African Grey has died

Bonavox

Hi,

We bought a healthy African Grey about two years ago and he was a very young age. We bought it from a very reliable pet shop and it came with a large cage with lots of toys and accessories. Anyway, we always made sure he had lots of water and food and made sure he got a lot of attention throughout the day (there's usually always someone at home).

Anyway, tonight he was playing in his cage when he froze and fell, and was stiff. He was moving for a short while after it (about five minutes) and while we called a vet and kept calling him and keeping him conscious, he closed his eyes and died.

The thing that I was wondering was, is this normal for a bird of two years to happen? I know they're meant to live to a long age and he was never stressed or had many frights and was always happy and interactive. Is there something missing, and if so, would it be wise to bring him to a vet to find out what happened? It's a mystery to us and we'd just like some answers.

Thanks

anniehoo

PM'd you

tallus

Sorry to hear about your parrot OP, I have been there myself.
When you say the bird was a very young age when you bought it, what colour were the birds Irises ?
Very young birds have grey irises, after around 6 months they start to turn white, and usually at about 18 months they turn the straw yellow colour associated with adults.
As far as I know, they can live anything from 25 to 75 years so if your bird was very young when bought, then the death is indeed premature.
You could get the vet to do a necropsy to determine the cause of death if it means that much to you. Mine died of Aspergillosis which is a fungal infection gotten from eating over ripened fruit but it was not a sudden death.
Again, sorry to hear about your bird. It's like losing a relative when it happens.

Bonavox

anniehoo wrote: »

PM'd you

Thanks

tallus wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your parrot OP, I have been there myself.
When you say the bird was a very young age when you bought it, what colour were the birds Irises ?
Very young birds have grey irises, after around 6 months they start to turn white, and usually at about 18 months they turn the straw yellow colour associated with adults.
As far as I know, they can live anything from 25 to 75 years so if your bird was very young when bought, then the death is indeed premature.
You could get the vet to do a necropsy to determine the cause of death if it means that much to you. Mine died of Aspergillosis which is a fungal infection gotten from eating over ripened fruit but it was not a sudden death.
Again, sorry to hear about your bird. It's like losing a relative when it happens.

When you say "if it means that much to you", would that indicate it's common for this to happen? As you mentioned, it is indeed like losing a relative as I grew quite close to the bird. Thanks for your comments, any more are welcome.

tallus

Bonavox wrote: »

Thanks



When you say "if it means that much to you", would that indicate it's common for this to happen? As you mentioned, it is indeed like losing a relative as I grew quite close to the bird. Thanks for your comments, any more are welcome.

It's definitely not common if the bird was young.
My comment regarding a necropsy was in response to you saying:

Is there something missing, and if so, would it be wise to bring him to a vet to find out what happened? It's a mystery to us and we'd just like some answers.

It's a pity you didn't have an exact age for the bird, as it might offer more insight, was he/she ringed ? usually a ring will have the year the bird hatched displayed.
In a lot of cases they can outlive their owners, so if your bird was young, circa two years, then he/she has definitely died prematurely. Do you remember what colour the birds Iris was when first purchased? If they were straw yellow, then the bird would have been an adult, and it would be very hard to determine age.

mojorex

Sorry to hear about that, but don't you think its cruel to keep a bird locked up like that in a cage when it is designed to fly?

Sorry though I know what its like to lose a pet.

Hunchback

mojorex wrote: »

Sorry to hear about that, but don't you think its cruel to keep a bird locked up like that in a cage when it is designed to fly?

Sorry though I know what its like to lose a pet.

you dont have to lock their doors, which gives them the option of coming and going and flying around as they please. ( well, i don' know with parrots, but ghats what i do with my budgies )

morganafay

mojorex wrote: »

Sorry to hear about that, but don't you think its cruel to keep a bird locked up like that in a cage when it is designed to fly?

Sorry though I know what its like to lose a pet.

I'm sure since the OP said there was nearly always someone home, that they let the bird out to play and fly in the house a lot, the same as you would with most caged animals really.


OP, Sorry you lost your bird so young, and hope you find some answers.

Wolfsberg

mojorex wrote: »

Sorry to hear about that, but don't you think its cruel to keep a bird locked up like that in a cage when it is designed to fly?

Sorry though I know what its like to lose a pet.

There's a place and a time to air your (in my opinion) flawed views, large parrots are primarily designed to climb and, in the wild, only fly when they have to...
This thread is not the place! :mad: You obviously know nothing about parrots.

OP very sorry to hear about your parrot, I'm sure you know about all the exotic vets that can perform an autopsy. I would recommend this as there are so many possibilites that could cause the death, be that genetic, such as a heart problem, or environmental cause such as virus or even the fumes from a gas fire or teflon of a frying pan.
Either way I don't think you would have any comeback with the pet shop.
Hope you aren't too upset!

Bonavox

Thanks for all the replies guys, they're very much appreciated. Just to clarify, he had a large standalone perch and was let out of the cage for the majority of the day and the room was open plan so I'd like to think he had sufficient space.

Either way, everybody's replies were very helpful and I'm very grateful.

Sigma Force

Sorry to hear about your parrot Bonavox, must of been a shock.

The only things I can think of is that perhaps he just had a heart attack or anurism (sp?) or the like could be down to just being unlucky something genetic perhaps just like sadly some people collapse and die without warning.

The only other thing I can think of is a reaction to something he ate or something in the air. But generally there are a few subtle warning signs.
You probably know all this already but just in case, birds are sensative to things like smoke from an open fire, teflon fumes, household sprays and chemicals in the air, some scented oils, plug in freshners, incence sticks etc.
Unless something within his room or the next room wafted in.
Greys can be cheeky and chew on anything is it possible he could of eaten something he shouldn't of like a toxic plant or the like?

To me though it does sound like it could of just been one of those things sadly, nothing that you could of done. If it would put your mind at rest it would be a good idea to have the vet find out what caused it although it might also come up with no answers there either.

Either way sounds like he was much loved and just one of those horrible sad things that happen.

FAYESY

if you decide to get another parrot - please take it to a vet the week you buy it & have a full blood work up done & micro chip the parrot - This is a good way to check the health & gives the vet a base line to work from if the parrot gets sick in the future.

Really sorry for your loss.