sulphur crested cockatoo

Question
My lovely bird has stopped talking (2 days) and sitting still with ruffled feathers and sneezing. He is usually a happy lively bird. He looks terrible and the silence is deafening.

Answer
Any time a bird changes behavior suddenly, there is a high chance of illness. Ruffled feathers and sneezing is also a huge sign of illness. Get a vet appointment right away, and make a record of the following: (helps the vet know what and what not to test for) the number of days you've noticed the symptoms, the severity of the symptoms, detailed descriptions of the symptoms (birds always look perfectly healthy the moment you walk in the vet's door), and monitor the droppings. Put down a clean (white helps) liner (newspaper, craft paper, etc) and write down if there are any runny droppings and if there are, the ratio of runny to normal droppings, and any changes in coloration. This will minimize the number of tests the vet has to run, and will then cost you much less money. DO NOT try OTC medications from the pet store! This makes the illness worse because the bird stops drinking, and the vet can't run any tests for at least 5 days after the OTC meds have been stopped, and if the illness is serious enough, that 5 day wait can kill the bird. Hope everything turns out well!