# Choking (she's okay now)



## tasheanne (Dec 31, 2014)

Ok so buttercup was choking. I think. I'm pretty sure. She ws eating pellets and then she stopped and had a funny look on her face. Then she kept opening her beak and stretching her neck but it wasn't the same as when she is just emptying her crop. Anyway she's ok now but do I need to worry about where the pellet in question ended up? Could it be in an airsac? Have your bird ever choked, and if so, what did you do? I need to know what to do next time cause this time I just panicked and strangely that didn't help much


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

The pellet must have gotten stuck and she managed to dislodge it. Usually when a 'tiel chokes they end up vomiting to get rid of anything that can't be swallowed.


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## tasheanne (Dec 31, 2014)

Ah okay. I was worried it might have gone down the wrong way and ended up in her air sacs. Is that highly unlikely? What do I do if it happens again or, if it wasn't really choking, what do I do if she really does choke?


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## blueybluesky (Jul 9, 2013)

Can't help with the choking but am interested to see the replies.

I'm really glad buttercup is ok.


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## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

There is not a lot of information on choking for parrots unless you dig around the internet, which I find weird because choking is an emergency and I would think there would be more links to it. :S

If your parrot is choking you can hold them upside down and let gravity get the object out of their body. If they are choking on a seed you can do the same but also press upward on the keel a little for a short inward chest compression of the keel to help get it out more.
http://www.birdchannel.com/Diagnostics/Details.aspx?Body=Throat&Symptom_Id=65&Condition_Id=115

If they are choking on water or liquid try and let them cough it out themselves at first and don't hold them upside down unless they are having a lot of trouble breathing because it can make it worse sometimes. But you can also hold them upside down like that to remove water from their lungs. If there is a lot of water in their lungs you can... "Turn the bird upside down. Take it, put it in the cup of your hands, with a towel on your hands. Cup them together, and swing them between your legs from up to down and up again to force the water out of the bird's lungs. Make sure you don't do it so hard it damages the bird...but you want to get the flow to be "outward" from the bird. If you can't do this, turn him upside down, on a towel and massage his back and chest areas gently. You are trying to get the water out of his lungs." I believe I read this in one of my bird books too. https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080429190345AAoKVQX
If that doesn't work then CPR is your next best bet. There are a few CPR links below.
http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-diet-and-health/bird-emergency-care/bird-cpr.aspx
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/cpr.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/51551-can-birds-aspirate-bathing-themselves.html


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## galactickiwi (Feb 4, 2015)

my mom says she's seen my cockatiel doing this a couple of times when my dad brings him downstairs and leaves him without food for a few hours and ends up starving (we scream at my dad every time he does it) he gets super hungry and then tries to eat pellets whole and they get stuck. so we always mae sure he has plenty of food so he never goes hungry and ends up trying to eat pellets whole.


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