Rapid weight loss and/or gain.

[girly]

I'm in Florida and my Jezebel is boarding at the vet's in NY.

Her average weight has been around 400-415 g.

So the vet calls me the first night Jezebel was there to tell me that her weight a couple weeks ago there was 462 and now it's down to 387. He wanted to know if she was on a diet.

WTF? That's all I need, to worry while I'm in florida. first of all, how does a bird lose such an enormous amount of weight in a week or so? I'm not even sure that 462 is correct.

Has anyone seen such fluctuation in weight in your birds?

[mfleming]

I weigh my birds every three days, the most I've seen them gain or lose was one or two grams............something doesn't sound right to me. Did you provide the food for your bird, did the sitter? Sounds like someone isn't feeding your bird all the time, too much weight to lose in a week.

[hsmoscout]

She may be depressed about you being gone, so she doesn't have an appitite

[girly]

She's only been at the vet for one day. He's comparing her weight when I first brought her in to what she weighed there a week ago when they clipped her nails. she's been eating the same foods the whole time I have her. She's also looking and behaving great. I think she may be more active, as now she keeps flying over to wherever I am.

[tielfan]

I would suggest having them weigh her again to see if they made an error the last time they did it. If her weight is still really low they need to examine her for problems.

[Jess89]

It's normal for birds to lose weight when in a new environment; plus- their scales might be either more or less accurate than the ones you have... it can also be the time of day she gets weighed

for example: i weight jasper in the morning before he eats and at night just before i put him to bed...
His average weight in the morning is anywhere between 332 and 338; whereas his night time weight can be anywhere from 335 to 350!

So it could be a matter of you usually weighing her at 8am and them weighing her at 12 lol

[hollyhawkz]

To begin with 462 sounds awfully high if her average is 400 ish... I think that was a mistake. I bet it was 402 and the 0 looked like a 6.

Like you said lately she is getting way more excersise so that could explain some of the loss from 400 down.

It has only been a day (or so now), and if she is loosing weight, she is in the right place. Wait and see what her next few weigh ins are before you panic (too much).

Please keep us posted 'K?

[girly]

thanks you guys, I feel a little better now. Even the vet said he wasn't sure about the 462. They will be weighing her every day, I believe. I'm calling in again later today.

What makes me feel good is that I know that she's as happy as she can be and probably isn't sick. The day I brought her in, she finally muttered something that sounded like "hello". Her first word!

[girly]

The update today is that Jezebel has now gained 12 grams! (amazing since it was only since yesterday). Whatever is going on, I feel much better.

Thanks for tolerating my neurosis, everyone!