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Well, I talked to one of the staff at my vet's and she said the test for giardia isn't a NEW test, but rather they test it there AND send it away for a 2nd opinion. So, I was kind-of misled a little bit. The test they do there is indeed a gram stain antigen test for giardia. However, being this is Mateo's 3rd negative test for giardia, it's likely he doesn't have it.

The area under his wing pits is looking better, but I think that's mostly due to stopping the cream. He's still picking a little here and there. Poor Mateo.

I still would ask your vet about the possibility of a fungal infection. I am anxious to see if that neo-predef has any effect (positive or negative) I would present that to my vet.

bostonbudgie wrote:I still would ask your vet about the possibility of a fungal infection. I am anxious to see if that neo-predef has any effect (positive or negative) I would present that to my vet.

Oh, I will definitely ask him about that. We're due to go back in February right now, and Mateo seems fine for the time being.

The Neo Pre-Def...can't say that it's working or not working. He still picks, hard, at his shoulders and under his wings to get out this one feather that seems to be bugging him. However, every day it's a different feather.

Something I was thinking about...the only cases I've heard of a cockatiel picking like this where when the cockatiels were lutino. I found one or two others on another forum that had pickers/bald under wings and they were lutino cockatiels, too. I've also read that lutinos are more "jumpy" (prone to more night frights) and you know, they have that bald spot on their head...I was just wondering if there's anything to that? I have yet to find a non-lutino with bald/picking issues that's giardia-free and I've searched about 5 of the popular bird forums. Maybe there's a genetic/breeding component here?

bostonbudgie wrote:I still would ask your vet about the possibility of a fungal infection. I am anxious to see if that neo-predef has any effect (positive or negative) I would present that to my vet.

I'd still really like to see pics of your Bubbles if you have any. I've been able to get pics of Mateo's wing pits by using a camera with flash. Every time the flash goes off, he lifts his wings and I get a pic of his wing pits.

I just got to get my computer savy husband to down load the pics!
Yes, I had read that lutinos are prone to picking as well
In the book "A guide to Basic Health & Disease in Birds' by Dr Micheal Cannon on pg 61-62 there is this "lutino cockatiel syndrome" where it states they are more prone to disease and may appear to be mentally retarded. It is more previlent in the US.

bostonbudgie wrote:I just got to get my computer savy husband to down load the pics!
Yes, I had read that lutinos are prone to picking as well
In the book "A guide to Basic Health & Disease in Birds' by Dr Micheal Cannon on pg 61-62 there is this "lutino cockatiel syndrome" where it states they are more prone to disease and may appear to be mentally retarded. It is more previlent in the US.

Oh great, now I have to worry about Mateo being retarded, too! LOL

I'm anxious to see the pics.

OMG what a struggle it was to get Button to stay still in order to get a pic under her wings....I took a bunch of pics but they were all blurry I'll try again but I do have one of her just stting on the cage and you can see the raggy areas under the wings where she yanks.....
This pic I have here is an older pic of Button. If you look at her lower chest you can see the dent where she has graduated from under the wing to chest.

She's beautiful

What a cutie. I know how hard it is to get them to sit still. I'm lucky that Mateo lifts his wings when the flash goes off - I'd have no other way of getting the photo! LOL

This is Mateo from about a week ago.

Poor Mateo Any signs of improvement since Thanksgiving? Here's a 2-page thread from last year that discusses how inbreeding for that lovely yellow color has created birds with physical weaknesses: cockatiel/topic26649.html?hilit=lutino

Hoping for prettier wingpits on your boy soon!

Bluesbird Exotics wrote:Poor Mateo Any signs of improvement since Thanksgiving? Here's a 2-page thread from last year that discusses how inbreeding for that lovely yellow color has created birds with physical weaknesses: cockatiel/topic26649.html?hilit=lutino

Hoping for prettier wingpits on your boy soon!

The area seems to be better ONLY because I've stopped using the cream. I'm happy in the fact that otherwise, he seems to be doing well. This battle isn't over yet though. I'll be calling the vet soon - I was only supposed to use the Neo Pre-Def for 10 days and that's approaching soon, if it hasn't already.

I look forward to reading the article...I've been trying to find something about that online...thanks!

I firmly beleive that this picking/tearing is NOT behavoral. It has to be something systemic. The six year question is ,"what is it then?" Button gets lots of attention, gets healthy food and has a nice clean cage.
I hear of people with teils that never let their bird out of the cage, feeds them only sunflower seeds, never goes to the vet, cleans their cage MAYBE once a week (shudder...) and these birds live forever (?)

bostonbudgie wrote:I firmly beleive that this picking/tearing is NOT behavoral. It has to be something systemic. The six year question is ,"what is it then?" Button gets lots of attention, gets healthy food and has a nice clean cage.
I hear of people with teils that never let their bird out of the cage, feeds them only sunflower seeds, never goes to the vet, cleans their cage MAYBE once a week (shudder...) and these birds live forever (?)

Yeah, I'm not sure either. Mateo has a great life, out of the cage time every day, good food, plenty of toys, etc. I take him to the vet when needed. I clean his cage every week. I don't know.

Do you see Buttons preen a lot? I mean excessively?

callisto9 wrote:

bostonbudgie wrote:I firmly beleive that this picking/tearing is NOT behavoral. It has to be something systemic...

... Do you see Buttons preen a lot? I mean excessively?

I don't see that as being the question that matters. If Button does preen excessively, we still must ask WHY???