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I have 3 cockatiels and 2 males and a female and the female just died. we woke up and found her dead at the corner of the cage. I did'nt even realize she was sick. We take good care of our birds with daily cage cleaning, millet spray, seed diet, mineral bars, vitamin drops in their water, ect., another words they are very spoiled and taken care of. We are very upset and hurt that this happened and now I am concerned about the other birds. Is their a test that they can run on my other 2 birds to check for viruses and disease? One of the birds is almost 14 years old and we feel that they are a part of our family. Any suggestions you may have on what I should watch for or do would be helpful.Thanks.
Hello, I'm Dr. Bob.I'm sorry to read of your bird's death.If this just happened today, the best chance for a diagnosis would be by taking her body to a veterinarian with avian experience for a post-mortem examination. They may be able to give you a diagnosis and save you a lot of time and money on testing the boys.There are many tests which could be performed on your live birds, but unless you have some idea of what you're looking for, it could get ridiculously expensive and yield no positive results at all.Birds have a strong instinct to hide their illnesses, so many times we are not aware that they're ill until too late.If and when you go to the veterinarian for the post mortem examination, take a list of what you're feeding with you. 85% of all diseases in caged birds are connected, directly or indirectly to diet. If sounds as if the diet you're feeding may be a bit high in seed foods.Watch for loss of appetite, quietness in a normally active bird, tail bobbing when breathing, sitting in unusual places in the cage like on the floor, or facing a corner if that is not normal for them, and loss of balance or flying ability.If you have further questions, please ask.
Experience: 35 years in practice