African grey parrot with fits

RE: African grey parrot with fits

Mark Hedberg — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 11:40:08 GMT

Pretend the African Gray is a stubborn 4 year old. Not kidding - they're much more intelligent then you give them credit for, and just as stubborn! At this stage, nutrition is key; so if the parrot wants sweetened yogurt, maybe mixing some jam into plain yogurt is an acceptable compromise. At least then they get the calcium.

Please please please avoid artificial sweeteners - can be very harmful.

RE: African grey parrot with fits

Roanneth Slater-Brown — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 08:30:19 GMT

Many thanks Clare, are there any dietary no-no's? She will need to experiment to find things the parrot will eat. Is dairy ok - cheese, yogurt? confirm sugar should be avoided even to tempt the bird to eat say yogurt?

Regards

RE: African grey parrot with fits

C123 — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 07:44:05 GMT

Like the others have said it could be a number of things but I would suggest a calcium deficiency. Make sure he has a varied diet not just seeds and even a calcium supplemen.

Good luck ☺️

RE: African grey parrot with fits

Roanneth Slater-Brown — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 16:52:14 GMT

Brilliant, thanks Mark, I will have a trawl through and pass on pounters!

RE: African grey parrot with fits

Mark Hedberg — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:41:59 GMT

[quote user="Roanneth Slater-Brown"]

Quite agree Mark, however, what I didn't mention was she lives in Mozambique where veterinary care for cats & dogs is primitive at best, let alone exotics! So any practical suggestions or contact email addresses of the vets you recommended would be most helpful. I have emailed the Parrot Zoo in Lincolnshire to see if they have any suggestions other than take it to a vet

[/quote]

Mozambique! Well that's certainly a different kettle of fish, my apologies!

http://www.trinityvetcentre.com/Trinity_Vet_Centre/Home.html

http://www.exotic-cpd.co.uk/ (lots of good resources there. There's even an app for that!)

Cheers,

Mark

edit: you'll often find that these birds are fed on a mainly sunflower seed diet, which isn't suitable for them as a sole diet source; but they love them and will pig out on them to the exclusion of all else! So a much more varied diet for a start.

http://www.theparrotsocietyuk.org/veterinary-advice/hypocalcaemia is a link for helping with calcium deficiency in parrots.

RE: African grey parrot with fits

Roanneth Slater-Brown — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 17:59:15 GMT

Thanks Jojo, agree it may be a calcium issue. She lives inside, but goes out in the trees occasionally; I have recommended the owner gets her out more and try and vary her diet as much as possible. She is not fond of sesame seeds, but will try pumpkin seeds plus greens. Do you know if there is any total no no food for parrots like chocolate and dogs? Any other dietary suggestions, can they eat cheese? Sadly veterinry attention is not likely as she doesn't travel well and no vets that I would use in Mozambique

RE: African grey parrot with fits

jojofruits — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 13:53:15 GMT

Could be a couple of things, but often seen and most commonly caused by calcium deficiencies when fed seed diet and kept in captivity - does bird live outside? whats the diet like?

Will need proper and prompt treatment by veterinary surgeon. husbandry changes for this will help but needs a proper diagnosis.

RE: African grey parrot with fits

Roanneth Slater-Brown — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 11:49:38 GMT

RE: African grey parrot with fits

Mark Hedberg — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 11:44:28 GMT

Absolutely - I have a foolproof 3 step plan for exactly this situation.

When followed exactly, your friend's parrot will without fail get the help it needs.

So, here goes:

Step 1: Have your friend take the parrot to their vet.

Step 2: Make sure they do what the vet tells them to do

Step 3: You're done!

Cheers,

Mark

(If they don't know any exotic vets in their area, I recommend Mark Rowlands in Maidstone, Iain Cope at Cambridge Vet Group, Mark Naguib at Battle Flats in York, Kevin Eatwell and Bridget Lord in Edinburgh vet school, Jo Hedley at the RVC, Sean McCormack at Richmond Vets, South London, Ian Sayers at Southern Counties Vets in Devon; and Neil Forbes at Great Western Exotics, Swindon, and Molly Varga at Cheshire Vets in Manchester.)

I don't know where your friend lives, but I tried to name someone in most corners of the UK. :)

Edit: of course, other exotic vets are available in the UK. :)