Okay, thanks for the extra information. It's very helpful. I'm going to stick my neck out here but it does not sound like you are working with a true Avian vet, or even one that has a lot of experience with birds. And that store may call themselves a specialty bird store but who ever trimmed her wings did not know squat about how to do it properly. I'll get to that in a moment. The very first thing the vet should have done would have been to wait for her to do a dropping and tested it. That obviously causes no stress to the bird at all and many problems can be detected from just one sample. She also should not have put her on any antibiotics unless she was sure there was a reason. Birds do not handle antibiotics well and they can quickly develop an immunity to them, making them useless if and when they do really have to have them. She also should have discussed the use of a probiotic at the same time. Even when a bird really does need antibiotics, it will wreak havoc on their system. They do not discrimminate. They kill all bacteria in the body, including the beneficial gut flora that we all need to keep our digestive tracts working properly. Without replacing that beneficial bacteria, she will develop a raging yeast infection and stands to end up sicker from that than from whatever started the problem. The type of plucking you describe is one symptom of either a bacterial or a fungal issue, one of which can be Giardia. That can be a tough one to cure. I have been fighting it with one of my Tiels, for about 2 years. It come and goes and we have not been able to get it totally whipped yet. Again, bacterial or fungal, a good vet can pick up on it right away, only from that sample dropping. A yeast infection may be diagnosed from a dropping but more than likely to be sure, it will take a throat swab. I am going to strongly urge you to try to find another vet before you possibly waste any more money and any more of your bird's time being ill. I'm going to give you several links to hopefully assist with that. If it should turn out that you really are dealing with an Avian vet, then I'd like for you to take all this information I'm giving you and have a real heart to heart talk with her and question her at length about all of it. Now about the wing trim. The purpose of a wing trim is not to stop the bird from flying. It is only to stop the bird from gaining altitude. A bird with properly trimmed flights will be able to fly/glide for about 15-20 feet, gradually losing altitude and will be able to execute a perfect landing, in complete control. Because your bird cannot do this, she has been grossly over clipped and is at high risk of serious injury until those flights are replaced. That could take months. In the meantime you are not going to be able to allow her out and to make attempts to fly. When Tiels land, they land tail first. Since she cannot control herself and she is falling, she is very much at risk of splitting the skin open near her vent. That is an all too common injury for Tiels. They all too fast, those stiff tail feathers hit first and that tender skin splits open. One of my tiels had been over clipped by the person I got him from and this happend to him. I was very close to my vet, had him in her hands within 15 minutes and we still nearly lost him from blood loss. He needed stitches to repair the tear and he needed IV fluids to replace the blood loss. I now joke about him and call him my $70 bird with a $400 backside. But I assure you, there was nothing funny about it at the time. Overclipping is a very dangerous situation. Another injury that can happen is if she gets out of control and should hit or fall on her keel bone, she can break it or she can cut her chest open from the inside. Those little keel bones are pretty sharp. In addition to the links to help locate a vet, I'm going to give you a lot more about basic Tiel care, diet, and other safety issues that I hope will help you out. I'm sorry that even with all this information, I cannot diagnose nor prescribe for your bird. The squeaking does concern me as it may be the result of an injury or it may be a growing respiratory issue. In any case, she really needs to see a very competent vet, sooner rather than later. I hope I have been able to help you some and if you have any more questions at all, don't hesitate to ask. Best of luck with that poor little girl. I hope you will be able to find her the compentent, knowledgeable help she needs. Patricia
Click here: Avi-culture, The Finest, Live, Avian-Specific Probiotic
Click here: HolisticBird.org: Avian Diet
Click here: Probiotics
Click here: Flock Talk eZine, Issue 141
Life After Weaning - Your Companion Bird and You
Caring For Your Pet Cockatiel
Fatty Liver Disease in Cockatiels
Click here: Cockatiels as Pets - Choosing a Cockatiel, Cages and Feeding
Click here: Alerts Dangers and Toxins for Pet Birds Parrots
Click here: Bird; Birds: Safe, Toxic Trees, Woods. Safe Tree Wood. Poisonous. Parrots.
Click here: Toxic and Safe Plants/Trees for Birds - Household Poisons
Click here: Birdsnways - Safe Plants & Trees for pet birds, pet parrots &exotic birds
Toronto Humane Society :: Common Poisonous Plants
Click here: Find your local Avian Veterinarian
Click here: Avian Veterinarians Recommended by Bird Breeders and Owners http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/abvpvets.htm
Click here: Avian Vet List
Click here: BirdsnWays - Avian Veterinarians - Vets - Vet Services for Pet Parrots & Exotic Birds
This one looks like an advertisement for Harrison pellets but they are only sold by vets so it's another good list to check. Click here: Harrison's Bird Foods is a family of certified organic pet bird diets that were formulated to make your bird as he
Click here: Cockatiels, Blood Feathers, Broken Blood Feathers,How to Pull a Broken Blood Feather from a Bird, What is a Blood
Click here: NCS - Clipping Cockatiel Wings, Nails and Beaks
Click here: Wing Clipping Techniques for Parrots
Click here: Standardization of Wing Clipping for Psittacines
Click here: Parrots - Clipping Parrots Wings - Judy Leach's Parrots - Breeder of macaws, cockatoos, and african greys
http://www.petparrot.com/ParrotCareWingClipping.htm
Parrot C&onsultant
Published author, free lance bird behaviorist, adviser to the parrots at Sarasota Jungle Gardens.