Well, one of my birds is sick.
Sydney the White-headed Cockatiel didn’t want me to give him his morning head scratch. That’s very strange. Especially since he’s going through a molt and itchy.
Well, I got him down off the way-high-up perch for a closer look. It was like his head had been dunked in slime. Clear, mucus-snot type slime. Well, I washed him off in the kitchen sink as best I could, dried him off as best I could, and returned him to the perch. Really, it was like someone sneezed on him. I didn’t recall sneezing on him, and my husband uses Kleenex, not little birds, but it was possible one of the other birds sneezed on him - really, they can produce prodigious amounts of snot - or maybe he sneezed on himself and made a mess trying to wipe it off.
Meanwhile, I get on with my day. A couple hours later I check on him. His head is covered in snot again, if anything even more than before. So I washed his head again (using warm/tepid water and mostly just working on his head) and blotted him off. Once he figured out I was washing him off he was pretty cooperative. The husband and I have both looked him over. There is no obvious injury, the slime was totally clear, the birds is eating, drinking, perching, and even flying from perch to perch. Nothing seems irritated or red, not his little nose holes or ear holes or eyes or eyelids. He’s still vocalizing.
>sigh<
On the other hand, he is right now sitting on my left shoulder trying to alternately nap and preen. His feathers still look a bit matted down and I have a heat lamp aimed at him (feels kind of yummy on my shoulder, too) He’s a bit irritable and still doesn’t want a headrub. When removed from my left shoulder he either hops or flies back - clearly, it’s where he wants to be.
For tonight, all we can really do it keep him warm, make sure he has food and water, and keep the other two birds from harassing him. If he’s not better tomorrow we may be taking him to the vet (there’s a matter of serious snowstorm and very cold weather to complicate things).
The problem with birds is that they always hide just how bad they’re feeling from you. We’ve had some birds get pretty sick before, and they’ve usually survived it, but it’s always hard to be sure just how bad off they are or aren’t.