8 week old conure parrot dies suddenly (cockatiel, parrots, toxic, cage)

[MrGompers]

My wife and I had a conure parrot that died suddenly. We have no clue why. He was running around the house (his wings were clipped) then a few hours later he's dead. He was only 8 weeks old. We had him for only 4 days.


He came to CT from a Florida pet store with another conure and that conure is doing fine, so I don't think he had a virus or some other type of infection because the other bird would have it too and also be dead.



I don't have any experience with birds, but I know they are sensitive to the environment. We weren't doing any cleaning around the house nor did we clean his cage with any chemicals. Perhaps he ate something he wasn't supposed too or choked on something. I don't know if he could even eat solid food yet because we were feeding him baby type food from a syringe.



The one thing that was odd was the bird was shaking all the time and would only settle down when time to sleep or when he would snuggle with a human. A vet said this was normal until the bird adjusts to his new environment. Unfortunately, he didn't adjust in time I guess.


I don't know if there's really a point to this, and maybe I just need to vent. Perhaps in a few weeks will we consider getting another conure.


PS I know that some pet stores have money back gurantees so we are going to call tomorrow and see what they say.

[dontaskwhy]

Birds are extremely sensitive and should be taken to a qualified vet at the first sign of strange behavior. I won't try to speculate what caused the bird's demise. Since you mentioned it, if the bird choked, it's called aspiration and sadly if that is what happened, there is not much a vet can do for them. I previously raised parrots of all types and sizes for over 30 years.

Did a vet perform a necropsy to determine what killed it? Most likely, the pet store will require one for a possible refund.

It is not easy to lose any companion animal and I do feel for you. Sorry for your loss and best wishes.

[kionci]

Sorry to hear about this happening. Similar happened to a cockatiel we bought a few years ago. It was a couple months after we brought it home. He was sitting on his swing in his cage then dropped dead while I was watching him. A conure is a bigger investment so I hope you can at least get a refund.

[MorningBreeze]

I have heard this happen a few times. Alot of the cases are when the home wasnt made aware that non stick pots/pans specially the new ones and also the self cleaning mode of ovens will kill birds. I dont know the specifics I just know to not use the self cleaning mode when birds are in the house as all our non sticks are about 5 to 10 yrs old and we dont have birds in the main house anymore.

Metal poisoning from cages where the paint may have got peeled or chipped also will kill them after continued ingestion of metals and excessive build up.

Im so sorry for your loss :-( hope this helps for future birds if you werent aware. I only knew of it 1 yr after starting out again with birds in a different country as growing up in a tropical country our birds lived in huge walk in aviaries outdoors.

[springfieldva]

I am very sorry for the loss of your baby Conure. Out of curiosity, did anyone in your house cook on a teflon pan? Because the fumes from those nonstick pans can be toxic to birds.

Did you cover his cage at all? Birds are susceptible to drafts. We always kept a sheet covering the top and three sides of the cage during the day, and pulled the sheet down to cover the front of the cage at night.

Those are the only things I can think of, aside from an illness or injury, that might have contributed to his death.

[dontaskwhy]

Teflon is found in more places than just non-stick cookware. Several years ago, we had several birds die after buying a space heater and using it in their room. Turns out that the heater's coils were coated with Teflon and just as deadly to birds. Worth mentioning to those unaware.