My kakariki has started moulting

nickieemma · Joined: Apr 08, 2010 Posts: 22

We bought a new kakariki in march after our old kakariki died I'm October. He has now started moulting but is becoming a bit clumsy, falling off his perch on occasions. Is this normal?
I have started giving him fresh strawberries, broccoli and raisins as treats and I feed him Vitakraft Nature Dinner. Am I giving him the right foods?[/url]

pabloc · Joined: Sep 26, 2007 Posts: 988

food is right, what is not so right is that he becomes clumsy, not a good sign

how clumsy is he? is he lethargic, fluffy in a corner of the cage?
if so I'd suggest a source of hear nearby just in case he may be sick or something

nickieemma · Joined: Apr 08, 2010 Posts: 22

He's not too clumsy, it is mainly around teatime. Since he's been like this he has allowed me to hold him which he hasn't before. He is also making a clicking noise.
He doesn't seem ill as he is still perky.He is also eating a lot more raisins than he has normally. I have changed a perch to a slightly bigger (wider) and changed the position, he seems to stumble on the smaller (thinner) perch.

pabloc · Joined: Sep 26, 2007 Posts: 988

idk if this may be wrong, but I have noticed my kakariki that now that days are longer, they tend to take more naps during the day and generally they are a bit less active, maybe because of the heat

I think Steps also mentioned somewhere in the forum that his kakariki take naps during the day, so I guess that's ok.

Clicking noise? Most parakeets do it when they are about to sleep, like scratching their beak.

nickieemma · Joined: Apr 08, 2010 Posts: 22

Mo is still limping today but I have not noticed as much moulting. He seemed be struggling moving around his cage so I put some sandpaper on the grill floor. He struggled climbing up his cage with his left leg unable to grip aswell. I looked closer at his legs and have noticed his left foot is slightly bluer and a little swollen. He has not wanted to climb into his bath for a few days so I put a small plate in he walked onto it and when he tried to crouch down he flinched and didn't bother again. I am not too sure if his claw nails are too long and as i don't want to cut them myself (as I have never done it before) I am taking him to the vets tomorrow.
He is eating well and tends only to stumble off his perch when he is moving about or changing from 1 perch to another, there I feel he has injured his leg somehow.
When he eats he tends not to grip his food as much but is eating well. He has a bowl of Nature Dinner and a separate bowl of mixed raisins and berries. I put fresh strawberries or raspberries in for him everymorning and have tried broccoli, carrots and other veg but he is more interested in the fruit. He had a cuttlefish in his cage which he eats but I'm not sure if this is enough calcium intake for him.
Hopefully I will get some answers tomorrow
Hopefully I will find out what is wrong with him tomorrow

pabloc · Joined: Sep 26, 2007 Posts: 988

hi

don't mean to bear bad news but I've had 3-4 kakariki of the same breed that somehow became lethargic and seemed to show some kind of neural/motor disorder. Their irises became paler (from the usual red to white, progressively). They were ok but progressively during 3-4 days they became more and more lethargic and as I say showing some sort of neural problem.
Don't know if this could be your case, check the iris-ring in the eye just in case.

Sorry I can't be of any more help Sad

/ Pablo

nickieemma · Joined: Apr 08, 2010 Posts: 22

The iris rings seem to be normal. Took Mo to the vets this morning, she couldn't see anything wrong with him and thought his nails were too long so clipped them for me. Thinks that because they were so long he could have hurt his leg somehow but nothing major. Brought him home and he seems to sit on his perch a lot better now, still unsteady but I guess miracles don't happen. Will keep an eye on him and hopefully he will be better soon. Pray

May · Joined: Apr 03, 2008 Posts: 281

have you checked out heavy metal poisoning? I had a bird that had that and he got lethargic and clumsy it got worse untill he couldnt fly ...i took him to the avian vet too late and although i nursed him for over a month ... he died

the vet told me birds have a very quick metabolism so things effect them quickly but they disguise it by faking eating so preditors dont think they are an easy target...

Pray

I hope it isnt that but... has been able to get at anything with lead or copper or zinc in?...........there are other things but i cant think of them at the mo..check here ..... http://www.avianweb.com/heavymetalpoisoningbirds.html#metal

nickieemma · Joined: Apr 08, 2010 Posts: 22

Mo seems to be getting his strength back although on occasions when he jumps down he will limp a bit. He is now getting in his water to have a bath and dunks himself in it.
Still not fussed about veggies but is really going for the fruit, favourites being strawberries and raisins.

nickieemma · Joined: Apr 08, 2010 Posts: 22

Thanks for your input Gee.

Although i was aware that they like to forage i also took into account the size of cage which was required for him. We previously had another Kak who sadly died and we used the same cage when we first got Mo however he seemed a lot bigger in it than our previous bird. The shop we bought him from had 2 Ringnecks in a large cage which also had a grill in the bottom, we were told to get a larger cage similar to that instead of the one we had. i searched online and found a 'mini san remo' bird cage which looked ideal for him, it came with a grill floor. I did try to look locally (we live in north wales) but found hardly any petshops sold large enough cages. i had considered taking the grill out originally (as Kari (old Kak) used to love being on the floor of her old cage) however i thought that the depth of the base to the cage was extremely deep and he wouldn't be able to get up from the floor.

Taking your knowledge into consideration i will remove the grill tomorrow morning (it is 22:20hrs here at the moment) as Mo is asleep. i do have a ladder which i could possibly attatch so he will be able to climb up from the base.

i have taken him back to the vets today as he seemed to be dragging his left leg (which does have a ring around it, he came to us with a ring around the leg and the vet is happy for him to keep it on) when he landed. she seems to think that he may have damaged his leg although there is no break.

once again thank you for your comments and hopefully by the changes i make he will be back to his normal dive bombing self soon.

nickieemma · Joined: Apr 08, 2010 Posts: 22

i'll try again this is a picture of Mo's cage. on further investigation he decided to wake up so we had a look at his cage and decided that instead of removing the grill we will line it with sand paper. we have put some down tonight but will get a larger size rather than put in 3 smaller sizes. [/img]

nickieemma · Joined: Apr 08, 2010 Posts: 22

this is Mo, photo was taken 3 days ago

nickieemma · Joined: Apr 08, 2010 Posts: 22

Thanks will do that. Don't use sand perches or covers on the perch, I am able to get branch perches from my local petshop. I put his perches to the side of the food bowls so as to make him climb to them.

It's his left foot which is sore.

nickieemma · Joined: Apr 08, 2010 Posts: 22

Just wondering also, would you place wood chip on the bottom also as they sell that in the petshop in the bird section.

pabloc · Joined: Sep 26, 2007 Posts: 988

I use simple river sand in my aviaries as substrate, but that may not be useful indoors.
I have seen several European breeders using wood chips as substrates in the breeding cages (for instance Rob at www.kakariki.nl ) so I think that could be a good solution.