Sick Bird Behavior

Question
QUESTION: We recently (2 1/2 wks ago) purchased two Macaws (one miligold, one b & G) from a petstore.  Not the best choice, I know, but we really bonded...The miligold died last Wednesday night.  She had head bobbing and the wing thing-y going on, was VERY needy, had been since we met her, we thought at purchase time that it was just her baby behavior (they were hatched 5/7 & 5/9).  She didn't eat much, but seemed to be eating ok.  Then, overnight, she seemed to drop a LOT of weight.  Was taking her to vet next day, but she died.  Necropsy said food in crop and stomach, bruising on her face, totally black feces in her gi tract (dark had been noticed, but not that unusual - thought that was normal too - i know, i know, i was underinformed).  Histopathology being done, results aren't back yet.  Meanwhile b&g is exhibiting same symptoms, but hasn't died yet.  He sits like a chicken in my lap with head up and back, gets VERY frustrated if isn't held or gets put down, wing ataxia (both wings)is SIGNFICANT as is the head bobbing.  Now I've noticed he has a feather stripped place on his chest (still covered by primary feathers and a smilar place on his back end and lots of down showing under his wings where i think regular feathers should be...the thought by the vet with the miligold was possibly polyomavirus - i never noticed the feather thing with her.  have you seen this?  does it sound like PFBD?  Can polyoma kill 6 month olds?  I thought it was mostly younger birds?  If my b &G was plucking wouldn't i find the feathers (I have only seen an occasional here and there)?  Help!  Any thoughts or experience would be appreciated.  Btw, the b&g is being treated with antibiotics and an anti-yeast med, none of which seem to be helping.  We are hand feeding him mostly, he can pick up food, but then just drops it.  Only thing I CAN get him to eat willingly is peanut butter, but don't want to over feed that either (he is CRAZY about it, I assume because he is not getting enough to eat generally)

ANSWER: Polyomavirus can kill ANY age birds and as far as I know, you can't cure it. It's a deadly disease and highly contagious. Normal lysol wipes will NOT kill it. Bleach is the ONLY product known to kill the virus, so when you clean, use bleach. Also, do NOT let this bird get around other birds as it will infect them. There is a vaccine for polyomavirus, so you're going to want to call the pet store and, first of all, demand a refund and possibly have the vet bills paid since polyomavirus takes MORE than 2 1/2 weeks to show symptoms-this was a pre-existing condition, then inform them that they'll need to have blood work done on all birds in the store and quarrantine them all. If they refuse to do this, take action! Let other bird owners in your town know that this pet store is harboring a nasty virus because it can and will infect their bird (it passes through the air).
It could be PFBD, but it sounds even more like polyomavirus (I just got done taking care of 20 infected parakeets from our local pet store. The fatalities were large, but a few were ok. It's just a terrible disease). Hand feeding is really the only thing you can do for them, so you're doing well. You can try some warm oatmeal mixed with applesauce (my birds just love that). If you're feeding him a pellet food, you can also soak it in a little juice until they're mushy, and feed that to him on a spoon. Maybe mix some soft pellets with the peanut butter so he gets his nutrients. To tell the truth, at this point I wouldn't worry about the nutrition of the peanut butter. The goal is to get him to EAT. One of the parakeets would eat nothing but cheese, so that's what it ate. He's doing fine now, but he's still a carrier so he has to be away from all non-vaccinated birds for the rest of his life.
I hope your B&G gets better! If not, don't go out and buy another bird right away. You want to eliminate that virus from your house. Also, next time you buy a bird, make sure to get the vaccine! I believe there is now a PBFD vaccine on the market, but you may have to do some digging to find it. Still not sure of the effectiveness, but in my book, it's worth it!
Did your vet do a blood and stool test? Bloodwork is VERY important in finding the cause!
I wish you good luck and please let me know how everything goes!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Well, our Sun Conure began plucking the night before last and fluffing and began diarrhea with seeds last night and this morning.  Prelim reports on the miligold just came in and it shows PDD.  I believe we are going to put down our b&g at this point and wait it out with our Sun for awhile longer

Answer
I am so sorry this has happened to you! Make sure to let that pet store know how angry you are that they sold you sick birds and MUST refund your money (at least). I hope your conure is able to survive! Since you were able to catch it so quickly with the conure, there's a much higher chance that it'll be ok. Again, I'm so sorry!