No rest for the wicked

He doesn't look dehydrated, but neither does he drink much (or eat much, for that matter). When I give him food and water he can take them okay, but he's absolutely terrified of being handled. His overbalancing was a bit like a drunken stagger.
I've had another rescue who didn't fly but showed no other symptoms except a nasty diarrhoea. He turned out to be a PMV survivor who'd developed Coccidia.A couple of months later he started to fly suddenly!
Tonight I spent hours rearranging Rupert's quarters to give him more privacy: refitted his cage to his liking, to include a brick-shaped box for him to perch, and an eating area with its own 'porch' (made of cardboard). Then I moved the cage to the guest bedroom, hanging it from a couple of hooks, out of the reach of the cats. He seems to like it!

Teresa wrote:

He doesn't look dehydrated, but neither does he drink much (or eat much, for that matter). When I give him food and water he can take them okay, but he's absolutely terrified of being handled. His overbalancing was a bit like a drunken stagger.
I've had another rescue who didn't fly but showed no other symptoms except a nasty diarrhoea. He turned out to be a PMV survivor who'd developed Coccidia.A couple of months later he started to fly suddenly!
Tonight I spent hours rearranging Rupert's quarters to give him more privacy: refitted his cage to his liking, to include a brick-shaped box for him to perch, and an eating area with its own 'porch' (made of cardboard). Then I moved the cage to the guest bedroom, hanging it from a couple of hooks, out of the reach of the cats. He seems to like it!

I guess first thing that comes to my mind is Zoe... I didn't think she was either until the vet did a sub-Q on her with fluids... and about an hour later her head twitching stopped and she could stand.

Teresa wrote:

He doesn't look dehydrated, but neither does he drink much (or eat much, for that matter). When I give him food and water he can take them okay, but he's absolutely terrified of being handled. His overbalancing was a bit like a drunken stagger.

Here are the degrees of dehydration and what to look for, Teresa.
This might help you determine if Rupert is dehydrated and if so, to what degree.

HYDRATION:

Description and degrees, of hydrated and dehydrated birds
A well hydrated bird will be very alert, have elastic skin, bright eyes, moist, plump membrane inside the mouth and well formed moist droppings.

A moderately dehydrated bird will be less than fully alert, have dry, flaky skin, dull eyes, non-formed droppings and have a sticky membrane in the mouth.

A severely dehydrated bird will be lethargic or unconscious, the skin will 'tent' when slightly pinched, have sunken eyes, dry or absent droppings and have dry membrane in the mouth.

It's amazing what fluids will do.

Teresa, just looked at the video of Sammy. Oh my that's exactly what Pina also still does though not quite as bad as Sammy. She relatively quickly stops and steadies her head again. Some days are worse and some days are really good where she hardly shows symptoms. And she can peck the devil out of you even when her head is down :Yes:

How long do you have Sammy now? I wonder if very young pigeons have more problems to recover than adult ones because Jimi and Willy do not show any signs any more besides not being able to eat themselves. Pina is only 6 months old and she still cannot fly again while Jimi and Willy are perfect fliers again. Pina is now 12 weeks inside. A long time and may take even longer for full recovery but I hope the best. Despite some relapses from time to time she is slowly improving at the bottom line.

pigeonwriter wrote:

Teresa, just looked at the video of Sammy. Oh my that's exactly what Pina also still does though not quite as bad as Sammy. She relatively quickly stops and steadies her head again. Some days are worse and some days are really good where she hardly shows symptoms. And she can peck the devil out of you even when her head is down :Yes:

How long do you have Sammy now? I wonder if very young pigeons have more problems to recover than adult ones because Jimi and Willy do not show any signs any more besides not being able to eat themselves. Pina is only 6 months old and she still cannot fly again while Jimi and Willy are perfect fliers again. Pina is now 12 weeks inside. A long time and may take even longer for full recovery but I hope the best. Despite some relapses from time to time she is slowly improving at the bottom line.

I found him on October 6th, so it's going on 18 weeks now.
His appetite and poops are excellent, and he continues to put on weight, but he still can't pick up more than a tiny amount of seeds for himself. He can drink a little, though.
Today I tried to provide him with a bath, and it was a total failure. As soon as his feet touched the water, down went the head. I kind of expected that, so my hand was there to support his head before it touched the water. Even then, rather than relaxing, he got increasingly anxious, until I picked him up, cuddled him and dried him. Poor Sammy!
I've wondered if it's a different virus he's got, or a combination of more than one type of virus.

Rupert and George are better.

Rupert still doesn't try to fly, but his appetite and water consumption are normal now, so I've stopped supplementing his food and drink, and his poops look fine. He scatters a lot more food than he eats, but he's got a deep feeder. He's bright and alert.

George can lift his injured wing, though it still hangs when at rest. He preens and coos with a deep booming voice and threatens to wingslap when I open his cage. But I still don't like the look of his poops, lightish green spaghetti in a pool of liquid.
Today, during exercise time, he managed to lift himself two feet off the ground.

for the wonderful update, Teresa.
I'm glad to hear Rupert is now eating 100% on his own.

Three cheers for George for getting off the ground.
Continued positive thoughts that his poop begins to correct itself.

Please keep us posted.

I tried to get Ivermectin or Moxidectin at the chemist's today -- no luck. They've got Ivermectin for bovines, but unless Sammy continues to eat for Portugal, my pigeons weigh considerably less!
:That\\\'s so f
Ended up ordering 10 ampoules of Beaphor (Ivermectin, parrot dosage). What's the average weight of a parrot, about 400 g ?

It depends on the parrot, Teresa. What is the concentration of the ivermectin? If you tell me that, I can tell you how much I would give.

