Lovebird is cocking his head

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Lovebird is cocking his head

by Jeff
(Grand Rapids, MI)

Lovebird

I have a lovebird (Agapornis Roseicollis) that has just lately been turning his head sideways an unusual amount of the time.

He is around twelve years old and that makes him elderly if I have my facts straight. He is still eating voraciously and is very active, but I am concerned about this recent change in behavior.

He has been holding his head in a sideways position and seems to have a tendency to stop to orient himself as if his balance is not quite on.

This may be old age or it may be something else, but I am not able to find any information on this symptom. Any ideas? Any information I could use to help him out would be great.

Comments for
Lovebird is cocking his head

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Jul 25, 2011

additional info
by: Jeff

He seems to be doing it a little over half the time. I feed him Lafeber's Nutriberry pellets (cockatiel mix), so hopefully not liver failure. Head trauma seems unlikely - he leads a pretty safe existence and I keep a close eye on him, but that does not rule out his whacking his head while I was not looking of course. That sort of leaves the other options (stroke, heavy metal (also unlikely), infection; so it looks like we're heading for the vet.

Jul 22, 2011

Lovebird cocking head
by: The Avian Vet

Is he holding his head sideways all of the time or occasionally?

This is a sign of a few things. With his age it could be a stroke. If he is eating a seed diet, it could be liver failure. It could be head trauma. There are other possibilities including heavy metal poisoning and infection. I recommend that you Find an Avian Vet to examine him.

Dr B
Switching Birds To Pellets article

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