Not sure if healthy...

[Brendon.]

Hi there,

 

My timneh, Lester, is about 9 months now. He's a good eater, is fairly active and friendly and goes to bed at around 9 or 10 pm... basically whenever I put him to sleep.

 

For some reason, today Lester has been incredibly tired. I've put him down and he seems to tuck his head back under his wing (he doesn't do this normally) and take short naps. This went on for most of the day, even when he was out on his stand and the room was fairly busy. I decided to put him to bed early tonight since he seemed so out of it.

 

He's been eating and drinking just fine. The only other thing that's a bit different is that he seems to be a little more irritable than normal, but otherwise, nothing is really different. He's just very sleepy.

 

I know that this sort of thing can be the first indication of an illness, so I promptly made a vet appointment, although the clinic is closed today so I have to wait to hear back from them. One thing I considered was that Lester hasn't really undergone his first molt yet... he's lost a few feathers here and there, but nothing significant. It may also be that, for some reason, he just didn't get a good sleep last night, but I would think a single nap or two during the day would get him caught back up.

 

I was wondering if it's normal for greys to sleep more before a molt? Should I be worried?

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Your baby, is just a baby! They need more time, to take a nap.. Nancy

[Talon]

No, I would not chalk it up to just being a baby.....follow your instincts, if he is acting differently and irritable and sleeping more and you are seeing a change, then you do,what your instinct is telling you, DEFINATELY have him checked out at the vet. Better safe than sorry when it comes to a bird.

Please let me know,what you find out. My tag was acting the same, I took her in and she had a bacterial infection and ecoli that she had since I got her from the breeder, she was more sick than I knew. But a few days of antibiotics and she was back to normal and good as new. I hope that it is nothing, but you are doing the right thing by taking your bird in.

 

Keep us posted.

[Wingy]

It could be a lot of reasons from everything is fine to serious. Yes a molt can make a bird cranky as can severe fluctuation in temperature. So watch your baby carefully, including poops, and trust your instincts. If you think something is wrong you need to decide if it can wait until normal office hours or if it requires you to call your vets emergency or after hours number.

 

**edited to add. Its not a bad idea to make sure you have your vets number/emergency number handy and know where the travel cage is just in case. I have always kept a written list of emergency numbers taped to the inside of a cabinet. I know its a hold over from wall mounted telephones but if I am ever not home I can direct someone to the number easily.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Wingy

[chezron]

I think it is a good idea to take your bird to the vet. Birds usually mask illness until it gets serious. i am not saying that is true in your case, but better safe than sorry. Please let us know how it goes. i don't know if my grey is hyper, but i have never seen him sleep during the day.

[Brendon.]

So today I took Lester to the vet after all... he seemed a bit better in the morning but I trusted my gut and went with it anyway.

 

I ran through a checklist with the vet who determined I was doing everything fine. Diet was good, toys were good, activity level was good, etc.

 

We decided to run blood tests, the results of which I'll find out in the next couple weeks. It would be the first blood test I've ever done, so it's a good thing to have if I ever want to compare base levels in the future.

 

One thing that surprised me, on an almost entirely unrelated note, was that the doctor says my bird has been picking his feathers, albeit not in a conventional way. Lester gets a ton of attention, plenty of toys and a decent diet, so the fact that he does it, the vet said, was likely caused genetically. The reason I say it isn't conventional is because he is not missing any feathers on his neck or body, but feathers on his wings have been broken improperly, rather than plucked.

 

I'll try to take a picture of it, but basically the feathers have been broken about midway up the shaft, so that the bulk of the feather is now missing. Some I know have been broken accidentally in the past, but the vet said that his wings, and his tail, were very tattered. It seems that he has been breaking the feathers in the wrong place and leaving parts behind, which I didn't realize wasn't just him preening. The reason this is troublesome is because if the ends of the shafts are left in the follicles, new feathers won't grow in properly. The feathers are also reliant on their bulk (weight) to fall out properly as gravity takes its course. The vet said that for all the feather tips to be removed, Lester would have to be anesthetized first. He's about to go through his first molt, so we'll see whether the tips of the feathers are gonna come out on their own.

 

Thank you for your feedback though, it was very helpful.

[Acappella]

Well, I hope everything is ok. Plucking can sometimes be caused by physical illness, so combining that with his behaviour changes I'm glad you took him to the vet. I'd keep a careful eye on his weight and poops for the next few days. Keep us in the loop, we're all here to support each other.