noticed she's pecking at her feathers near that leg..

I noticed her tail is bobbing and she looks like a bird hiding illness. Any advice to help her survive the weekend? I genuinely cannot get her to a vet until Monday because nothing's open, plus vets here tend to be useless with birds anyway.

It’s a bunch of solid pellets together.

Info: -I only find it whenever I come home from not being here during the day. If I’m with them all day nothing is found.

-My male does try to feed my female periodically. She isn’t always receptive to his grooming but I’m not sure if she is always receptive to his feeding. Okay if I’m being honest she usually rejects his grooming. She is only willing to play games like follow the leader and tag with him.

-Please note that my male has always been a bit of a glutton and the female is too. They eat both pellets and seeds but obviously are very stubborn about the pellets. They will scarf down the seeds immediately (gone in the course of an hour) and then delay as long as possible to eat the pellets. They will eat some of that through the day but as minimal as possible. They have fresh pellets every day. They do not always eat it all. Sometimes they will, depends on how stubborn they feel that day.

-They were overweight but are no longer as i separate the locations I feed the pellets and seeds so I have more control over how much of each I feed them. They have separate locations to eat from so they don’t fight over food (female will move him to get her favorites and he lets her)

• poop looks normal and healthy.

I do find crushed pellet dust in the bowl where they eat their pellets from.

I never find seed regurgitation. Ever.

Lastly they sing a lot and are grooming themselves and are not fluffed up. Have proper lighting and a heated lamp.

Didn’t start happening till I got my female and they started actually eating more or the pellets. (I had another male previously who used to feed and be fed constantly with my male but he passed away months ago) It also isn't a super common occurrence. I want to know if it is normal for a male to regurgitate and get denied.

Only avian vet is 4 hours away and last checkup they where given a clean bill of health. Female cere does look darker than usual so she may be in heat.

Hello, I'm from Indiana and today there's been an injured pigeon hanging around my yard. A chunk of it's left wing is missing and I can see bone. The bird is moving around, but it lets the wing drag. It occasionally lifts the wing up, flaps it a little, and then let's it drag again. We caught it and put it in a big box.

The animal shelters are closed right now, so we were trying to read it's tag to possible find the owner. The white tag on its foot reads: URC 8 21 31 88. I tried to google it but nothing comes up. It also has a red tag on its other foot, but I don't think anything is on it. Does anybody know what to do with these numbers to help?

UPDATE: We brought the pigeon to an animal rehab place! They took it in and it's in good hands now.

Recently, I noticed my two budgies were not eating as much as they used to. They went from eating almost two teaspoons each (four total) to barely touching their pellets, and they're not pooping as much obviously. What's weird is they are willing to eat if I offer them millet, which I have been so they at least eat something, but despite not eating as much they still remain very active and chirp regularly. Could it be them simply being in their molting phase, as I have noticed some pine feathers a bit more recently?

Update: Went to the vet as per suggestions, to which they noticed they have a fever (high body temperature), potentially caused by air conditioning being too cold. I got the medication needed and hopefully they'll make a full recovery! Thanks for the concern.

https://imgur.com/a/36SEA3m

Hello All,

Green bird. Done two vet visits now,

Main food source Tropican Lifetime Formula,
Supplemented with fruits and veggie ---- but he really only eats the fruits

Weight range is 65 grams to 70 Grams
Current weight 64 Grams
Age 7
Not displaying the normal tell tale signs like tail bobbing, or puffiness.
Maintained appetite
Still drinking water fine
Moves around great except during an episode.
wings rarely droop
Poop is normal
has bouts of lethargy and generalized weakness.
Definitely inactive compared to normal but in spurts.
Seems to be breathing fine.

Currently on .02 ml orally of metacam twice a day. (But I haven't been perfect on the meds and missed a round or two.)

About 2 months ago I noticed an abnormally strong molt, but it was timed with the other ones molt.
Now he constantly seems to get a random injury usually a claw or unable to fly properly.
He seems to rebound quickly, he will go from being injured and hiding in a corner with his heater to being a normal parrot in matter of an hour.

The vet did blood tests, xrays (Bones and heavy metal), and poop test and nothing abnormal was found, so they recommended just continuing the keep the two separated and doing more metacam.

During the last 2 weeks they have had 1 fight. The other one normally loses but lately he is winning very easily.
The vets in my area are good but not experts on neurological side of things for diseases like stargazers.

has oyster shells, Bentonite clay, and Charcoal at his ready if he wants it. Never been interested in them before but started to enjoy the mix about 2 -3 weeks ago.

Nothing has changed in the last year with his living situation.

IF anybody has any suggestions on next steps I would love to hear it. The vet just thinks continuing anti inflammatory is the right course cause they have nothing else to try with out potentially harming the parrot.

