Thanks for reaching out to Ask Lafeber.
I’m not sure why this bird is in a nest. If he has a mate and they are sharing the duties the female should be sitting in the nest during the day and the male at night. If he does not have a mate, he should not have anything in his environment that he can crawl into to find darkness. Lovebirds are cavity nesters and will seek out dark and enclosed places to start the breeding rituals. If this bird is not moving and only sitting in a nest, one of my first thoughts are the owners sure this is a male? It’s not uncommon for a female to become chronic egg layers and not leave the nest once this behavior begins. I suggest the owner look to see if there are eggs in the nest. This would explain why a female would not leave it. If she does not have a mate that will either feed her or take turns sitting in the nest, her instincts may be so strong she may not leave it. A single male can also have these instincts, but they are not as strong as the female’s. Usually, the females will start tearing paper or find little things and tuck them under their wings to carry into the nest beforehand. Either way I suggest the owner remove the bird from the nest and then remove the nest from the cage.
If the vet suspects this bird is having a kidney issue, there are specialized treatments available to treat kidney problems. Hopefully the vet ran a complete blood profile to see if other organs are being compromised. Often times this is the case. Without knowing what the blood work results are, there’s not a way to suggest what diet to put the bird on. Usually, an avian veterinarian will provide a therapeutic diet recommendation based on the blood results. Recommending a diet should be based on blood work as well as the bird’s age and body condition. Without knowing any of this, it would only be guessing, and that could be more harmful than good.
If this vet did not recommend any bloodwork, I suggest getting a second opinion. Avian medicine can be quite complicated, and there are several diseases to consider that can be specific to certain species of birds. Again, if her veterinarian is not an avian vet, I would strongly suggest finding a specialist or one that has years of treating birds and exotics and keeps up on cutting edge technologies.
