Yummy Birdy Puke

August 12, 2008 6:17 PM

Birdy love: regurgitation question inside (yummy!)

I have an over-affectionate peach face love bird who is about 8 years old. He's always been a happy bird who loves his toys, but for the past three years or so he's really been loving his toys. (We're talking massive amounts of birdy masturbation and regurgitation here.) It wasn't a big deal-- when a toy got too nasty, I would just replace it and his affection would go to the new toy.

Here's the problem: he's now in love with the bottom of his cage. The sexual behavior's stopped, but the regurgitation has gotten a lot worse. (A pile three inches wide by two inches high in a day.) He easily eats his weight in food everyday only to puke it back up. (If I give him small amounts of food, he still pukes and I worry that he's not keeping any food in him.) He drinks MASSIVE amounts of water which makes the regurgitation extremely watery (and a pain to change the cage!!!) I've tried changing his surroundings, which has worked in the past, but nothing... I know you're not my vet, but the vet just says that regurgitation is normal. I guess I'm just looking for tips on how to make this more manageable?

posted by veryhappyheidi to Pets & Animals (6 answers total)

That doesn't sound normal. Has the vet ruled out all possible medical causes?
If the vet has done tests and has determined that it is behavioral, maybe consider a different cage?
posted by bolognius maximus at 7:51 PM on August 12, 2008

IANYV, and I've never had a pet bird with this problem, but if there's no sexual behavior attached (and the bottom of a cage is an improbable love object, anyway), then I'd worry that there's something other than normal lovebird foreplay going on-- possibly some sort of stress-related compulsion (akin to feather-pulling), or else a real gastrointestinal or nutritional problem.

I'm not sure how one would go about diagnosing or remedying the problem (different diet? birdy tranquilizers to lessen the compulsion? more socialization?), but it does seem bizarre that your vet would casually dismiss regurgitation on that scale. This article has hints on how to distinguish avian vomiting (medical issue) from simple regurgitation (social behavior), but whichever your birdie is doing, I'd either seek help from a different (preferably avian-specialized) vet, or else re-approach your current practitioner and insist that (s)he consider the problem more seriously.
posted by Bardolph at 7:54 PM on August 12, 2008

I would have a complete blood work-up done. There are a lot of things the vet can derive from the info. This page has a lot of the possible causes listed, so you can see why you might either have your vet reconsider the problem, or get a second opinion. Good luck!
posted by bolognius maximus at 8:13 PM on August 12, 2008

Have you gone to the vet since he started regurgitating on the bottom of the cage? That's a lot more uncommon than regurgitating on toys, and birds typically go sit on the bottom of their cage when they are very sick. Since you said the regurgitation has gotten much worse, I am concerned. Since the sexual behavior has stopped, I am concerned, because that could indicate that he is ill. I am also concerned because you say it is watery, which makes it sound a lot more like vomit than regurgitation, which are two different things in birds. (Regurgitation is throwing up food from the crop, vomiting is throwing up food from deeper in the digestive system. Vomiting is quite serious.) I'm also concerned that he's drinking massive amounts of water, since that is generally a sign of illness as well. I suppose if he were actually in love with the bottom of his cage and regurgitating for it constantly, that might happen, but I would still go to the vet again if you haven't been since he took to the bottom of his cage...

How much time does he spend on the bottom of his cage every day? Is he lively? Is he mostly still with his feathers fluffed up?
posted by Nattie at 4:24 AM on August 13, 2008

Sorry for the double post, but I would also like to stress that you need to see an avian specialist, not just any old vet. In my experience, lots of vet offices will say they treat birds, but they don't have anyone on staff who actually knows anything about them. Birds are quite different from mammals and contract different illnesses, so you really cannot trust a seriously ill bird with a non-specialist.

I found this out the hard way years ago. One such vet -- who called itself a "Pet and Bird Hospital" -- nearly killed my cockatiel when he had a simple yeast infection; they misdiagnosed it as something it obviously was not and gave him antibiotics, which of course makes yeast infections worse. Had I done as much reading and research at the time, it would have been much easier for me to catch this. As it was, this is when I started researching such things and it took me a couple weeks to catch it. I had another bird die at the same vet when he was vomiting because they had no idea what to do with him but wouldn't admit it. Granted, he might have died no matter where I took him, but after I did my research I realized the procedures they decided to do and the conclusions they drew were completely, utterly stupid.

I have had nothing but fantastic results with the avian specialist we use. When my cockatiel got near-death ill later and we couldn't figure out why, she saved him and constantly tried to figure out what was wrong with it. (It was quite odd; turns out he had been eating his rope perch and got the pieces lodged in his digestive tract, and it didn't show up very well in x-rays. He eventually passed it, but it took three months or so of medicine to encourage it, and if it hadn't been for the vet he certainly would not have survived it. Today he's ridiculously healthy.) When your bird is actually sick and vomiting, you can't really trust them with someone who doesn't fully understand how they work.

To clarify, they do typically work at vet offices, you just have to be sure the one you go to actually has one. If you're not sure if your vet has one, ask. If your vet is an avian specialist, they ought to either be concerned about your bird's behavior instead of dismissing it, or if they're certain it's social behavior, they will have tips for you.
posted by Nattie at 4:36 AM on August 13, 2008

Response by poster: Just to clarify: I'm pretty sure this is regurgitation. (He's doing the headbob-thing, and he's really active and happy- not sitting at the bottom like a sick bird, but more courting the bottom of the cage. He's constantly chirping and being really playful.) I'll try and take him in to a specialist (he hasn't been in since the switch to loving the bottom of the cage), but does anyone have tips or experience with changing this kind of behavor?

Thanks!
posted by veryhappyheidi at 8:01 AM on August 13, 2008