Bought A Dying Blood Parrot Just Looking For Advice.

2 weeks ago while at a local pet store I saw a tank of blood parrots and large african cichlids together with a dead chewed on blood parrot sticking out of a plant.

Fast forward to today I went into the pet store again and saw the same dead fish in the same position as last time. I knew that by 2 weeks a fish would be much more decayed if it were dead so I took a closer look and to my suprise he was not dead at all.

He can hardly swim and his fins are chewed to stumps but he was still fighting to swim and survive so I bought him and put him in my 20 gallon hospital tank. he seems a lot more active but I'm not sure if that is because he already feels better or if he is just stressed from moving. I offered him blood worms but he was uninterested and that worries me a lot.

Anyways I am just looking for any advice on how I could help this guy recover if that's even possible. So far his water just has prime and melafix in it.

*update*** he is eating today readily accepted both bloodworms and cichlid pellets

 

The best thing you can do now is provide him/her with Pristine water conditions. He/she should start eating in a few days because he/she's probably still adjusting to the new tank.

Honestly, the only thing you can do is watch and hope for the best.

 

He looks so sad!
I hope you can help him, and he's going to live.

 

What a nice thing to do!

I can not offer any advice, but here we all have fingers and fins crossed. If he has only physical damage, will probably recover now that he is cared for.

 

I don't think anyone on here could stress clean water enough. That's some wicked ammonia burns to the fins it looks like but considering he's still alive after 2 weeks, he's obviously a fighter. Discusluv KinsKicks AllieSten

 

Poor thing. From the angle I have, it almost looks like he has fin rot, but that could easily be from other fish. In case it is fin rot, you might want to treat the tank with Fungus Cure. Add an air stone to help with breathing. The Melafix will help with wounds, so that's a good start. Seachem Stress Guard will help with wounds as well as stress, though, so you could use it instead of Melafix. Most importantly, keep the tank as clean as possible. It may be necessary to do 35% water changes daily if you want the water to be perfect for him to heal in.

 

I can't believe you had to buy him! They should've been happy that someone had mercy on him...

 

He is very alert and turns to face me when I aproach his tank. I usually try to not even look in tanks with dead or dying fish but when I saw it was the same fish I thought was dead 2 weeks ago I just had to give him a chance seeing as how he did not give up.

Fin rot and ammonia burns crossed my mind too but all the other fish looked healthy with nice fins and color. So I just assumed he must have been the least aggressive fish in there and was a victI'm to african cichlid attacks.

Right now he is in a 20 long with a marineland 250 a nice big airstone and an assortment of live plants and I am keeping him at 79-80 degreese f.
thank you everyone fore the replies and the suggestions. if everything goes well I am hoping to add him to my 120 with my other parrots once he is all healed up

 

Is he upright or still tipped over like in your picture? How's his respiration? Fast? Labored?

I'd stop Melafix and use an antibiotic like kanamycin (if he's laying on the bottom).

 

That he is not eating is definitely a concern.
I would get some Vitachem ( a supplemental vitamin that can be administered in water and acts as an appetite stimulant ) as he is most likely vitamin deficient.
Try to entice him to eat with garlic juice or a product like Seachem Garlicguard.
Try a few days of water changes, but, if he takes a turn by showing body weakness or you see white feces, etc...
will need to treat with an antibiotic.

 

personally I bought a baby green terror with similar conditions. At beat up, missing an eye and skinny. PetSmart had him in a little tank with a bunch of African cichlids twice his size. but like others said, pristine water is a must. Eventually its very possible fins will regrow. My green terrors fins did. He's a good 4" now! Another thing is, that I've found to work is don't house him with nippy or aggressive fish at all while he recovers. It'll allow him to feel safe. And no stress. A good idea to encourage eating is maybe soak pellets in garlic water. it sometimes works to encourage eating.

 

I really really hope that lil guy pulls through and even if he doesn't - his final hours/days/weeks/whatever will be leaps and bounds better than before you brought him home. You're his hero, regardless.

 

Is he upright or still tipped over like in your picture? How's his respiration? Fast? Labored?

I'd stop Melafix and use an antibiotic like kanamycin (if he's laying on the bottom).

He swims upright but when he rests he kinda has his face pointed tward the sand and his tail in the air but he does not go on his sides the picture is at a weird angle. his breathing is normal and he is very alert and swims around normal here and there

That he is not eating is definitely a concern.
I would get some Vitachem ( a supplemental vitamin that can be administered in water and acts as an appetite stimulant ) as he is most likely vitamin deficient.
Try to entice him to eat with garlic juice or a product like Seachem Garlicguard.
Try a few days of water changes, but, if he takes a turn by showing body weakness or you see white feces, etc...
will need to treat with an antibiotic.

He pooped shortly after I put him in the tank and it was small but it was a regular round little brown poop so he must have eaten something recently

 

how is he now??

 

how is he now??

He is eating now and seems very lively. he swims around a little but gets tired easily and likes to lay in the plants most of the time with his little fin stumps just moving back and forth slowly