I have a green cheek conure and while I’m used to him sometimes regurgitating during the spring, I can’t explain this one. Either I walked by his cage too fast and he got excited or he ate too fast, but he started to regurgitate the bit of food he just ate. I did just change his food so I’m just hoping he maybe got too excited and ate fast? He continued eating a few minutes after this happened like it didn’t even occur. It doesn’t seem like anything is stuck in his throat either and he’s breathing normally. He has his annual vet visit next week regardless and I plan to bring it up then, but just wanted to hear what others may think just in case. I’ve just never seen him do that before in this context and am hoping it was just random.

My birds are in a temporary cage (smaller than ideal) until November when I can get a bigger one. I think my male budgie might be feather plucking under his wings out of boredom? does this look like something I should be worried about?

I am sorry everyone. Neembu has passed away. I found him shortly after having breakfast. Turns out my parents had sneaked the cage into their room last night, and they slept with their fan on. They had also taken it to the terrace in the morning to get the birds some sunshine, when there was cold wind blowing. That included with the fact that u/Bella_Ella739 mentioned, it could've been a yeast infection which the vet didn't check as well. I am sorry for being a terrible owner. There were just too many things I had not known at that time, and I am still learning. I plan on taking Nadi to a better vet to get her checked as soon as I get time.

As for the hamster cage, it is an old cage my parents had bought when my dad had rescued a squirrel (The squirrel lived, don't worry. We released him when he grew up. I've attached some of the photos for proof). We are the cage using temporarily to house the bird. I have ordered some perches to replace the platforms for now.

https://preview.redd.it/xxvy596f0iud1.jpg?width=1204&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a989011a214ded37ddb172e3fd831093a285814

https://preview.redd.it/xb8fa96f0iud1.jpg?width=1204&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90fc648e6093e9151d34da43d20b1afe2335b9d7

Hi guys! So I have a male and female kakariki. They’re both very close in age, but they were 11 and 9 weeks when I got them around 2 months ago. So far they act like siblings, but I’ve seen a lot of incidents surrounding eggs recently, and it causing hurt or death to a bird. I wanted to know if something could go wrong for my birds if they mated. The breeder we got them from said the eggs won’t survive without our help (we don’t want any babies) but I want to protect my Hiro too. Any advice is appreciated as I’m really clueless in this area!

Hi guys, a month a go I found a baby bird (not really baby) walking in the middle of the road, he had a bleeding head and a damaged wing. I took it home, give him water and in 4 days he already wanted to go out, so I let him, and he went flying okay.

Today, I found a damaged bird in my garden, there is NEVER birds in my garden, and surprise, is a dove!

He has a wing just... i can't really with blood, the wing is just there and the other one is damaged. That poor little thing doesn't seem to be flying soon. I took him, tried to give him some water and then, to the dark box to rest.

I cant have it, my parents hate doves, and also I can't take him to a shelter because there is none in my city, vet is too expensive, I'm just a student.

I'm really sad thinking that maybe is the same from before, it looks destroyed. How many probabilities exist that is the same? And why did the dove came back? I don't think he is going to be fine. It would be horrible to see him die for me, but it looks like it.

Advice for taking care of eggs

idk what to do, pls help

my budgie just died, she just laid 4 eggs 17 days ago, she was a first time mother, she was 4 years old, she started acting weird yesterday when she was spending all day outside in the cage instead of in the nest box with her eggs. i tried feeding her some millet but she refused to.

a few hours after i came back from college i found her on the bottom of the cage like she had collapsed, she stayed down there for a while until coming back up, she went back into the nest box at night, so she was away from her eggs for at least 7 hours.

today she seem better, she was spending more time in the nest box, when i was doing my homework, i look at the cage, i see her hanging off the rope perch by one foot, it seemed like her partner was trying to help her but i quickly ran over and caught her. she laid down in my palms for a bit before trying to run back to her cage. i gently placed her at the bottom of the cage where she laid and rested for a bit then suddenly she started running and shaking around the bottom of the egg until her life gave up.

i quickly placed a order for a egg incubator but its going to arrive on friday which is two days from now. i examined her body to find a fleshy purple bulge on her stomach, above her cloaca. i don’t know what to do now, im shaking as i type and i hear my male budgie call out for his partner in the other room. and can someone tell me what i can do for the eggs until the incubator arrives?

the reason why i want the incubator is because i haven’t seen the father show any behavior of warming eggs, the most he has done was feed the mother which is good but that’s it. im afraid that the eggs won’t make it if not warmed in time.

Not my bird, owner is looking for anwsers on what can be done or what ia happening here. Female bird just layed her first egg and now this.

He’s leaning forward, has yellowish stool, hunched back and ruffling feathers.

I am not sure what to do to help him (even if it’s just for comfort).

So, today morning I found a bird on the entrance of my house. She is not able to walk properly and fly as well. I kept a bowl of water in front of it but she didn't drink from bowl. Whenever I am putting something to eat in front of her, she is moving away from it as if she is scared of something. Need help on this that what should I do?

https://imgur.com/a/RB7Ov8w