Poor Riley

[Robyn]

I have had a vet appointment set up for Riley since I got her for today it was supposed to be just a wellness check and make sure shes ok. Well yesterday I noticed she just didn't look right. Kinda like when you look at somebody and can tell they have a cold well thats the way she was. She was still acting normal expecting non stop scratchs and wanting to be on me even if she wasn't behaving. I had to put her back in her cage so I could finish what I was doing because she wasn't letting me. She was eating and drinking normally still prefering the water bottle over the water dish (which I am 100% ok with as I know she hasn't pooped in the water bottle but always poops in the dish). So after my 2 hours of sleep (really bad insomnia) I took her to the vet. She has a baterial infection and sounds congested (the vet listened to her lungs). I have to keep her at the vet over night in an incubater so that she can stay warm enough to allow her body to only focus on getting better. When she comes home tomorrow I have to keep her in her travel cage (which I HATE the travel cage because it's borrowed and parts are rusted) I have to keep 3 sides covered and on the open side I have to have a heat lamp and a shop hood lamp ( not sure why I need both) and she is to stay in there until her baytril is completed. Then when she is allowed back into her cage I have been advised to attach the heat lamp to it because her cage is huge and she can move away from the heat if she chooses to. She has not had the best start to her three month life so far :th_shakehead: before I even met her she had a night fright and broke a blood feather then the weekend after I met her she lost all her tail feathers in another night fright. When I brought her home it was because the breeders were concerned about the frequency of night frights and decided to send the ones who had been picked out home and now shes sick, poor little birdie. I just want her healthy and happy why is this so hard for her to be both. I am glad she is getting medicine and will be better in a couple weeks the vet said that she has a few things going for her. 1 shes young and young animals heal faster and better than older ones 2 I brought her in the day after I noticed the symptoms rather than waiting around until she got worse. I am sad about having to leave her but I know she will get better faster this way. The vet also said he prefers a birds enviroment to be kept at 90 degrees so if they do catch something their immune system only has to worry about fighting off what they have instead of keeping warm and fighting off stuff. Once shes out of the make shift incubator the heat lamp is to go on her cage because it's big enough that if she wants to she can move away from it. The vet I took her to is the same one I needed when Halloween died (only vet open at the time) and the way he handled that situation is what made me decide to use him for Riley so yes this vet is trusted.

[froggij]

Oh poor baby! I hope Riley feels better! Thank goodness you got it checked out quickly like that.

[Robyn]

Thank you. I just feel bad for her. I love her sooooo much and feel terrible that she's sick. All I wanted was give her a healthy diet and make sure she lives a long healthy life yet she's been with me for a month and she's already sick :(

[Lady]

Hi Robyn,
It is sad that Riley is sick and needs to be away from you, but you are doing a good job looking after him. While he is away for the night it will give you time to prepare the things the doctor suggested for when he comes home in the morning. Try not to stress, it's not good for either of you. And keep us updated on his progress.

[Robyn]

I can't really prepare anything as her travel cage is with her and I was told to get a clamp on heat lamp and use it on the side of her cage. So I just have to sit here and worry about her.

[PlaxMacaws]

I hope the very best for Riley, Robyn. I'm so sorry she's ill :(. I will say that while 90 degrees may be reasonable during her recovery period, I'm not sure it's the best idea to keep her at that temperature thereafter. It's on the extreme high side of a parrot's comfort zone and requires an adequate movement of air. Healthy parrots typically do better at temperatures below 90 degrees. So you may want to reconsider once Riley has been cured.

Below is a link to an article on the ideal environmental temperature ranges for parrots. It includes commentary from a number of avian veterinarians:

[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

May Riley recover very soon!

[spiritbird]

Sorry your birdie is sick. I too have a problem with keeping a temp. o 90 degrees. In that kind of heat you may want to observe for dry, itchy skin and dehydration.
You can use a heating pad under the poop catcher or whatever you use and forgo the heat lamp. Just an idea for you here.

