# Chlamydiosis?



## sierranomad (Nov 11, 2010)

Greetings:

I'm a first-time bird owner, having purchases 2 cockatiels 3 days ago. I'd been researching finches for the past 3 months, but made a quick switch to 'tiels, and so don't know a lot about them.

Anyway, the birds have 4 of the symptoms for Chlamydiosis. According to a thread in Articles the following are the symptoms for this disease: 

drowsiness
shivering
severe and or sudden weight loss
breathing difficulties
lime green feces
diarrhea
conjunctivitis

I've highlighted in yellow the symptoms that my birds have. 

They seem very active and alert, then suddenly seem drowsy, can hardly keep their eyes open. But they don't have conjunctivitis. I'm new to this, so am not sure, but their droppings look like they have diarrhea.

I'm trying to figure out what antibiotic to use. Just not sure if it's Chlamydiosis. 

I already have RonivetS, but am thinking that Doxycyline 20% might be what's needed? Tetratex? Something else?

I'd appreciate any insight.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Im not an expert on this but as you only had them for 3 days it might be caused by stress due to the fact of a new home and its pretty scary for them
Does your tiel look like this







(cookie was tired but he was so interested on what he could hear on the outside lol) 
Shivering/Quivering may occur when the bird is frightened, overly excited, or part of breeding behavior.
Poop http://www.cockatielcottage.net/droppings.html
It can change it all depends on what you feed them aswell


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## sierranomad (Nov 11, 2010)

Thanks iperry82, great link.

From the link I learned that they DON'T have diarrhea, it's just a little watery. It does look lime green to me though. I'll keep a close eye on the poop, and maybe see if the shivering diminishes as they get more comfortable.



Jon


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

No problem glad to help 
Lindsey


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## Jess (Jun 20, 2010)

It wouldn't do any harm to treat them for Chlamydiosis given the symtoms,. I don't know whar ronnivet is for off the top of my head but you wouldn't be able to put two meds in the drinking water, you's have to either wait to finish the course of ronnivet or switch to doxycycline.


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## .mpeg (Oct 6, 2010)

don't forget that the colour of the faeces changes with their diet too. mister's is very green, almost a dark lime green, and the vets haven't shown any concern because he's on a mostly seed diet with a bit of veges. he's not on pellets, i only just managed to cut his dinner syringe feed less than a week ago 
i'm getting him tested for psittacosis in a couple of weeks anyway. given his history he needs a break from systemic antibiotics, they destroy his immune system entirely and give him thrush, poor guy.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Awww bless, yea its a pain when you see a change then you panic because you gave them different foods :wacko: keeping a close eye on them incase its not food
Hard enough keeping up with my bunnys aswell, baby has had an upset tummy and i had to keep him in a pet carrier (he dont have a cage) till he was ok, i had to bathe him twice as it was really bad, he is ok now


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## sierranomad (Nov 11, 2010)

Jess said:


> It wouldn't do any harm to treat them for Chlamydiosis given the symtoms,. I don't know whar ronnivet is for off the top of my head but you wouldn't be able to put two meds in the drinking water, you's have to either wait to finish the course of ronnivet or switch to doxycycline.


I don't have him on ronnivet, I just have it on hand. Yeah, I decided, to be on the safe side, to go ahead and start them on doxycycline, so I broke down and ordered some today. They seem to be getting pretty comfortable, and yet they still go through long bouts of shivering though the house temp is 65-70f (18-21c).

Thanks for everyone's input!


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## LilyLynn (Oct 6, 2010)

Good luck! 2 of my Tiels had pink eye, then was given doxy to treat all the birds for any respiratory infections they might have.. I did some research on psittacosis, talked to the vets receptionist about it who said i shouldnt believe everything I read online and now I have my oldest tiel being kept overnight at the vet and it is not looking like he's going to pull through! 

When I noticed they had pink eye, it didn't look how you'd think based on pics on the internet with puffy eyes.. It's very easy to miss it just by first look.. It's a slight color change on the ring around there eye and can be visible without pulling the eyelid back- just in case you were curious. But again, good luck! I really hope it's nothing serious


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## LilyLynn (Oct 6, 2010)

Also- as for the shivering.. It could be a tad bit cold in your house.. 
Its 70 degrees in my house which is a bit uncomfortable for me so per the vets suggestion I used a regular 60 watt bulb to help bring in some heat which seemed to help a lot


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## sierranomad (Nov 11, 2010)

LilyLynn:

Sorry to hear about your oldest tiel. Is pink eye his problem? I hope he makes it. 

I put a heat lamp near the cage, so they can get to it if they want more warmth. Thanks for the tip. I thought 65 to 70 was plenty warm.

Here are my birds, Tweety and Sylvia. I'm not too happy with either of the shots, but I'm still trying to give the birds their space.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

your house temps are what mine are at the moment. but california... depending on where you are, thats a bit chilly for the south, comfy in the north. as people think california is all warm, its not--and i dont even live there!

my two are fine, but since yours are new, their former home may have been warmer so theyre finding it a bit chilly


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## LilyLynn (Oct 6, 2010)

Thanks! Talked to the vet today, he's doing a little better, they still have to tube feed him and they want to keep him there another night. He originally had pink eye, a week later was re checked and was told the pink eye cleared up but I got the doxy from the vet to treat all 3 birds with in case of respiratory infections. Over the weekend his (Spike's) breathing became very heavy and he shaking and wouldn't fly as much.. Then I knew something was up. I'd take him out of
The cage and he'd go right to sit by the light and would let me rub his head- he does not like anyone to touch his head! So now I'm waiting for the blood results to determine what could be going on.. Really hope it is not psittacosis


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## LilyLynn (Oct 6, 2010)

As for the temperature, I am in Illinois and 70 degrees in the house is not warm enough for most


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

LilyLynn said:


> As for the temperature, I am in Illinois and 70 degrees in the house is not warm enough for most



me for one  i so love the heat iv got to be hot not warm but iv always been a cold person


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## sierranomad (Nov 11, 2010)

I have a wood stove, so the temp fluctuates. But the previous owner also had a wood stove and said that the temp fluctuated quite a bit (the norm w/ wood stoves). She said she usually tried to keep the house at around 65. 

I'm keeping the house warmer than we usually do (my wife is enjoying the extra heat  ). She's complained that I take care of the birds better than I do her, but not complaining about the warmth  .


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## willowsalbus (Nov 4, 2010)

If you can afford it, take your tiels to the vet. Really. They thought it was chlamydia with Albus, too, and it turned out to be much more serious, and since there is a test for chlamydia it wouldn't hurt to be sure.

Are you having any respiratory issues? Humans can get this from tiels and those are the symptoms (obviously it manifests differently in humans; it not at all related to the STD).


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## willowsalbus (Nov 4, 2010)

Also, our house temps are at about 74 right now (going into winter) but I still have to have a heating blanket on Albus' cage, otherwise he just shakes and shakes. But that could be his illness.


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