Milo's story.... wing flipping and toe tapping

[MoreGooder]

I am a frequent poster over at LandOfVos, but I thought it would be nice to post my recent discovery about the wing flipping and toe tapping my male Vos has been dealing with for quite some time.

I discovered that Milo is allergic to corn! As it turns out, corn is not only one of the Eclectus Parrots favorite food, it is also a food source that has a high occurance of allergic reaction. Unfortunately, it is really hard to find food that doesn't have corn in it unless its simply fresh fruits and veggies.

Here's how I discovered the allergy:

I had transitioned Milo off of a colored pellet onto fresh veggies, and almost every day there was corn in his bowl. Boiled corn on the cob, canned corn, even dehydrated organic corn. Well, Milo has been chewing on his wing feathers and would even have spasms in his right leg. He would even fall over if he had a wing flip while trying to roost on one foot. I believe the wing chewing was a response to his wing flipping. I've read stories where birds chew their toes and feet when toe tapping. He's only 6 months old, so hormones certainly aren't the cause.

At one point I ran out of corn and didn't feel like I needed to make any more homemade corn on the cob for him because I had introduced Avarian Miracle Diet. The toe tapping and wing flipping stopped. I thought it was due to the AMD. Later that same week I put some dehydrated corn ("Just Corn") in the bottom of the bowl with the AMD on top. 24 hours later and he was toe tapping again, 48 hours later wing flipping and toe tapping both. I noticed the trend, but didn't have proof so I had to do a test. I put Milo on a diet of brown rice (fully cooked) and dehydrated peas. 4 days later, no wing flipping and toe tapping. First sympton to disappear was the wing flipping, the toe tappign frequency came down until none occured. His poops even changed color during this phase, from green to brown and back to green.

Next, I had to do the heartbreaking thing and put him back on corn to check for toe tapping. So, brown rice and dehydrated corn was fed. 24 hours later, toe tapping. Now, he's been off of corn for another three days and the symptoms are completely gone.

So, no more corn for Milo. If you have a bird that is having trouble with wing flipping and toe tapping, the problem may very well be diet related.

Also, I should point out that when he was on the corn diet I could actually hear noises from his digestive system similar to an upset stomach. He now no longer makes any such noises, and his poops are completely normal look.

Today I've started to reintroduce some other favorite foods such as apple, sweet potato and various seeds. I'll be watching carefully for wf/tt while these other foods pass through his system.

He's a much happier bird when he's not eating corn. He's more vocal, more active and wants to cuddle more. I think it's due to better sleep, no more indigestion and no more stress from involuntary muscle contractions.