Ask An Expert: Dr. Brian Speer, DVM

Hi Dr. Speer - My question is regarding keeping cockatiels and cockatoos close to other parrot species. I have often heard that most parrots should not be kept close to any Cacatuidae species. This is because the dust from the cockatoo/tiel could give other species respiratory problems. How much truth is there in this and how often do you see birds with respiratory problems due to being kept close to cockatoos or cockatiels? I keep a Jenday Conure and a Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo in separate cages in the same room. Is that safe without an air filter? Of course, I do keep the cages clean. Would a Hahn's Macaw and a Cockatiel be okay to keep side-by-side in separate cages? I am thinking this would be okay but wanted to see an avian vet's opinion. Many thanks for your time!

Recently my 20 year old cockatiel does not want to fly. I leave the cage door open when I am at home, and he used to come out and fly around. I try to encourage him to fly but with no success. At a check up recently my avian vet said he was a bit overweight - he only weighs 4ozs. I am trying to reduce his weight and have cut out the usual cockatiel mix with sunflower seed, oats, etc., I have been giving him canary seed along with budgie seed, I buy the packet of budgie seed for the added vitamins. He doesn`t always take the apple,carrot,brocolli I put in his cage but will always take a cornflake, I only give him one a day. I checked his weight and he is still the same. What is best to do so that he gets some exercise?

I have two male Goliath Palm Cockatoos 2.5 years old and one male Hyacinth 8 years old along with three female Hyacinths each 4.5 years old. All have a very low lymphocyte count under 1. Tested in November , December and now January . Their Avian Vet is Dr Elliot at the Onderstepoort veterinary research University in Pretoria South Africa. Everything else in the CBC is normal along with eating , flying , playing. All virus tests come back negative. Their weights has been constant for at least 12 months. Their day consists of being woken up in their bird room and given fresh fruit and veg. They then go outside to a 188 sqm flight for the day. they have mixed nuts ( checked ) and palm nuts along with Kaytee chunky. At 16h00 they come in to the house for time with me. At 18h00 they go into their stainless steel sleep cages inside and have a hot soft food mix (Harrisons , Purity baby food, Coconut , Walnut oil , mashed banana . Kaytee macaw hand rearing ) before getting Mac nuts ( checked ) and Palm nuts. Lights out around 19h30. Do you have any suggestions as to cause or what can be done to raise the Lymphocytes ?
Many thanks
Trevor

My 13 year-old Yellow-naped Amazon recently began behaving strangely. He constantly shakes himself then grams at his tail, as though he has a bad itch. Also, he will not go into his cage at night (he’s out all day). If we put him in, he starts shaking and climbs down to the floor of the cage and says there so now we leave the cage door open and have a night light for him. We brought him to our vet three days ago and he could find nothing wrong. Do you think this is something psychological?

I am worried about one of my cockatiels in the aviary, He is 9 years old and a few days ago I noticed him bobbing his head up and down like he was trying to regurgitate food but nothing comes out. He then seems to chew as if he has something in his mouth. He doesn`t look ill and is not off his food. Would you have any idea what would make him do this?

My question is; how can I stop my cockatiel from pulling out his feathers? He is 20 years of age and it started a few years ago with him pulling some feathers from his back and eating at the tip of the feather. I`ve taken him to the vet but he could not give any explanation why he is doing this. Is there anything I can do?

One of my cockatiels was getting a lot of sinus infections which didn`t clear up properly after repeated medication.My vet advised I could put the medicine on his food, as it was difficult to administer as he kept spitting it out. Unfortunately the prescribed medicine didn`t take the sinus infection away so my vet advised a nasal flush. After the flush the vet showed me a small `bone like` mass which had come out with the flush. He didn`t seem to know what it was and let me take my cockatiel home. After I got him home I noticed he couldn`t stand properly and wasn`t interested in his food. Next day he was the same so I phoned the vet and he advised I should feed him baby food with a syringe. He still wasn`t improving, so when I told the vet he advised leaving him at the surgery. I had only left
him for a day when the vet phoned to say he had died. I feel so upset by all the stress he must have suffered and not knowing what the `bone like` mass was. I wonder if you would have any idea what this could have been? I would be glad of your opinion.

My question, I am worried about my older cockatiel who is 20 years old. His breathing movement seems to be more noticeable than my 9 year old cockatiel. Is this normal as the bird gets older? He is eating well and doesn`t get out of breath flying around. It is mostly late afternoon early evening when he has a sleep that I notice this.