Mojito 911 Please Help!

[Amélia]

We left for one night and when we came home Mojito had a regular green/white stool, then the next two after were a watery red color. They were fine before we left, and I have not observed any unusual behavior with him. We noticed Friday night he seemed to be "stretching" his beak a lot, which I've not seen him do before, but other than that, nothing out of the normal. Does anyone have any suggestions? Other than the obvious "take him to the vet".

[Briony]

ive noticed that if i give my irns something red they will poo red......

with the beak thing ive noticed if my birds dont have shell grit for a few days they do this, they need the shell grit as it helps them digest the food in their crop (so im told)

[Amazonite]

My boy does the same if i feed him something red like beetroot then he poos red.

Have you given your IRN anything red to eat?
If you are worried take him to the vet like you said:)

[ryelle]

whats this "shell grit" stuff? my fid stretches his beak and looks like hes about to throw up or like he's chokin or something all the time. maybe he needs this too?

did you feed him something red or did it just start appearing like this? i'd think back to what he's been fed and if he didnt eat anything red then id take him to the vets. my friend has an african grey and one time when it was a baby, three of its poops had blood in it and she rushed it to the vet and it was just a broken blood feather near his bum hehe. not as serious as it could have been

[Amélia]

Not that I recall to be honest. When we got home he had a bit of peach (fresh, not canned or jarred) but that was it. His seed has a bit of red in it, but it's what we've given him since we adopted him. Matt is taking him to our bird vet today, please keep your fingers and toes crossed for us.

Thank you all!

[Amélia]

Matt just phoned and Mojito is going to be alright. The doctor said it's most likely stress related. He's been plucking a little at his chest, but nothing to be over concerned about. We are going to try softer music at home and leave his cage open during the day to see if that will assist with him calming down a bit. She gave us an anti-biotic and something to help coat his little stomach. Other than the stress issue, he's a very very healthy IRN. They all loved his color and personality.

[Amélia]

So the bloody stools have stopped (thank goodness), but he's plucking, horribly! He's not hurting himself, but while cleaning his cage yesterday, I found a TAIL FEATHER! We've had him just short of a month, and the plucking has only been recent. We haven't moved, haven't changed cages. We had his cage right next to our Cockatiel's, so last night after cleaning the cages, I moved his across the room to see if that helps. I'm not sure what could be causing him stress (especially that much) when there haven't been the changes in the last month. If anyone has any suggestions, please..we are very open to them!

Thank you for reading.

[greeny]

Did the vet carefully check him for any parasites like mites? Those could cause a lot of stress and itching.

Have you used anything different around the cage or in the room where the cage is that he might be allergic to? Like a room spray or a different bedding?

I hope he improves!

[Raja's_mom]

if he seems to be itchy mabie try a little aloe vera juice in his spray bottle that you bath him with sometimes that will help soothe the ichyness and stop them from plucking. make sure you bath him regularly also as this produces good preening habits. I know how frustrating this must be but you have to rule out any medical reasons for the plucking if it is stress mabie he needs more toys to keep himself busy mabie try some foraging toys and things he can shred like paper and cardboard.

[Amélia]

We don't use sprays in our living area where we keep the birds, and they type of bedding in his cage is the same. Those are some great suggestions and I will try them. Thank you all for the great thoughts and tips. BTW..moving his cage seemed to help a bit. We noticed a few feathers, but not nearly as many. Fingers and toes crossed!

[kyria]

The stretching of the beak is called gaping and is totally normal.

The red colour in the droppings could be a colour from foods such as capsicum (bell pepper) or if you feed pellet , from the colour in the pellet. Watch for distress and lack of appetite, and keep an eye on the droppings.

As for shell grit, throw it out. Parrots hull their seeds, peel the outer shell off and eat the soft interior, so grit in the crop is not needed to help digest the seed, as the hard outer shell is gone. And besides they shouldn't be having enough seed to need help with shell grit even if they needed help, main diet fresh fruit and veg. Shell grit infact can irritate and even damage their crops. shell grit might be given to birds such as finches as they eat whole seed.

Just keep a close eye and if distress or condition worsens, straight to the vet, I know its the obvious but its also the safest.

[Ed Loschi]

Hey,

Yeah Kyria is exactly correct, ditch the grit.

As for the feather; did your fid pluck it or did it fall out? Maybe your fid is starting to molt hence some of the stress you are seeing.

Good luck.

[Amélia]

The vet commented that he seemed to be plucking. I personally have seen him take two small feathers out of his chest, but I cannot account for the rest. He seems to be preening aggressivly (for lack of a better term). The discolored stools have stopped (thank goodness) his pellets do have some red color in them, but we've had him for a month, and that was the first time he'd had a discolored dropping. We don't give him grit at all. His diet consists of pellet, fresh fruits, veggies, occasionally he'll have a bite of my rice cake, but they are made w/brown rice, and no extra flavoring. He seems to be eating just fine, infact he begs when we eat dinner (it's quite charming). He's been dropping some of his pellets into his water, and we aren't too sure what is going on there.

[Ed Loschi]

Everything you mention sounds very normal. Pellets in the water cup is completely normal; the diet sounds excellant, and the plucking could just be for this molt. Or, as was explained to me once by a skilled bird owner--that the bird is going through a hormonal phase, like a teenager might, and that 'teen' phase passes.

My fid snipped the green contour feathers, left the white downy feathers alone from around his neck and chest for the past three molts. Each molt he plucked a larger and larger area.

He's molting now and all those snipped/plucked feathers are coming back nicely. When he starts preening too intently I will get him into a quick shower and that stops him from preening for several hours thereafter; he just ruffles alot to get dry but he leaves the feathers alone. The shower seems to settle him, relieve the molt and he seems to like it.

Just a couple of observations about my fid but maybe they'll help you.

Good Luck.

[ryelle]

aahhh "shell grit". i know what you mean now. i thought you meant something like Cuttlefish Bone or something to nibble on.. not actually grit! haha!

ty for saying the gaping is normal Kyria ive wondered about this for a few months now good to know all is fine

[Newcastle]

Just as an update, apparently as new bird owners it simply turned out to be a molt. Thank goodness for that!