I don't have that information yet.
I'll let you know when the order arrives, or before, if I can find the info online.

Sammy is chattering away at the moment. He still sounds like a baby crocodile! :That\\\'s so f

Cute...

Rupert's pics

This is Rupert's set-up, with his food container placed in a hollowed-out cardboard box for privacy (he's very jittery!) and to prevent spillage. Shame about the dog sticker, I'll have to do something about that!



And his new and improved poops, lol:



These photos were taken today. He looks nervous, but bright-eyed and alert, and not at all fluffed-up:

He looks great!

... and George's!





(In the second one he looks as if he's saying, 'WOT! WOT!! I'M JUST GOING FOR A WALK, WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL!'

Teresa wrote:

Sammy is chattering away at the moment.

He still sounds like a baby crocodile! :That\\\'s so f

Rupert is looking awesome, as are his s.

Teresa wrote:

... and George's!

(In the second one he looks as if he's saying, 'WOT! WOT!! I'M JUST GOING FOR A WALK, WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL!'

He sure does! Too cute. :That\\\'s so f

Teresa wrote:

pigeonwriter wrote:

Teresa, just looked at the video of Sammy. Oh my that's exactly what Pina also still does though not quite as bad as Sammy. She relatively quickly stops and steadies her head again. Some days are worse and some days are really good where she hardly shows symptoms. And she can peck the devil out of you even when her head is down :Yes:

How long do you have Sammy now? I wonder if very young pigeons have more problems to recover than adult ones because Jimi and Willy do not show any signs any more besides not being able to eat themselves. Pina is only 6 months old and she still cannot fly again while Jimi and Willy are perfect fliers again. Pina is now 12 weeks inside. A long time and may take even longer for full recovery but I hope the best. Despite some relapses from time to time she is slowly improving at the bottom line.

I found him on October 6th, so it's going on 18 weeks now.
His appetite and poops are excellent, and he continues to put on weight, but he still can't pick up more than a tiny amount of seeds for himself. He can drink a little, though.
Today I tried to provide him with a bath, and it was a total failure. As soon as his feet touched the water, down went the head. I kind of expected that, so my hand was there to support his head before it touched the water. Even then, rather than relaxing, he got increasingly anxious, until I picked him up, cuddled him and dried him. Poor Sammy!
I've wondered if it's a different virus he's got, or a combination of more than one type of virus.

Teresa, Pina was very nervous at the beginning too. What I did was letting sit her on my one hand and held her head with the other and then slowly went down into the really warm water. I have realized that she lost her great fear when she could feel my hand was there.
In the meanwhile I put her into the water slowly and she sometimes just sits in it and when it's enough she just jumps out of the bathtub by herself. She only bathed once so far really with splashing the water. She loves to watch Willy and Jimi though - it looks like as if she admires the guts of the two gentlemen :That\\\'s so f

Teresa wrote:

Rupert and George are better.

Rupert still doesn't try to fly, but his appetite and water consumption are normal now, so I've stopped supplementing his food and drink, and his poops look fine. He scatters a lot more food than he eats, but he's got a deep feeder. He's bright and alert.

George can lift his injured wing, though it still hangs when at rest. He preens and coos with a deep booming voice and threatens to wingslap when I open his cage. But I still don't like the look of his poops, lightish green spaghetti in a pool of liquid.
Today, during exercise time, he managed to lift himself two feet off the ground.

So glad to hear this - it is so depressing to hear about all those poor birds who are sick or have injuries. But when they are improving - it's a great joy

pigeonwriter wrote:

Teresa, Pina was very nervous at the beginning too. What I did was letting sit her on my one hand and held her head with the other and then slowly went down into the really warm water. I have realized that she lost her great fear when she could feel my hand was there.
In the meanwhile I put her into the water slowly and she sometimes just sits in it and when it's enough she just jumps out of the bathtub by herself. She only bathed once so far really with splashing the water. She loves to watch Willy and Jimi though -
it looks like as if she admires the guts of the two gentlemen :That\\\'s so f

I can just see that. Too cute.

Quote :

Teresa, Pina was very nervous at the beginning too. What I did was letting sit her on my one hand and held her head with the other and then slowly went down into the really warm water. I have realized that she lost her great fear when she could feel my hand was there.
In the meanwhile I put her into the water slowly and she sometimes just sits in it and when it's enough she just jumps out of the bathtub by herself. She only bathed once so far really with splashing the water. She loves to watch Willy and Jimi though - it looks like as if she admires the guts of the two gentlemen :That\\\'s so f

Thank you for the advice, Petra. I'll copy what you did, and I'll do it on a very sunny day, so he has plenty of time to bask in the sun afterwards.
I can just picture Pina watching the boys with approval! The only one I have who loves bathing is Hercules, but Sammy is really scared of him! So would I be, if I were Sammy's size!

String injury released

Today I was able to catch, free and release a string injury that had joined 'my' feral flock. Her feet were bound with human hair, and although it was tight, it was very recent, so by the time the hair was removed there was barely a mark on her toes.


More Rupert released:

Rupert passed his flying test with honours, and weighed in at a very decent 320 g (he is a very small adult), so I opened the window and let him choose when to leave.

First he took a tour of the room:



Then he briefly attempted to court Piper (Hercules wasn't amused!)



When Piper moved to the other end of her cage, he said goodbye to her, George (bottom left) and Sammy (bottom right)



flew over to my desk, and then took off:



He spent a couple of minutes on the edge of the roof (far left) taking his bearings



and flew east towards the park.

What a great way to end my day, reading your wonderful updates.
Teresa.