I'm new and have joined this group of bird owners because I'm finding out the hard way that I know a lot less about pet birds than I'd like to.

I'm writing because in the last year I have lost two pet birds. My Umbrella Cockatoo of 8 years last April, and most recently my baby Blue Quaker this past Monday evening. I had only had her home for three days and her loss was crushing. I don't know what happened. I've heard of many different possibilities but at this point I just deal with the guilt that maybe I had done something wrong. Yes, she was eating, her pellets, some pieces of apple and peas and corn. I never saw her drinking which is not to say she didn't, but I would give her the formula the bird store sent me home with to make sure, or at least so I thought, that she was hydrated. I should have suspected Monday evening that there might be a problem when she wouldn't take the formula and she seemed very listless.

In spite of the heartbreak I found a local breeder yesterday that had two babies ready to go home. My initial feeling was that I shouldn't get any more pets, the guilt thing I guess telling me that I was no good for them. I worked through this part emotionally and I now have another baby at home. Needless to say I am paranoid to the max right now. This baby has been home about 20 hours now and I haven't noticed her eating, but she is drinking water. She is being vocal once in a while but she mostly sits in one area, sleeping some and grooming some.

I believe that I read somewhere that with any bird, moving to a new home is very stressful and they need some time to adjust. I'm worried at this point when maybe I don't need to be, but under the circumstances I don't feel that I can be "too" concerned.

Do I just leave the baby alone for a while so that she feels comfortable, or do I try to interact at this early stage? It sure lifted my spirits to hear her chirping and making some noise this morning. It would definitely make my day if she would move around more and I would see her eating.

I understand why you are nervous but take this time to get your bird used to you being there. Talk to him and sit near his cage as he adjusts etc....keep an eye on him all the same.
Did you get any background from the breeder on this bird? His current age and was he properly weaned etc???

In re to your recent loss as hard as it is to do it try not to kick yourself around too much because there are too many variables that could not be your fault as well. Especially when it comes to young birds there could be a multitude of reasons why he died and anything you think of will only be speculation.

I would also take this bird for an initial avian vet exam. It will help confirm his health and the vet also offers alot of advise in re to the care of him and the other advantage is your bird will be registered as a patient of the vet so you can call with questions and concerns etc and the vet will be more eager to take him in if an emergency ever arises.

dont be sad bout your little blue qp. its not your fault, sometimes these things happen. well from what i know, its best to keep her in a room so she can see you all the time. I usually interact with my little one the first time i got him, i put him against my chest and talked to him the whole ride home. When i placed him in the cage i talked to him and even read aloud to him. I have a tv in the same room with him, so i keep it on when im not home or i have things to do. just keep your little one happy make sure she has enough toys and ask your breeder buddy who you got her from what is their dailyr routine with the birds, like is there something she would do with the birds for interaction.

just keep happy and moniter her. if you have a video camera keep it in the room with her and record about three or four hours of what she does, so you can see what she's doing and if she's eating..
ok good luck

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Just before I started writing this, the baby (no name yet, waiting for DNA), started up with some very loud sounds and started exploring her cage. It helps. Yes, I do have some background. The breeder runs a closed aviary, no visitors. The bird is about 11 weeks old and has been weened off of formula for about three weeks now.

I'm hoping that I see more positive signs today. I've taken the day off of work to make sure she is okay.

I guess since Im new around here I should build a profile.

Thanks again.

Hi and welcome. I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. As the others have stated, there are so many different things that could have went wrong with your baby QP and not necessarily while in your care. Don't put yourself down over this.



I don't have much to add as to what others have said, just maybe one other idea. As far as the drinking. I have found that baby parrots especially take well to drinking out of a water bottle (one for birds--kinda like you see for hamsters etc.) At least my Quaker did and my Senegal did too. I suppose that is because it looks and reminded them of a syringe which they were probably fed with as babies. It only took 1 day for Louie to get used to it. However, I did keep his water bowl next to the bottle for a week, just to make sure. Basically first I just held the bottle infront of his mouth and he went right for it. Then I showed him where it is in the cage.....viola.



I like the water bottle, because I think it is more sanitary since birds like to put food in their water bowls, sometimes poop in it and bathe etc. Since I am at work all day, I'm not there to constantly change the water bowl and he would have to drink the soiled water which can become dangerous as bacteria starts growing in it. So for me the water bottle is great.

