# Ear Infection/Head Tilt?



## Khulood (Feb 23, 2018)

Hi everybody,

So my current lutino boy, on hold until wean, Macaroni, had come down with an ear infection. He started doing a head tilt, where he would stare up at the ceiling for prolonged periods of time. The store took him to a vet where they discovered that he had a small ear infection, and it had reached his inner ear which is most likely why he was doing the head tilt. 

He's currently on antibiotics and the store will take a gram stain of him 5 days after treatment is finished to make sure that he's 100% clear of the infection. It's clear they really care for him and want the best.

My question for you all is:

1. Have you ever had a bird with any type of infection? Did it ever end up compromising their immune system long term (eg. were they more prone to getting infections again)? I'm hoping since he's only 9 weeks old he can recover well.

2. Have you ever had your bird deal with a head tilt? The store says he's doing it less and less as he gets better, but there's still a chance that it'll carry with him through his life. Now he goes most of the time without doing it, but if he gets particularly stressed or super comfortable he just ends up "stargazing". They say it doesn't affect his day-to-day activities, he's one of the most voracious babies they have when it comes to eating, and his balance is great (as great as a 9 week old baby can be) and he's learning to fly well. I've seen videos of him and he seems very curious and alert. If anything, this may just end up being an occasional quirk of his.

I'm actually going to go make the 250 mile drive to visit him this weekend, just to make sure that he's OK. 

I was just curious as to your experiences with infections!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

1. I have dealt with infections in my flock, sadly I've never had a bird recover from one. But their immune systems were compromised due to black mold in the house that we didn't know about. It shouldn't compromise his immune system long term.

2. He may always have the quirk now that it has started. It won't be detrimental to his health so just something different that he will do.


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