Sour crop is a disease that affects a parrot in a very negative way.  Often it is baby parrots who suffer from this, but adult parrots can as well.  Sour crop can lead to a lot of other diseases inside the parrot which may eventually result in death and this is why sour crop should be identified before it causes any severe illness. When a parrot is suffering from this it needs to be attended to by a vetinarian immediately.

Sour crop or "crop stasis," is a condition by which a baby parrot has a crop full of food which might have got stale. The crop in a parrot is just above the stomach and stores the food until the bird is ready to take the good into its stomach.  The problem will often arise with a young parrot when it keeps on filling its crop and not all the food is taken out of it, giving it the risk that some of the older food may sour.

Other causes are:

• Obstruction: This is when food blocks the passage of food into the stomach and would most likely be caused by something the parrot has swolled like a small toy or a stick or something similar.

• Viral diseases: This accounts to proventricular dilatation disease.

• Fungal infection: The food that you have given to the bird was infected by fungus.

• Bacterial infection: The bad food intake might cause a bacterial infection anywhere in the intestinal track of the bird.

• Metabolic diseases: Diseases like liver malfunction and pancreatitis can also be a cause.

• Improper feeding: Improper feeding of young birds might also cause an infection like this. Young birds who are being hand fed, might show change of a symptom like this because of extremes of temperature in the food, or improper consistency of the food or even maybe the climatic conditions which might not suit the bird.

Symptoms:

• Vomiting, diarrhea or regurgitation
• The crop being overdistension
• Lethargy – excessive sleeping, keeping their head under the wing, ruffled feathers indicate that the birds are too weak to stay awake and an immediate call for the vet is necessary.
• Decreased appetite -the birds will be in no condition for eating and you might notice a decrease in their appetite.
• Less active: the birds will be less active and will not respond to any kind of sounds.

Treatment:

If you observe any effects of sour crop as listed above, then you need to immediately contact a veterinarian so that he can immediately remove the spoiled food from their body as quickly as possible. In most birds, the food is removed through a tube passed orally. But this specifically depends on the size of the food and the condition of the bird.

Effects of sour crop will cause severe dehydration and a large intake of fluid is mandatory. So once the spoiled food has been taken from the body of the bird it needs to be given a high intake of fluid.

Babies that have not been fully feathered often require an environmental temperature of 85 to 90°. So you should make sure that your vets can take great care of the babies by keeping them warm and hospitalized. Effects of sour crop do harm your parrot to a large extent and the negligence of any of its symptoms might cause to be fatal. This is why it is important to keep a regular check on your parrot in terms of their eating habits and lifestyle.

About the Author:
For more valuable information on how to care for a healthy happy parrot don't go further than from parrot expert Kaye Dennan visit Pet Parrot Secrets