Jenday Conure Squawking Weird

[MyJendayAvias]

My Jenday Conure, named Avias, has begun to squawk weird. It started about a week ago. One day when I came home from work, I noticed that he sounded different. His squawk sounded lower in volume. This lasted for a few days and seemed to get better. Then the day before yesterday the squawk changed a lot. It sounds like a squeaky toy now. It seems like it is difficult for him to squawk. He does not appear to be in pain nor does he act as if he is sick.

Nothing has change in his surrounding for almost a year and no one in the house has been sick. He is almost 3 1/2 years old so he should be through sexual maturity. He has never been sick before.

I called our vet and they asked me if the standard questions on his appearance, stools, eating and drinking. I told them that nothing has changed and everything looks fine. They said I could bring him in and the vet could take a look in his throat but I don't have the money. I will take him if it is serious though but he does not appear to be in discomfort at all. He is as happy as can be.

Has anyone else experienced this with their Conure?

Should I be concerned?

Thanks,
Jeff

[Valo's Moirana]

well, let me say this to answer your last question: you obviously are concerned, since you noticed something unusual

valo picked up some new vocalization a while back that initially had me concerned as well, but i took him to the vet to get him checked out. which, btw, i would recommend to do with your bird as well.
i understand that vet exams are not cheap, but at the same time it's better than taking the risk... i can't say anything from just the change in tone, but if the birdie does have a throat infection you certainly want to get him treated...
monitor his weight to make suer he's not loosing any... in the end - i'd bring him in to have him checked out

ps: it is spring and it COULD be related to the hormones, but i wouldn't not bet on that

[Tiki]

He could also be picking something up from another bird outside. Mine do that, my tiels even try to imitate kookaburras sometimes!

I have a Jenday-Yaxche and he has all kinds of squawks because he lives with a Nanday, a Quaker, 2 Princesses and 9 Tiels!! Not to mention backyard birds!

[MyJendayAvias]

Well I have an update. It’s not good but things have not gotten serious yet. When I got home from work yesterday, I noticed that Avias is unable to squawk now. He makes a somewhat gurgling sound when he trys to squawk. When I witnessed this, I got really worried so I called the vet.

The vet told me that there may be something trapped in his vocal region and that this can occasionally occur, causing the sound to change or be blocked. The vet ensured with me that Avias was still active, eating and drinking. Which he is.

The possible solution is to stream the bird by placing him in the bathroom and turning the shower on hot to fill the room with stream. The goal is to hopefully help him to dislodge whatever is lodged in the vocal region.

So last night we both getting streamed. While in there I noticed that he was rubbing is head on his back and sneezing every now and then. I hope that this may be a sign of something caught in his vocal region.

We did this twice last night but nothing has changed. My fiancé is home with him today continuing the streaming hope things will get better. I will be with him all weekend. The vet was not concerned at this time and we are watching him for any signs of weakness or lack of eating and drinking.

I hope things get better. I will update more when things change.

Thanks for the replies,

Jeff

[Valo's Moirana]

you know, in this situation i'd scrape the money together and take him to the vet... especially if it doesn't get better despite doing the things the vet recommended.

unfortunately, i can't give you any advice... but i truly hope the baby will be fine. please keep us posted.

[Tiki]

Jeff, I am worried about that "gurgling" sound, I would get him into the vet. He could have something in his esophagus that went down the wrong way.

I hope he will be OK.

[TonyB.]

i hope all is well for you i will pay attention for this i have never thought about something like that everyday i learn something new for my baby to look out for good luck and hope it works out for you and your baby :)

[MyJendayAvias]

Well I have very bad news to report. My Jenday Conure Avias has passed away yesterday morning May 28, 2007 at a little past 7:00 am. He was a great lovable parrot who was an integral part of our family. He is and will always be missed. I hate the idea that this even happen and I don't now what I could have done differently.

Here is the rest of the story for others to know.

On Friday, just after I posted the update before this one, my fiancé and I decided to that him to the vet because his condition was worsening and it seemed as though he was having trouble breathing. Prior to this, we were in consistent contact with the vet and up until this point, there was not a concern or any indication that we may lose him.

I left work early and my fiancé and I took Avias to the vet. When the vet examined Avias, she still thought that there was something in his throat. The vet explained that due to there small size it is very difficult to go down their throats to retrieve any foreign material. The solution still remained for him to work the material out himself and, if in a week the material doesn’t come out, the vet will try to suck the material out. To safely make it through a week the vet explained to us that she would insert a tube into his lower air sack to aid his breathing. He came out of the procedure just fine and we took him home with directions to give him antibiotics twice a day and to continue streaming.

Time was on our side. We had the weekend and Monday to care for him. We spent every minute that we had with him to ensure things were going as planned.

Friday evening came the start of the problems. The tube seemed to become clogged with mucus, which prevented it from aiding his breathing. As soon as this happened we called the vet after hours. The vet explained that we could try blowing into the tube, wiggling the tube, or sucking the mucus out with the syringes that were provided to us with the antibiotics. We tried all of the above without much success. Blowing into the tube lasted about a second. The syringes where small but to large to fit down the tube. Wiggling was about the best solutions. So for the next two days we did our best to help him.

Sunday evening, while steaming, showed signs of a new symptom. I didn’t think much of it at first but just as the bathroom filled with stream, Avias started to panic and breath really hard. During this, he had a great urge to fly to the floor. I started to worry but I only thought that he was trying to get to the floor to cool off. I immediately turned off the shower and cooled down the bathroom. When I took him out of the bathroom and placed him on his perch his seemed to be ok. That night he had a few more attacks. During the attacks, he would go to the bottom of his cage and gasp for air. The tube seemed to be working because I could hear the air traveling through it. The attacks would last a few minutes and no matter what I did, I couldn’t help him.

Monday morning about 7:00 am he was experiencing an attack. I got up and took him from his cage. I tried to place him on his perch and clam him down but I noticed that he was tipsy. I picked him up and carried him to the dining room table where I could place him down to help him. At that moment, he began to get weak and limp. I tried to blow into the tube but no air would enter. I was lost as to what to do. He was gasping for air and I watch him die.

Tonight I am going to take his remains to the vet to determine what, if anything is in his throat. I will update with more information when I get it.

Sorry for the long post but I feel this information may help someone else.

I miss Avias badly.

Jeff

[mizbirdy]

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!! Please keep us updated on what you find out.

[milihandra]

I am so sorry for your loss, what a horrible ordeal!, please let us know the results from you vet, any information may help prevent this from happening to other conure parents!