Head twitching and wing twitching often??

[Huginn]

Hello all,

I have an African Grey (Huginn) who is now 9 months old. Last month he started twitching his head the same way a human might if they have water in their ear. I was concerned he might have some kind of ear infection so I took him to the vet and they wanted to charge me 1,000 for bloodwork of every type. I was not sure it was a serious issue and I do not have Pet insurance yet so instead I got some bloodwork on his white blood cell count and a nasal cleanse treatment for him. The results were that his white blood cell count was just a little bit (emphasis on the little bit) high and so she prescribed him an anti-biotic to take twice a day which was 0.07ml (insanely small and almost impossible to make sure he ingests it). Long story short, he has not really gotten better, we know he has no life threatening ilness' or disease but he has been plucking his chest feathers. Before I go to the vet and spend a fortune I wanted to know if anyone else has had or seen a similar issue with their bird/ a bird they know. 

[SRSeedBurners]

Can you post a video of his head twitching?

[Greytness]

If he's a baby, twitching and already plucking, then I believe he has something going on with him.

[Huginn]

Yes, he appears to be doing it in "fits" wherein he will twitch often for fifteen minutes or so and then not do it for several hours. Here is the most recent video taken this morning. Could it be his diet is not good enough? I feed him 3 times a day with his pellets.

[Greytness]

Tell us a little more about his diet. Is he only on pellets? If so, then that could be part of the problem.

Has he been checked for mites?

[Huginn]

19 hours ago, Greytness said:

Tell us a little more about his diet. Is he only on pellets? If so, then that could be part of the problem.

Has he been checked for mites?

 

There are not mites, he has had a full physical when i took him to the vet as soon as i realized this was a potential problem. The food he ate was this 

[Huginn]

As of today he is now ccurrently eating this https://www.amazon.com/Tropican-Performance-Parrot-Sticks-20-Pound/dp/B0017JBX4U/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1550345325&sr=8-4-fkmr0&keywords=tropican+parrot+pellets which is a "Tropican High Performance Parrot Sticks, Enriched with Vitamins and Minerals for Birds Needing Extra Nutrition, 20 lb Bag. Back when i took him the the vet last month the vet said his cholesterol was a tiny bit high and that I should cut on the sweets but I am not really giving him any any sweets. Another question regarding African Grey Care...How much food do I put in his bowl and how often? I have been filling it up and when the bowl is empty I fill it up again (with a handful or two). I understand now that overfeeding can be an issue so I want to know what you guys are doing or would recommend for a baby bird (11 months since hatchling, 8 since I brought him home). Before anyone says "google is your friend" I looked this specific question and found nothing but what not to give them..

[Greytness]

Do you give him any fresh fruit and veggies? Greys need a well balanced variety of both. They are prone to vitamin A deficiencies, so foods rich in A is a must. Sweet potatoes, for example, are loaded with vitamin A. Absolutely no avocados as it will cause liver failure and death.

I'm actually not familiar with this particular brand of pellets. 

[Huginn]

Yes, and to make sure no one worries, it kind of just went away with time. Every now and then he does do it HOWEVER, I myself have a minor form of Tourretes syndrome (just called Tic syndrome) where I have a head tic and the running theory is he did it originally to copy me.

[Inara]

@huginn so nice to know that your birdie is doing well, and is likely just copying your head tics. They do love us so much and learn from us and I think it is sweet as all get out that your Grey wanted to be like you.