My baby bird died this morning.

[Woodstock'sMom]

I am feeling pretty upset right now.
I had bought a baby cockatiel a week ago.
It was a month old and not completely weaned, so I had been hand-feeding it 4x a day since I got it.
It wasn't until after I brought the bird home that I read online that a breeder should never sell you a bird that isn't full weaned.....things I wish I had seen earlier.

Anyways, a few days after getting him he sneezed. No bid deal since it's normal for a bird to sneeze. However, that turned into sneezing fits where he would sneeze 20x back to back. I noticed that after one of those sneezing fits, he was breathing through his mouth. I assumed it was because of having sneezed so much, especially when the next morning he seemed fine. Still talking/chirping and eating and wanting to come out of the cage.

Well, then he would have the sneezing fits again and breathe through his mouth. Then I started noticing he would be breathing through his mouth and making a slight wheezing sound when he was just sitting on my shoulder. I also noticed he wasn't eating as much.

Unfortunately, where I live there are no avian vets around and the closest vet that even treats birds is about an hour away. I still called to schedule an appointment but the earliest the doctor could see me would have been this coming Tuesday. So, I scheduled an appointment.

Well, I came home, fed the bird and then ran out to the store to get a full spectrum light and some other stuff to try to get him feeling better.
I came home and held him and he was trying to chirp/whistle and it sounded like just air coming out,kinda raspy. And he sounded like he may have had a stuffed nose.

Well, we didn't have an infrared heat lamp, but we were told we could/should use a normal 25 watt light bulb and put it close to the cage to giver him some warmth. We did that.

Then this morning I opened his bedroom door and saw him cuddling against his cuddle hut. I had read online that you could use a humidifier to help with a bird that has a cold/stuffy nose. So I got the humidifier out and as I was bringing into the room, I noticed he was laying on the cage floor.

I figured maybe he was weak or just squatting so I went closer and noticed his eyes were partially closed and that his feet were just hanging through the grate. I tried to talk to him and check for any signs of life or even faint breathing, but nothing. He was gone.

I am completely upset because I just don't know what happened. What was wrong with him? I noticed a sneeze one day and two days later he was dead.
How could it have happened so quickly? Was it something I did? Was it because of something I didn't do? Was his death at all preventable?

I tend to feel like it is my fault.....I have gone over things and over things in my head, trying to figure out what happened....I didn't know about using a normal lamp for warmth. Could he have gotten too cold? I didn't know there could be soooo many risks with hand-feeding a baby bird. Did I feed him incorrectly and aspirate him and then that developed into pneumonia?
I had closed all the vents in the room but was there any way a draft from somewhere still got in?
Was it too cold/too hot on the house? I didn't know about full-spectrum lighting....could he have had deficiencies because of not getting enough natural or FSL?

I feel awful. I just think of how sweet and loving and dependent he was on me to care for him and I feel like I failed. I didn't even have him a full week and he passed. A 5 week old bird just should not die.

Now, I'm left wondering if I don't know what killed him, how do I know what to do to prevent it from happening to another bird in the future?

Sorry for this long letter. I have nobody I can really talk to about this.

[DallyTsuka]

talking here is good. we can help you through your grief.

one, its not YOUR fault. its the breeders fault. they should know better than to sell an unweaned baby! you did EVERYTHING you could, did everything you were advised to... youve done your best. best prevention for this, do not buy a cockatiel unweaned. they usually wean between 8-12 weeks... so best prevention is to not let a breeder sell you an unweaned baby. you have us here to help. we will give you all the advice we can and all the help we can. shame on the breeder... but you did everything and loved the little guy :) rest in peace little guy

[xoxsarahxox]

Im sorry for your loss:(

[srtiels]

How could it have happened so quickly? Was it something I did? Was it because of something I didn't do? Was his death at all preventable?
-------------------------------------------

((((HUGS))) I am so sorry this poor little bird lost it's life.

And yes this was preventable. You can not lay the entire blame on the breeder. In order for them to sell birds there has to be someone willing to buy them....so you are just as much the blame as the breeder. Your inexperience and lack of knowledge cost an innocent animal their life. From your posting you aspirated this bird. This can happen to even very experienced breeders, but still if not recognized for what it is and treatment seeked out ASAP it is a death sentence for the bird no matter how good are intentions were.

[luvtiels]

i am sorry for your loss :(
hope you won't be stopped because of this incident, because i didn't.
my first baby bird died because the seller sold me an unweaned bird, passing off as a weaned bird.
read up more and you will be more equip for the next birdie!

[leeisme]

Very sorry for your loss woodstock. :(

[bird_lady]

Sorry for your loss woodstock, am thinking of you :(, but please don't blame yourself.

[lperry82]

Im so sorry :(

[Woodstock]

I'm sorry for your loss.

