sick cockateil

Question
She is aproix. 4-5 years old. She lays eggs regularly. She just layed three eggs and stopped sitting on them. Tonight we noticed she is lethargic, hunched, eyes stay closed or half closed. What do we do? She has thrown up several times but normally does this around the time she lays eggs. Lately we have let her sit on the eggs a week before taking them away or she seems to keep laying and laying. We've tried to give her water with calcium and a little sugar in it, but she won't drink.She is acting very abnormal. The vet we took her to once before didn't specialize in birds and didn't help much.  

Answer
Hi, Marybeth.  Thanks for posting!

You should not remove any eggs laid...you should leave them where the bird has laid them and let her abandon them on her own, since the eggs aren't fertile.  Removing eggs as they are laid only results in the bird laying more eggs (she's trying to get a clutch of 4-6 eggs laid).  Leaving them results in the bird stopping to lay when the clutch size is reached.  The bird will then usually incubate them until she realizes they aren't going to hatch (she knows whether anything is going on inside those eggs).  She'll then abandon them and then you can remove the eggs.

Your bird needs to be seen by an AVIAN VETERINARIAN immediately or you could lose your bird.  Not a cat/dog vet, but an exotic animal vet who specializes in treating aves (a vet that treats reptiles, snakes, iguanas, etc.).  Don't hesitate...make an appointment for your bird TODAY.

Chrys