[Robyn]

Riley is home I decided to wait to do the heat lamp until I went to "steal" some food dishes from my grandmother as she has about 6 extra plastic ones and all of Rileys are stainless stell well what happpens when you apply heat to metal it gets hot which mean it would burn her feet so I figured plastic was the safest option. I didn't think I would be leaving Riley yesterday so I didn't leave her any food or water and I'm sure the vet gave her some but I wanted to be sure she had eatend and had water so I put a heating pad on low and covered her cage. When I got back I put the heat lamp a safe distance from the cage (18 inches according to the package) I couldn't imagine leaving her in a cage with NO toys for 2 weeks seems cruel to me. I have to leave her in the cage without letting her out other than to give her the baytril so I dug through her toy box and found 2 toys with no metal pards (no bells or exposed chains) other than the quick clip to attach it to her travel cage. Covered 3 sides as per the vets orders and turned on the light she went to the side where the lamp was which doesn't surprise me because she always goes to the side closest to me if I walk past her cage she will follow me so she can be as close to me as possible. What did surprise me was her excitement towards the lamp. She started dancing and even do the batbird stance ( leaning really far over on her perch to the point she is almost upside down and spreding out her wings) which I have never seen her do either. Right now she is playing with one of her toys both are toys she hasn't seen yet. So over all I would say she seems to be doing good.

[Robyn]

I don't think I will keep the heat lamp on 24/7 like I have to while she is sick. But also with "actual" cage dementions being 22.5 x 30 x 40 she would have room to move away from the heat. I think when she is better I will have the heat lamp on for about 3 hours a day or so. I have also considered a thermo perch and a heating pad only problem is the heating pad I have has a 40 minute automatic shutoff safety feature which would mean I would have to get up ever 40 minutes to turn it back on. Right now she is doing a lot of wing streatching and bat bird stances. Although she is unusually quiet which I don't like but hopefully that will change. Just as I typed that she started chattering to herself. One interesting thing about her as a side note she whistles hello.

[Lady]

Glad Riley is feeling much better!

[Robyn]

Thank you. the reason I did back to back comments here is because the first one is copied from my AA posting on how she's doing just incase anyone is wondering why I did that.

[PlaxMacaws]

I'm happy that Riley is feeling better as well :)

[Robyn]

I turned off her heat lamp for a little bit as she's not sleeping yet and its almost 4 am I know sleep deprivation will slow the healing process and make for a grumpy bird.

[Mare]

Sounds like Riley is doing better! I'm really happy to know this, a sick bird is as bad as having a sick child..very stressful :(. The way you describe Riley with the light/heat lamp makes me think she's enjoying it! I keep lamps on the sides of Sassy's and Amigo's cages and that is their favorite hang-out spot. I suppose I need to get one for our little Chip!

[Robyn]

Yes she definately enjoys the heat from it but tomorrow I will be purchasing a happy hut or some other hide out for her to sleep in. The vet told me to use a tissue box with a hole cut into it so she can get in. Today I realized I could use the box the light bulb for the heat lamp came in so I stuck in in the cage after cutting off the flaps on top of it. (yes I laid it on it's side) However I would like a more permanate solution for a dark place for her to sleep in I'd really like to get the hide out that hangs and has a ladder but if thats not available I will get her a happy hut.

[Robyn]

Today I bought Riley a happy hut as well as a black night heat lightbulb for reptiles so far I LOVE it. It produces a dark purple light that is barely even noticeable unlike the regular heat lightbulb that lights up the entire living room which means with this night one I don't have to worry about her going blind from the constant bright light in her face. I can have it 6 inches from the cage to put her at the 90 degrees the vet wants instead of having to keep the heat lamp 18 inches away with the regular bulb therefore the cage isn't getting the heat it needs. Also Riley is finally asleep, She has gotten very little sleep due to the constant light. She was in NO mood to take her meds this morning and even less this evening which really sucks because I was in a car accident on my way to petco (thereby delaying the trip for over an hour) and I am pretty sure I have whiplash. I will go to the doctors tomorrow they closed 5 minutes before the accident. What happened was I was stopped at an intersection and the light turned green we moved about one car length and stopped for whatever reason (was too far back to see why we had stopped) when the car behind me hit my SUV hard enough to damage the bumper and make my glove compartment pop open (I was surprised that it popped open) and I felt the pain in my neck immediately. So to have to fight a bird to take her meds was not something I was enjoying.

[PlaxMacaws]

It's so nice that you're getting Riley adapted fairly well. I hope she begins feeling better each day!

[Robyn]

Had another painful fight with Riley this morning. The only reason its painful is because of the accident yesterday. Anyways when I went to see my grandma she asked about Riley and I told her due to looking down at her its been hurting me to give her the meds these last 2 times she was like it wouldn't hurt me a bit I told her you also weren't in a car accident last night and she was like oh that kind of pain I thought you meant it hurt your feelings ... Riley is loving her new light she keeps right by it except to drink her water.

[Lady]

Hi Robyn,
Glad Riley is feeling better and enjoying her new light. Now you need to tend to your needs, so you can feel better too.

[Robyn]

Easier said than done. So far my back hurts my neck hurts and I have a headache which means everything I have to do hurts to do but its gotta be done