The baby was aspirated. It is easy for this to happen as I used to work at a wildlife center and part of the work in the spring was feeding baby birds. It took a lot of time and patience.

You did your best and didn't know about aspiration. Ignorance isn't bliss; there are always consequences.

This is an excellent site for gaining knowledge and a lot of kind people here to offer it.

Welcome to the forum!

[rockysmum]

Heartbreaking, no he should not have been sold to you i never never ever sell an unweaned baby even if someone assures me they are experienced in hand rearing i DO NOT sell unweaned bird to them it is my responsibility to rear and wean them things can quickly go wrong in hand rearing i would hate to think of my baby needing help and i wasnt there , not fair on the poor baby or you im devastated for you and the poor innocent baby, i feel so angry but not with you, read all post on here and learn, lots of lovely people on here

[Woodstock'sMom]

Thank you everyone for your replies.
It was a very hard lesson learned. I still feel pretty sad about it. There are tons of things I wish I could redo...I wish I had read all about hand-feeding and become aware of all the risks and problems that could arise from doing it. I wish I would have waited until the baby was fully weaned. Based on what the breeder showed and told me, I didn't think it would be difficult. She even had me hand-feed him there with her and said I would have no problem. I do not accept my ignorance as an excuse but I also realize that the blame isn't completely on my shoulders. While I may have been ignorant, the breeder was /should not have been. Again, very hard lesson learned. I thank you all again for the comforting words and encouragement.

I am glad that I found this website and found so many helpful people.

[Chez]

Hi Woodstocks' mum.

Shame on the selfish breeder! I would be contacting them & demand they replace your loss with a weaned bird.

[leeisme]

Losing a bird is always a heavy loss. I, as a breeder, have lost many a bird and each is a great loss even those that had not lived long enough for me to bond with. I truly hope you get another and not let this loss deter you from owning one of these wonderful pet birds. What ever you decide... I wish you great luck.

Lisa

[DollyGirl]

Its not your fault. The breeder is to blame for not asking you your experience with cockatiels and selling an unweaned bird in the first place! No breeder should ever sell unweaned birds! Its like puppys, they are not supposed to leave their moms until they are weaned and are atleast 8 weeks old. If a breeder was a truly responsible one they would be asking you questions and testing your level of knowledge on cockatiels and making sure you were capable of caring for a tiel. I'm so sorry for your loss, but happy you found another bird to fill the hole that was dug too soon. This will be a better thing for you! Again, deepest sympathy.

[Woodstock'sMom]

Thank you very much. I truly appreciate your comforting words.
The new bird has definitely helped but I feel like I really haven't been able to ENJOY having her because I am so worried and scared that every little thing she does is a sign of illness.
For a couple days her poop seemed normal, then tonight it's watery.
I came home and found she had poop on her beak (was she eating it? ew) and I checked her butt and saw poop on there, which I have read is not good.
I don't know....I am doing everything right, I think, and am just so scared I'm missing something or not doing something right or that despite everything I do, she will still get sick and die.

I gotta tell you, I already feel discouraged. I have invested so much into preparing for a bird and getting the best cage, food, play center, and supplies I could find. I try to give my pets the best life I can. If this bird passes away, I am strongly considering just selling all my bird supplies and giving up owning a bird.

[DollyGirl]

Don't get discouraged. You had a traumatic experiance the first time and you are a bit rattled still. If you have concerns with this second bird, I would call a vet and ask them what they think you should do. They may be able to guide you through what you can do for the bird and whether or not the bird should come in for a check up. But please don't hesitate to ask us here your questions. We are your support network and understand your frustrations. We will help you through. Hang in there.

[roxy culver]

As Dollygirl said we are here to help. If you have questions about her poop or her vent, take pictures and post them here for us to look at. There are some very knowledgeable people on here who will be able to help you. And if it still concerns you, take her to a vet. I would do that anyways, get her a vet check so they can make sure everything is fine with her. Its a precaution but it'll make you feel ten times better.

[Belinda]

Yes, please get your bird to the vet for a check up if you haven't done so already, because babies from breeders often come with worms, amoeba or psittacosis which may not be evident or cause problems with your bird now but may cause health problems later if left untreated.
Sometimes birds have runny poop if they drink to much water or they have digestive upsets - it doesn't mean they are going to die. The best thing to do is, after a vet checkup, monitor your bird and as DollyGirl and Roxy said, there are people who can help you a LOT if you post photos of the things you're anxious about.

I'm sorry your baby died and I hope you don't give up, there are so many wonderful positive things about owning a cockatiel. You can catch illnesses and treat them quickly, as long as they are preventable if you monitor your bird. There is a chance with any pet of them getting sick and dying, and they will eventually. Enjoy the time you have with them to love and give them the best, you're doing a good job so far!

[Dekey]

You cared and loved him which is what a good owner should do , you did everything right never buy a bird from that breeder
Unless they are weaned.