I am currently studying Amazona barbadensis on island of Bonaire. One of the things we do is regular monitoring of nests throughout the breeding season. A few days ago I came across these lesions (see photographs) on 2 chicks in the same nest. On both chicks they were found on the backs of legs, behind the ears, on the rump and on the sides of the body toward the tail and under the wing (I have no idea what the anatomical term is for this area). On one chick they were also on the side of the head (see photo). Mostly they were concentrated on the area around the legs.



We have seen this on one occasion previously. Do you have any ideas what could have caused them and whether they are cause for worry?

Between February and March of this year, my Monk parakeet, Freddy, started to show some concerning symptoms, by suddenly falling from his perch, particularly in the evenings. When he tried to fly he got tired right away and he would end up hitting the ground, breathing heavily and feeling very weak. I took him to the veterinarian right away, he ran some tests that showed that his liver values were high. He advised, as a preventive measure, to treat him with an antibiotic for one week (Synulox), plus Legalon as a disintoxicant, and Rossovet to help with the asthenia. After a few days I found him in a pool of blood, with his fingernails bitten off an in a very nervous state. At that point, my veterinarian prescribed a collar, and after tree days, after being separated from my other Monk parakeet, he overcame his obsessive phase towards his feet. But he wasn't otherwise improving, and I left him at the veterinary clinic for some more thorough exams, including an x-ray that showed some unclear contents in his stomach, that look like small stones (I never feed him grit, except maybe several years ago for a brief period). By April, Freddy continued with a disintoxicant treatment (Detoxicum), and I kept feeding him with some baby formula to help him keep his strength. He suffered from convulsions that made him fall sideways from the perch, with his wings open and often with one wing that remained stuck upwards. It happened also at night, I would get up, picked him up to try to calm him down, he would recover from these seizures after a few minutes. He went back to the clinic, were he was treated for five days for a suspected heavy metal poisoning. There were no improvements with this treatment, and hi appetite was reduced. After a month of Detoxicum, I changed his diet, switching from the Versele Laga formula, to finely ground Roudibush pellets formulated with a low level of proteins, and a higher mineral and vitamin contents fed with a syringe. Since this change, his asthenic state has improved, and days in which he feels strongly depressed have been reduced. But he is still not well, and his ataxia is still present. There are days in which he feels better, while in others he is very weak. Currently I am waiting to have more tests done. I don't have many hopes for his recovery. I fear that he has suffered some irreversible neurovegetative damages, but we don't know what caused them. Mycotoxins? Heavy metals? For years he shared the same cage and food with his companion, but only Freddy became ill. Although, between the two, Freddy has always been the one more eager to eat the sunflower seeds, and when he was nervous he would bite the cage bars. But I am not satisfied of these explanations. Moreover, I only gave him some sunflower seeds in the last period before he became ill, and not for years. I lowered the perches in his cage. The tips of his fingernails haven't grown back. Maybe he still chews them, or he might have damaged them too much to regrow. He doesn't have a strong hold on the perch, because of the short nails but also for his ataxia that never leaves him. He is always apathic. He responds when I cuddle him and talk to him, asking him to eat his boiled grains and vegetables, and at times he seems to have better reactions. While in other days, he is very still, and I can tell that he is scared and confused by the problems that limit his movements. Fortunately, he didn't have more seizures. He suffers from polyuria, and he has difficulties in expelling his feces when he is weaker and more ataxic, flattening himself but not finding the right position. He starts feeling better in the afternoon/evening, while the mornings are the worst part of the day for him. I am very concerned about subjecting him to more invasive tests, such as a biopsy or an endoscopy. My veterinarian clearly explained that the mortality rates with these tests on birds in Freddy's conditions are almost 100%. I would be very grateful for an opinion.

