cockatiel with stretched crop

[Kathryn Sheehan]

Hi Everyone,

I recently rescued a hand-fed white face cockatiel from the pet store I
worked at. Somehow he had been over fed and his crop had stretched out to
about 3 or 4 times normal size. The formula he was being fed was just
sitting in his crop and not emptying. Needless to say he became very ill
and was on the brink of death. Then a couple of the employees fashioned him
a "bra" out of a sock and his improvement was miraculous! I adopted him
because he was "unsellable" due to the stretched crop and having to wear his
little sweater. He is now about a year and a half old and though his crop
has shrunken some, it is still about twice normal size.

My question is this: does anybody here have any experience with stretched
crops and, if so, considering that he is now an adult is it likely that his
crop might shrink back to normal or will he be wearing his little sweater
for the rest of his life?

He is very healthy in all other respects, he also says about 5 or 6 phrases
and is VERY sweet.

Thanks in advance for any advice...

Kathy and Chester the cockatiel (pun intended)

[Rottwlrs2]

Oh that poor little baby...but thank goodness for you to take care of him!
I've never encountered this, but I'm eager to hear others reply. Sometimes
when the parent Tiels are feeding their babies, the crops get so darn big it's
scarey!
I adopted one in Petco, that has a permanently very crooked beak - another
result of poor handfeeding by someone. I trim the lopsided beak every other
week so he can eat OK. I just had to buy him, even though I alread had over 30
adult Tiels and 10 babies at the time - I mean who would know how to regularly
trim his poor little beak? We're a couple of bleeding hearts, aren't we? Like
yours, my Sunny is the sweetest little boy! Take care.
Lisa
PS) Have you asked an avian vet who is very experienced in surgery? Just
wondered if the crop can be surgically reduced some? If there's a chance of it
not being successful though, I wouldn't do it. I hope this doesn't sound dumb,
but they can trim a person's stomac, among other incredible things these days,
so I just wondered. I wouldn't do it just for the appearance sake, but if it
could improve the bird's digestion and eating, it might be worth asking.