Egg binding (stuck egg) in parrots
Other names: Stuck egg، Egg retention، Dystocia
Symptoms
- The female is on the cage floor, fluffed up, with her eyes closed
- Straining, tail bobbing and difficulty breathing
- Distended abdomen (the egg is not always palpable)
- Leg weakness or paralysis (pressure on nerves)
- The egg is visible at the cloaca
How it spreads
Not contagious; a seed diet poor in calcium, vitamin D3, vitamin E and selenium, obesity, repeated laying, old age.
Diagnosis
Examination and radiographs.
Treatment
Emergency: small birds may die within hours. Stabilize with heat, humidity, fluids and injectable calcium, then oxytocin/prostaglandin, then manual extraction, egg aspiration or surgery.
Prevention
Home first aid until reaching the vet: a warm (~30°C) and humid place. Prevention: a balanced diet/pellets, cuttlebone and vitamin D3 or UVB, treating obesity, not pairing young females.
Treatment and doses are decided by an avian vet after an exam; Zajel does not publish doses.