My baby lovebird has a punctured crop/aspirated please help need help asap!!!

[Deep1127]

I have a 3 week old baby lovebird who I bought from a private breeder. I have named him Diamond. He is completely unweaned. Upon getting home, I made his formula and started to feed him with a syringe(I did feed him from his left). He only ate about 2ml of the formula and at that point I noticed his right cervical air sac had a bubble/balloon. I stopped feeding him and did not know what to do since all animal clinics were closed at this time, except for the emergency hospital which would cost me $150 just to admit my lovebird. I know this is a serious problem and his crop might be punctured or damaged, and he can develop pneumonia and other bacterial diseases, he could also die. So I put him to sleep, and the next morning I introduced him to my budgie her name is Luna. He saw Luna eating her food(seeds; Kaytee Fruit & Veggie to be exact) and Diamond started trying to eat it aswell, he has been successful and has been eating Kaytee Fruit and Veggie. But now I noticed that both of his cervical air sacs have a balloon/bubble, but his left air sacs balloon is VERY SMALL. I now see that there is food that he has ate(Kaytee Fruit and Veggie) IN HIS AIR SAC. His crop does not fill up fully at all, it almost seems like it is always empty.

He shows no signs of pain or distress, he seems to be PERFECTLY CONTENT, he plays all day discovering new parts of my house(I do supervise him 24 hours, theres never a time he is not supervised by me). I've also been giving him heights to jump off to practice flying since I saw him trying. And now he has improved significantly and can glide almost perfectly, not only that but he can actually fly a short distance about half a metre - a metre. I do love him very much. He is only 3 weeks old and is doing all this already. My budgie Luna sits on top of her cage and just "chills". Diamond has learned to climb the cage and get to the top, him and Luna are getting along VERY WELL. I will save all this for other days/posts. Bottom line; Regardless of this problem(s), he shows no signs of discontent or pain, his tail does not shake AT ALL. He is perfectly happy. He does eat a awful lot tho(im assuming because all his food is not ending up in the proper places). Although he has been pooping regularly and seems to be well, I am pretty sure he is not because of this air sac problem.

I have decided to get him an antibiotic, Enrofloxacin (Baytril). I will do this as soon as stores open tomorrow morning. I am not at all by any means a veterinarian or have any veterinarian experience. I just happen to know this because I used to have another lovebird a couple months ago who I also named Diamond who passed away due to the same problem which was my fault, I had overfeed him. I miss him very dearly and had somehow built up the courage finally to get another lovebird. To my luck, this one has the same or similar problem, but this time, it was not my fault - atleast, I do not think it was my fault.

The food that is in his air sacs, I do not know what is going to happen with that. I would really like to know, as well as what I should do, do you think my beloved Diamond will survive? I have only had him for 3 days now.


Please kindly help my lovebird and me.


I am located in Mississauga, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

[Chief's Mom]

I have no idea what steps you would take to help out little Diamond. Are there no after hours clinics anywhere near you? As much as I hate to suggest it, at this hour a vet with some bird experience although not a certified avian vet, would be better than nothing at all.

You may want to call some local vets and see if they have any emergency vets open (not sure if you guys celebrate Good Friday and the Easter weekend like we do). If nothing else, here's the number of my CAV Dr. Greg Rich--1 (504) 455-6386. We're all the way down in South Louisiana, but he's very good, very well known, and has always been kind and generous to help in any way that he can. I think a phone call with a vet is better than nothing. I would definitely hesitate to give any medicine until speaking to someone like a vet or an experienced breeder/hand feeder who has had this happen before. Good luck!!

[mabird]

I am sorry I cannot offer any assistance due to lack of experience, however you and Diamond are in my thoughts and prayers.... please keep us updated with his status.

[Monica]

I must wonder at what temperature is the formula????

There is a technique of "burping" young birds if there is excess air in the crop.

Is there any way to return the chick to the breeder???? I must wonder why you are handfeeding a young bird when you are inexperienced? (or so it seems from your post)

I don't know if these would help but here are a couple pictures of cockaitel chicks...
The Middle Chick on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Cockatiel chicks are growing day by day on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[TheFrantom]

You have an emergency situation that a vet must attend to. He is getting no nourishment, the food is leaking out, he will die. The bird needs his crop sewn up by the vet. Hot formula is the culprit. Handfeeding a bird is not for the inexperienced or new bird owner. Unweaned birds should NEVER be sold, except to other established breeders.

Pls.find a vet immediately.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Disclaimer: My comments on this site are of my own opinion. My intent is a friendly chat, to promote the welfare and proper care of parrots, offer helpful bird advice, to alert this site to issues that may result in financial loss, or issues (pro or con) that may arise concerning obtaining, purchasing, or adopting pet birds/parrots. My intent is not to criticize or hurt anyone else's feelings. If anyone thinks my comments pertain to themselves specifically, I apologize publicly, here in advance. If you object to my comments/posts/jokes, pls. private message me so as not to offend sensitive members on this site. Thank you. :-)