Some of you may or may not remember me, I haven't been on in a while... but I have sad news. Darcy died in my hands on Thursday... I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, everything happened so fast. One minute he was fine, the next Nouba was trying to beat him up. I pulled him out of the cage and he couldn't even keep his body up. I gave him some cypro in case he had another gi infection and syringe fed him some water and he made himself comfortable on my chest grinding his beak... and then i put him in my hand so i could ask for help on another forum and about a minute later, mid post, he took a deep breath, rolled over on his side, and died.
While I was sanitizing their cage I found shards of quartz had apparently been packed in with the seed I use which is Nutriphase... I've emailed the makers of Nutriphase (pet smart) and they haven't gotten back to me but if any of you use it, check your food carefully, the pieces of quartz are about the size of a seed and hard to pick out but they're sharp and can cause crop impaction...

I am so sorry to hear that you lost Darcy. (((())))

Aw ShamRock I am so sorry.
QUARTZ? Wow that is just crazy! I"m so glad you cleaned the cage and discovered it. I sure hope the rest of your birds are ok.
Thank you so much for the warning. I don't use that kind but it's an eyeopener to check ALL brands.
Again, I am so sorry for your loss. ((hugs))
R I P little Darcy^

Oh how awful! I'm so sorry for your loss. And what the heck is Quartz doing in food?!

OMG what a horrible thing! I'm so sorry you lost you birdie this way! WTH??! Do you think they put that in there for weight?

RIP Darcy Fly with the angels now!

i think maybe it was just that the bag was filled by the same machine that fills bags of fish gravel or something...I bought the petsmart brand because it had a good blend of seed and i could put my own pellets (roudybush) and dried fruits and greens in it... and if i'm going to do that i dont want to spend the extra money on something like kaytee exact that already has that stuff in it you know? i thought i was doing the good thing by making their mix myself... silly me.

Oh Shamrockstar I'm so sorry... Its so awful that this happened.
At least you were there Darcy in his last moments, I'm sure that meant alot to him. RIP Darcy.

Oh hon I am so sorry for your loss. He was such a pretty little keet. At least you were able to hold him close. Poor sweet baby.
I hope that you get a resolution to the food issue. My word that is horrible. I know that nothing will compensate you for your little keet. Many hugs to you and your flock. -val

Sorry for your loss. Glad you were able to discover this before
it did something to your other birdies. Rest in Peace, Darcy

-Sam

Oh, Heather, I am so sorry to hear this --- R.I.P. Darcy.

I've just researched quartz (to see if it has some nutritional value or might be listed in the ingredients list under a chemical name other than silicon dioxide), to no avail. My guess is that you're right about it accidentally ending up in the Nutriphase.

I imagine we would all like to hear how Petsmart responds and what you want to do about the situation. This appears to be similar to finding shards of glass in dog/cat food!

Hugs to you, Heather.