I have a 4 month old cockatiel that is showing some weird signs. First he had a really puffy swollen red eye, that went away after a day. Then he seemed ok, but then started having really running poop. Then he got over that. He is now loosing a lot of feathers on his head. His one side is completely bald. What do you think is going on?
Do not apply any more lotion. It can be toxic and it is really greasy to the feathers and will damage them. He does not have skin parasites. Most likely he has a severe upper respiratory infection, and it did not "go away". You need to take him to an avian vet right away for proper diagnosis and treatment. The most common cause of head/eye/poop issues is a spiral bacterial infection, and your vet willwant to take a sample of the mouth to look at under a microscope. Second are bacterial infections contracted from people. Do not use home remedies or petstore procts as these may make him much worse and not address the real problem. The change in droppings could be due to the lotion, so another reason to stop using it. He is actually very very sock, and may have pneumonia at this point, so get him in ASAP.
Sorry about not accepting your answer as of yet. I have appreciated your advice. Just another quick question to follow up on this, and then I would be glad to accept your answer. We did take him into a vet. According to the vet, he wasn't too sick, and he acted like he would be fine with some antibiotics, so he was given a shot of antibiotics. After only a day, we noticed a huge change in his behavior and could tell he was feeling so much better. The vet charged us $44 for the visit & $18 for the shot. We were then told that he needed to go back in a week for another shot. Since he got better so fast, and seems to be doing so well, what is your opinion if he needs another shot or not?
I really can say, since I do not know the diagnosis and I do not know what kind of antibiotics were received, but I would strongly advise to follow your vet's instructions. The charges certainly do not seem unreasonable and he responded favorably.