Strange behavior - regurgitation & heavy breathing

[kyparamedic]

I posted about this in a previous post but I have some questions and thought I should start a new thread. My grey regurgitated a while back which prompted my vet to do some bloodwork as it can be a sign of disease. She did have elevated kidney enzymes which can be a cause of regurgitation. Feeding their young and giving it to their "mate" can also be a reason. Well on Friday I had her out of her cage and was on the computer for a couple hours and she was acting completely normal. Chattering up a storm, climbing around, doing her regular thing. Well I went up to her to pet her and she grabbed my fingers like she usually does and then she began to try to regurgitate her food. She had just eaten a pellet. Nothing actually came up but she did this a couple of times. She stopped and I picked her up and carried her around the house for a few minutes. I sat down with her and she was sitting on my hand and she started the whole regurgitating then again. Then she started kind of breathing hard, almost sounded like there was a wheeze, although this could have been because it was coming out of her nostrils creating the noise. She also pulled her feathers out from her body a little. I scratched her head and her back but she kind of scared me so I set her back on her cage. I was about to call the vet but I decided to look on the internet first. From what I found, this could be her finding me a suitable mate and her getting excited. Kind of embarrasing actually. At the same time though, difficulty breathing is not normal. I don't know if she was actually having trouble breathing as she wasn't mouth breathing, and as soon as I put her back on her cage she started breathing normal again. Has anyone else had a similar experience or an explanation? She acts normal except when I am right next to her or holding her. She also wants to grab a hold of my fingers or face. She doesn't bite, it just kind of a soft chewing. Sometimes she shakes a little though. I'm really confused about what's going on and just looking to see if anyone else may have seen something similar. She is indeed a female by the way. I'll call the vet on Monday as she's fine when in or on her cage and I'm not right next to her.

Thanks!

[Sticks_n_stones]

Our CAG -- Watson -- is almost 9, and goes through the regurgitation things every now and then. He attempts to deposit the matter between my fingers or my lips. From what we've been able to understand, this is her attempt to feed us the same way mother birds feed their young. Watson has never had health problems (knock on wood!) that might account for this, but if you watch birds in the wild, regurgitation is a common thing.

I have no idea about the "heavy breathing" you mention.

Good luck with your bird. I'm sure you must be very frustrated by now (and broke)! Have you asked the previous owner if he ever noticed any of the behaviors you're concerned about?

[parrotgirl]

I have a grey that we adopted and she is still a little shy. Recently she has shown some signs of the regurg which I considered to be absolutely normal and was actually quite pleased with. This to me showed she is starting to bond to me. She only had one other owner who hand fed/raised her. Now, we handfed and raised our Macaw and it is perfectly normal for him to do this behavior with the regurg and actually bringing up food on me and ruffling the feathers. You do have to be careful I am told by the vet not to stroke feathers all the way down to the tail as this is considered to be advances that to the bird shows affection and willingness to mate. Now, I am not a bird expert by any means but I read a lot. I've read that behavior and touching birds around the head and face can also be affection and they only know one way to touch and that is with their beaks and usually to our faces as this is where the pleasing sounds come from. Another sign of their willingness to pursue courtship is the preening. All of my bird's love to be preened by me and will also play with my hair, preening and stroking. Our Rudie is the grey and we don't know for sure if it's a male or female, but Murphey the Macaw is for sure a male. I consider the regurg a good sign but I would definitely find out about the breathing/resp changes, there could be something there. Linda-parrotgirl- Rudie & Murpheybird's Mama

[FairY]

Don't get startled Kyparamedic and please don't think I pretend to know what's going on with your bird, but I've read that heavy breathing (amongst other things like holding feathers tight against the body and trembling) are a sign of fear :S

Could it be she's a little bit afraid? Maybe because of the 'trips' to the vet or something?

(Just trying to look at it from another way :blush: )

[kyparamedic]

I talked to the vet today and he said that what I described didn't worry him and that "she is in love." He said he wanted to give me a handout next time I was there about proper ways to touch/pet birds as the way I was petting her may have been "arousing" hence the heavy breathing and holding her wings a little away from her body. He said she would eventually stop trying to regurgitate for me. Today she's only done it a few times but is always trying to climb up on my hand and loves grabbing ahold of my fingers, nose and lips. We're still going to check the kidney enzymes again in a week. I just hope they're normal know that we've changed diets and discontinued the Diflucan.

[devilangel09]

what i can say is when u parrot regurigatates for you please take it from them other wise this can lead to crop burn. my CAG does exactly the same thing regurgiatates for me alot and btw the noise its makeing thats sounds like its having breathing problems id just a way to get you to give it attention and also i sign of loving you. is from what i have noticed as when my parrot makes that noise i stroke it then he stops then when i stop stroking he starts again and eventually when i leave the room he stops untill i enter again but if i stay out of the room long enough he wouldnt make the noise again.

[kyparamedic]

Just took her to her last vet appt. for a while (I hope). Her calcium level and weight were up and he's afraid she's trying to lay an egg so he gave her a shot of Lupron (hormone) which he hopes will also help with the plucking. She usually regurgitates it all the way, most of the time she either tries or brings it up enough that I can see it but then swallows it again. I asked him about this and he said this is not a problem in terms of crop burn or what he called crop stasis, other than the fact that she's too sexual and he doesn't want her laying an egg.

[devilangel09]

ok if thats wht the et says then good luck to . it it a proper avian vet though? if not then they might not know crop burn very wel

[kyparamedic]

He's an avian diplomate so I hope he's qualified in what he's talking about. Otherwise I've wasted a lot of money! I've tried researching it on the internet and the only references I can find to it are for babies who are being hand-fed.

[ambri]

[img] I am sure by now you have found out that your Grey is simply "in love" with you. As I was reading your post my African Grey was regurgitating peanuts on my lap.LOL-YUM! He kind of hunkers down and spreads his wings a little bit and breaths heavy making weird little sounds (I say he is whispering sweet little nothings in my ear!)and then he regurgitates. Flattering but gross- I have had him since he was a baby and I was very worried the first few times he did this. He is about 20 years old now and still does the same thing. I guess he isn't sick of me after all these years!