Help Please - Baby Bird's Crop is still Full... (Update + 2 Pics)

[Fur&Feathers]

Thank you, Argranade. She is taking him to an emergency clinic right now. Unfortunately, there are NO avian specialist vets open right now... The vet she's going to right now treat birds in emergency situations, but are not avian specialists. It's certainly better than nothing... I'm not with her or the baby, but she will keep me updated. I hope it's not too late.

[Giselle]

Sounds like sour crop...
http://www.cockatiels.org/articles/vet/sourcrop.html

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww61ev.htm

Now what can you do if you have a chick with sour crop. First and most important you do not want to feed more formula on top of that already sour food. You will want to get some unflavored Pedialyte (electrolyte replacement fluid) and feed small amounts, usually about two to four cc's depending on the age of the chick every two hours for the next twelve. At each feeding you will want to very gently massage the crop, making sure not to push up on the crop. Pushing up could cause the chick to aspirate food. This is a serious problem and can result in aspiration pneumonia or death. Critical to resolving this problem with sour crop is the formula temperature should be at least 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

I wish you luck!

[Fur&Feathers]

Thank you very much Giselle. That's precisely what it is. The vet last night wasn't very knowledgable about birds, he tried to say that at almost 2 months of age, he should be eating his own food and shouldn't be hand fed... and he also thought "hand feeding" meant eating pellets and/or seeds from your hand. . . Another veterinarian at that location was able to empty 2ccs of the contents in Draven's crop and said he should be ok until morning. So I'm at my mother's place, waiting until 6am, to take him to an excellent avian vet about 30 minutes away.

Edited to ask a question:
We believe the room in which Draven is kept is too cold for him to digest. Would anyone know of a bird-friendly heater? PetsMart doesn't seem to have anything. I've read that space heaters are dangerous. Thank you.

[Vela]

Space heaters aren't dangerous nowdays, and would keep the room he's in much warmer. I have a ceramic tower heater, looks like a regular fan but if ti even gets bumped a little it shuts off and there is no heating element, to start a fire.

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-7694873-8239016?asin=B000GULVPW&AFID=Nextag&LNM=B000GULVPW |DeLonghi_SafeHeat_Ceramic_Tower_Heater_with_Remot e_Control__Black_TCH6590ER&ref=tgt_adv_XSN10001

I have one like that, and it works great, it's not unsafe at all. I hope the little baby gets better soon, that's scary when they are so tiny!

[Fur&Feathers]

Thanks, Vela. We got a similar space heater for him, it turns off if it's lifted. 8 hours of waiting and $400 later... the Avian specialist thinks he has a digestive problem and is unsure of the severity of it. They found undigested food in his fecal matter. She did a crop swab and everything came back normal. She also found a parasite in his feces. He's on antibiotics and a medication to help crop movement. Draven eats so well and eats every time, but he's "extremely underweight." It's not looking too good for Draven right now, but I still have hope. Thanks everyone for your replies and help.

[Husky_mom]

I´ve heard about a vet doing some manual draining of the crop at other site I frequent which focuses only on birds...........you may wanna take a look as some other member could give some more advice

you can go to www.tailfeathersnetwork.com there are some very helpful topics about birdies...........

hope he gets better.........

[Fur&Feathers]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Husky_mom, the first vet that Draven went to attempted to drain his crop, which I read is only supposed to be done as a last resort. Draven went back to the vet last night because his crop isn't emptying as quickly as it should be. He got a shot directly into the crop muscle to help stimulate it. We're just waiting on the blood results to see whether or not he has an irreversible digestive problem. Thanks again, everyone.