Very good observations - many people wouldn't recognize that a suddenly friendly bird might be ill.
When your bird starts to act ‘off’, chances are it’s been ill for quite a lot longer than you imagine. Their natural, hard-wired instincts to hide illness/weakness overrides their bonding and trust in you every time. You see, in the wild a weak or ill bird will end up another animal’s dinner, very quickly.
Subtle signs of illness include become more quiet or in some cases more vocal; going off their food; vomiting or regurgitation (they are not the same thing by the way); fluffing (looking bigger); sleeping more; loss of balance and/or staying at the bottom of the cage, or a change in personality, among other things.
When you notice signs of illness or weakness, there are no home treatments or cures and the stuff you’ll find pushed in pet stores and online are huge wastes of your money and precious time. No matter what – do not delay having your bird seen. We must never haphazardly treat our birds with medications or herbals without knowing what’s really wrong. In doing so, we could make things worse. Much worse.
What you can do while securing a vet to see your companion is supportive care.
Most birds will need a heat source to maintain body heat while you’re getting their medical treatment lined up or while you’re on your way to see the vet with them.
If perching is a problem, lower the perch to just a couple inches above the floor of the cage so falling doesn’t injure them. You might also want to remove the perch completely and layer newspapers on the bottom or put a tee shirt there. We use T-shirts because bath towels tend to have looped surfaces that can entangle little toenails.
Putting a heat source into the cage may be necessary since a sick or distressed bird tends to lose body heat. I prefer a non electric source and use rice socks.
Use a thick, clean sock and fill it ¾ with plain, raw white rice. Knot the end and microwave it for about 1 ½ minutes. Shake it afterwards to distribute the heat and be sure it’s not too hot.
Heating pad options include layering a thick towel on one side of the cage, secure with clothespins out of the reach of the bird’s beak – then clip a heating pad over the towel and set on low. Check often to be sure it’s not overheating and that the bird isn’t gnawing through. A side attachment like this will allow the bird to move closer or away as needed.
If the bird is bottom-bound, install a heating pad under about ½ of the base, again, set on low. Always check it. They have a tendency to turn off or overheat and to be honest, I rarely use them.
The rice sock option is far safer.
Cover the cage with a dark blanket or doubled over dark sheet, leaving just enough open space to be able to peek in and monitor. The bird needs to be kept calm and resting.
If your bird will drink and eat on their own, excellent. If not, have an eyedropper ready to administer a few drops of plain water, or better yet, children’s Pedialyte every 20-30 minutes. Put the dropper gently inside the beak and let the drops fall into the bottom beak under the tongue rather than trying to get into the back of the throat. We don’t want to chance the bird inhaling the fluid and developing pneumonia.
Another feeding option is to offer ½ spoon of all natural, organic baby food (squash, yams, sweet potatoes, mixed vegetables) which many birds take readily; also try some pabulum or baby rice cereal and a few licks of natural (no artificial anything) yogurt.
If your bird develops distress from overheating: Gently spritz a light mist of cool water without frightening them and focus on their feet. Pouring a gentle stream of cool water on their feet may also be helpful.
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/heat.html (details on overheating)
These are just temporary supportive measures to keep your bird alive while you get professional, hands on care. These measures will not cure your bird.
Don’t mistake what looks like recovery to be a real recovery. It is very common for a bird to regain enough strength to start hiding their illness again, but what’s happening is that it’s progressing and by the time you see symptoms again, it will be much worse or too late.
Find an avian vet near you http://aav.org/vet-lookup and
http://veccs.org/hospital_directory.php
These days, with birds growing fast in popularity as in home companions, many DVM’s are quite experienced and able to see and treat many birds. If you have a pet store that sells birds or know of any bird breeders – ask them who they use for their bird care.
Because you caught this early, your little one has a much better chance of recovery. Most of these problems are a bacterial infection somewhere and the vet may start with an antibiotic injection right at the office, then give you a prescription or two. If they do, you must be sure to give the prescription exactly as noted and until it's gone (not just until the bird acts better). Please check back and let me know how things are going. I'll try to support you through this as much as I can .
Certified Avian Specialist
Cert. Avian Specialist; Int. Assoc.Animal Behavior Consult; Pet Ind. Joint Advisory Council; author