Hi and welcome. I am very sorry for your loss. I know of the guilt you are feeling. My vet told me something once that really stuck with me-birds are just like us, people. Each and every one of them are very different. We all don't die of old age as we would like to. I take comfort in that since I lost my QP too early also.

My only suggestion is to get a well bird exam as soon as you can and stay in touch with breeder in case of regression and such. My QP stayed with her breeder until she was almost 6 months old. They did not feel comfortable letting her go until then. About the hydration, what I did with my bird is I would wait about 5 minutes after she was tucked in to bed and then go in and give her sips of water. She always took them. She sipped in three's...one, two, three sips and then was ready for bed. Other than that I would only see her drinking in the afternoon. I had a water bottle and a very small plastic "shot glass" on top of cage for her to drink from 24/7.

I'm so sorry for your losses. I know how hard it is. But this is an excellent resource. Glad you found this forum. You've gotten great advice so I'm just going to add my "welcome!" to everyone else's. Would love to see some pics and will be excited to find out if you have a boy or girl and what name you decide on though!

Actually things have gotten better as the day has gone on. The baby is chattering more and has been exploring his/her cage. The breeder I got her from assures me that all this is normal and it make take a couple of days to a couple of weeks for her to acclimate to her new environment

I'm thinking of naming this one the same as the baby I lost yesterday. Skye. I like the name and I think it's kind of a unisex name, so whether this baby is a boy or girl it shouldn't really matter. Keeping that name I will always remember that little one I had for too short of a time.

Thank you all again for your words of encouragement.

I'll add a couple of things that may help monitor your new additions health. A well bird check up is a good idea, as it will give you and the vet a baseline to work from.

Get a good scale that measures in grams, and weigh your bird a couple of times a week. Many times the first sign of an illness is a loss of weight.

Finally to make sure s/he is drinking dip your finger in water and offer it to your bird this way. Just a few drops will ensure that they are getting some liquid.


Sorry about your previous losses. If you read through here you'll find all kinds of do's and don'ts that may help you along. Like NO TEFLON!

Good luck and welcome.

Welcome to the forum!!! I am so sorry for your losses.
There is a wealth of info on this forum. Be sure to read about the do's and not's...no candles, no glade plug-ins, no teflon, no chocolate, avocado, or salty foods..I am sure I have forgotten something.

It is best in the beginning to weigh your baby every day to be sure he/she's not lost any weight..The rule of thumb is 10% or more is dangerous. Once he is about 6 months old, then go to twice a week weighing. he will get used to getting on the scale. Go to ebay.com and see if you can find a gram scale. I got mine there, just like my vet uses, for only $20...

Please keep us posted..

Rebecca

Glad to see you made it Tom!!! There are pleanty of people who have been in your shoes who are here and part of the forum. No question is "Dumb" or "not worth asking". Please do think about posting a blog so you can come back to your thougths and keep a diary of your life with "baby blue". There is a ton of info in the archives also.

Good luck!!! Congrats and look forward to reading about how it goes.

Good luck with you new baby!

Like everyone has said, you may never know what killed your previous baby and so don't be too quick to blame yourself.

A few things to watch out for are
1) No non-stick cookware, when the Teflon reaches a certain temperature releases a gas that it fatal to birds
2) No avacado, chocolate and a handful of other things (though, I'm sure you know most of this....)
3) If you have a cat, make sure it doesn't interact with the bird AT ALL physically. Even the cat LIKES the bird it can kill it with kiss because cat salvia contains a bacteria that is deadly to birds.

Those were just some things off the top of my head... good luck with your new baby. Do you have pictures????

Hi Andie,

Yeah, it's been a rough, emotional ride this week. A real rollercoaster.

I'm sticking with the name Skye no matter what you let me know on the DNA results, but I'm kind of "assuming" that this is a guy 'cause he is a crab at night and early morning (doesn't want to come out of the cage).

As you know he has gone from one extreme to another, first not eating at all, and now eating A LOT, or so it seems. The cage has these large stainless steel bowls that he could easily reach down into to get food, but instead he sits with his whole body inside the bowl, head down eating and tail sticking up. It's funny. He seems to be doing okay with the Zupreme. The Beak Appetit worked a bit yesterday, but he doesn't seem to be intereted in it today. Mostly just apples and the pellets.

Thanks so much for your patience with us. This is a great website and a great resource.