I have a Noble/Hahn's macaw who is close to 20. He used to get ulcerations under his wings in the summer, right at the wing/body angle. I thought they were yeast because they exuded a whitish liquid and he was prone to yeast infections. When he was treated for yeast, the skin would heal. Because of your advice, my vet cultured the yeast from his droppings and changed medications. (From ketaconzaol to itraconazol maybe?) He hasn't had a yeast infection since, and he went a few years with no skin problem. But this year, he has developed a skin ulceration under one wing. A fecal test showed no yeast and my vet took a swab from his wing and saw no yeast. I have tried both a fungal cream, and Prep H (not at the same time) but there has been no improvement. My vet suspects Ducky is picking at the skin, causing the problem. I doubt that is the case. I have never seen him pick and the ulceration doesn't look like picking to me--the skin just gradually "disolves." What would you suggest?

Recently we had a new conservatory built with a glass,self-clean roof. Our birds have been moved into new cages and now live in it. Both my Blue-fronted Amazon parrot (Manitou)and the pair of Lovebirds are so much happier and more active than before.

We purchased two Palms (Cycas revoluta 'Sago Palm') after checking their suitability. Since then I have noticed on the computer that the Sago palm is poisonous to humans and animals.

Would you kindly confirm that this does not apply to my parrot as both He and the Lovebirds will have direct contact with these plants when they are free in the conservatory.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely
S Mylam

I am planning to have a short summer holiday of 6-7 days but am becoming more worried about my aviary birds (cockatiels). They are in a secure wired enclosure but there is no one to look in to feed them. I have extra seed and water containers that I can leave in the shelter for them,but worry if there could be any health risk to them by leaving the water for this number of days without it being changed? At present I supply them with a mixture of seeds, cornflakes,apple,lettuce and broccoli along with vitamins which are changed daily. Would there be any health risk if I left an apple (not cut in pieces) along with the cornflakes? I would be glad if you could advise me please.

Hello, My 18 yo BF Amazon has been quite ill. She looked "odd" and had trouble balancing. She has always been very healthy, not overweight like a lot of Amazons are and in excellent feather. She has been on a mostly seed diet with several fresh green and yellow/red fruits and veggies daily. She has also been in season (very strongly) since late February. Normally, her "spring seasons" don't last this long. I took her to a large veterinary hospital immediately when I noticed the balance problem. Her regular avian vet had retired last year and since she has always been healthy, I hadn't looked around for another. Amyway, she had seemed fine the day before. The vet who examined her (a board certified avian vet) said she looked great, wasn't too fat or too thin and had beautiful feathering (already knew that). She was admitted to the hospital because of the symptoms and to run a battery of tests. The vet called me a few hours later after taking blood. They found there was more fat in her blood than red blood cells! It was so bad they had to send the blood out for a CBC and chem panel (normally they can do these tests on site). She was started on gemfibrozil and niacin to reduce the fat in her blood, given a shot (I don't know what) to bring her out of season and sent her home with me last weekend after two days in the hospital. She was very stressed from being in the hospital. The medicines made her sick (vomited a minute or so after giving them) so I stopped giving them after a few days. She is eating but losing a lot of weight. I don't see much improvement in her balance but she is vocalizing normally and playing with her toys. The vet wants to switch her to an all pellet diet but to start it gradually. I have always offered some pellets but she has never liked them (my other birds, both citron cockatoos, eat them). I know this group doesn't offer medical advice but I was wondering if anyone has dealt with this problem (hyperlipidemia) brought on by being in season and what the outcome was? The vet said this could very well be fatal. Do you think fish oil would help? Flax oil? Any suggestions? While we have another appointment with this vet on Monday afternoon, I have a feeling there will just be more of the standard drugs and pellets prescription that clearly isn't working. I love this bird very much. She is the sweetest bird ever and tells me she loves me all the time. Please help!

My question:- Is it OK to use Ivermectin as a periodical wormer for my cockatiels instead of a pigeon wormer which is diluted in their drinking water?

Hello,I have a question on how to give worming medicine to aviary birds. I`ve heard of ivermectin drops and a pigeon wormer that is diluted in the drinking water. The birds don`t drink a lot of water and I want to be sure they are free of internal parasites. What would you recommend to be the best?