by Pajarita » Wed Jun 15, 2022 8:50 am
Hi, Elvis, Daisy, Bunchy and human, welcome to the forum. Parrots change their vocalizations when they are sick -as a matter of fact, no vocalizing is a sign of illness in them- so, once he feels better he will start again - UNLESS, like you fear, they damaged his syrinx (the equivalent of a human's voice box). Personally, I never allow injections or gavage feeding in my birds unless it's a matter of life and death (which wasn't the case with Elvis). They can do IV antibiotics but not injections (the IV goes into a vein while the injections go into muscle to which they cause a lot of damage) and they can do syringe feeding but never gavage which is painful and terribly traumatic to a bird. I suspect the vet that treated him was not an actual avian vet...
I would recommend you examine your birds twice a day -that's what I do and it has served me very well. I don't actually touch them (like to feel their keel bone) unless I notice something off in their behavior, see (like discharge, diarrhea, labored breathing, weakness, etc) or hear something (if you can hear the bird breathing, there is something wrong). Sick birds behave differently than healthy ones... sometimes it's not eating enough, sometimes it's drinking too much, sometimes it's sleeping when they should be active, sometimes it's weak flight or lack of balance, etc. And ALWAYS keep some wide spectrum antibiotic handy (you can get doxycycline on bird sites) for situations like this one.