Worried about Mojo ( BG Macaw)

[ParrotJoe]

Good afternoon everyone here at Birdboard,

The past couple days my Mojo (blue and gold macaw) seems to be feeling sick. When I take her out of her cage as I do every day, her energy level seems lower than usual. On top of that, her poops are much smaller than usual and she seems to struggle a little to squeeze them out. For example, she will squat over to poop and then a few seconds will go by and then a little bit of 'it' will come out, followed by another delay ( she's still squatting) and sometimes another little bit will come out, sometimes not.

She seems to be eating ok, I checked her food bowl and it appears she was eating. Last night I took her out and fed her oatmeal and she gobbled it down without a problem.

I think this may have been caused by flies. I keep her outside in a screened in patio but a few days ago a storm came through and broke an opening in the mesh screen. I did not notice it till I went out to change her food and saw a bunch of flies zipping in and around her cage ( the house fly type of flies - you know the real fast ones that are hard to splat)

I immediately fixed the problem with the mesh and went out and bought fly traps, fly sticky paper, and put it in the room with her. The flies seem to be gone now but now she is behaving as I described above which has me worried.

To make matters worse I have been unable to track down an Avian Vet here in Tallahassee, FL ( I am still looking ).

In the meantime I wanted to come here and see if anyone else has had a similar experience to mine and if they could offer any advice. Thanks for reading.

Concerned parront,

Joe in Tallahassee

[fluffy_stitch]

as i was reading the only thing that came to me was that maybe the fly papers are toxic and she got at them??

[ParrotJoe]

I highly doubt that is the case because a) The brand of fly paper I chose claims to be nontoxic b) If she did get into it I think I would have been able to tell ( chew marks etc) and c) She gets full supervision when she is out of her cage and they fly traps were not close to her cage.

[birdlady49]

It sounds like she may be dehydrated if she's struggling to poop. Are the poops darker, almost black? How much moisture is in them? If they're smaller than usual, she's either not eating as much as she has in the past or there is some sort of blockage.

I did a quick search for avian vets in Tallahassee and came up empty. Hard to believe. But here's a link to a list of Florida vets; maybe you can determine if one is fairly close: Avian Veterinarian Search

Normally I would recommend the AAV site but it appears to be down (still).

[wildirish]

Is she definately a girl, have you checked to see if she is trying to lay an egg or something.

[Winged_Victory]

Hi,

Please keep her warm at 85 degrees. If she is dehydrated I would off either children's pedalyte or gatorade mixed 50/50 with water. For foods I would offer fresh papaya and melon for hydration. The papaya will aid with digestion. Please find a vet and discuss the birds current situation with him.

Please keep us posted.

[CALVINS MOM]

Joe - she may have some type of blockage or bacterial infection. Are any of these vets near you? I would not wait...

Florida

Deerfield Beach, FL - Daryl Nick Backos (Backos Bird Clinic) - 954-427-0777
Jacksonville, FL - Rhoda Stevenson (Exotic Bird Hosp Inc) - 904-268-0204
Jupiter, FL - April Romagnano (Animal Health Clinic) - 561-799-7717
Lake Worth, FL - Greg John Harrison (The Bird Hosp PA) - 561-964-2121
Loxahatchee, FL - Susan L. Clubb (Rain Forest Clinic for Birds) - 561-795-4878
Lutz, FL - Suzanne Victoria Topor (Livingston Animal & Avian Hosp) - 813-979-1955
Monticello, FL - Kitty Remington
Myakka City, FL - Michael Bonda - 941-359-3800
Orange Park, FL - Michelle Curtis Velasco (Fleming Island Pet & Bird Clinic) - 904-264-7387
Palm Harbor, FL - Joel D. Murphy (An/Bird Med Ctr of Palm Harbor) - 727-784-0558
Port Richey, FL - Susan Sattler-Augustin - 727-863-2435
Tampa, FL - Teresa L. Lightfoot (FL Vet Specialists) - 813-933-8944 - Exotic Veterinary Seminars
Wesley Chapel, FL - Margaret Anne Wissman - 813-973-3044 - Exotic Pet Veterinarian

[Lisa B]

Kathie, I just went to retrieve the same info you posted!!!!
(great minds think alike)

yes, please keep us up to date with what you find out and I hope she is feeling better soon.

[cbalvino]

constipation in birds and people has to do usually with a lack of water and fiber,I agree with a little more fruit with fiber to her diet and watch how much she is drinking,in a warm climate she needs to drink more once she is well hydrated she should return to her normal self if not seek a vets help

[ParrotJoe]

Thanks for the good information everybody, I was lucky enough to find an Avian vet for her whom she will be seeing very soon. I don't think she was dehydrated because sometimes her droppings have been plenty watery.

I'll keep you all updated on what the vet thinks when we get back. Thanks again and have a good weekend!