I have 7 parakeets, but my blue parakeet is coughing for over one minute multiple times a day (over and over again). And it's just getting worse. She's flying outside her cage all day, has three different types of expensive seed brands like Zupreem Sensible seed, Kayette Egg flavored seeds and Gourmet Parakeet food that she loves and eats all together everyday. She also eats Zupreem fruit flavored pellets everyday. Also, she gets fruits and veggies everyday. I put three drops of small bird Vita-drops in their water everyday.
I see that she is bonding with one of the males and I'm having the idea that she is close to mating with him. She nevers stays fluffed up, and there's no discharge from eyes or nose. I just got her a few months ago from the worst conditions their possibly is. Her poop showed she lacked in vitamins but within a few days she was completely full of health and happy. I have two flavored cuttlebone in their cages and one normal one. I also have a mineral block. I'm just saying this stuff because I don't understand what's wrong with her.
Right now I'm stuck, I can't go to the vet because I don't have bird insurance and getting insurance for 7 birds that have never gotten sick in their whole lifetimes is crazy as one bird per month is 20 dollars. My other one (green) that came with the coughing blue (they were in the same place and I got them a the same time). She has been vomiting clear substances on the bars and on her coconut toy (to be clear in random places). She stays fluffed up most of the day but eats and drinks. These two birds fly like crazy around my house. They like bathing in their catit fountain. But, this green one has stopped vomiting from what I see and only fluffs up throughout the day.
What should I do? Has anyone else ever gotten parakeet symptoms like these? I already lost a parakeet from unexpected reasons a while back and I really don't want another one to die.
Take the sick parakeets to the vet, most can offer payment plans but then again vets are greedy and they may not. It could be something that is passed to other birds and then you could lose them all.
Taking care of birds is expensive so always make sure you have a way to afford their vet visits if they need it. I know you said that they've never needed it before. However, maybe set a savings for the birds and gradually add money to that savings for emergencies. Adding just 10 dollars a week could be a start.
This may or may not be what is going on with your birds but I will say it just in case. I once had a bird many years ago. I saw a large spider crawl into the cage but before I could react, my bird ate it (it was that fast, like 3 seconds). My bird was fluffed up for days with its eyes closed most of the time (it wouldn't hardly eat or move around). It didn't vomit, not that I could remember (could have). Whatever poison the spider gave my birdie passed and my bird was fine after 2-3 days.
Anyways, I hope your birdies will overcome whatever is making them ill and wish you and your babies all the best!
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Why do my two parakeets sit and stare at one another?
In many animals, sitting and staring at each other can be part of aggression play, or sizing each other up. It can be a prelude to a fight for dominance. Even amongst humans it is seen as vaguely hostile or unsettling behaviour.
They either like each other well enough or they're trying to figure out if they like each other.
active signs of liking each other are preening, picking at each other, or singing in unison and bobbing their heads.
active signs of disliking each other are occupying opposite ends of the cage, avoiding each other, NOT looking at each other, and, if forced to be in the same space, actively fighting.
parakeets are social animals, and so unless under environmental stress (IE you are not feeding them enough or they don't have adequate space) they should get along well.
animals.mom.me/
My parakeet seems to be gagging herself and vomiting. She positions herself under her perch, one foot on the bottom of the cage, one on the perch and she sticks one 'toe' down her throat until gooey half digested food strings out of her mouth. Has anyone else experienced this?
Chickens do this when they need to eat pebbles or calcium. Do parakeets have to eat something like that as well to help break down their food??
A bulimic parakeet, now I've heard everything! Seriously though, sounds kind of like the behavior when cats eat grass. But I'd Google or call the vet. Hope she feels better soon.
I'm not sure, but don't they regurgitate their food to feed their babies? Could she be having a false pregnancy?
This person needs to have gravel in the bird's cage to help the bird be able to digest her/his food. You can go to any pet shop and ask them what they have...Good Luck.....
Thanks for the feedback...especially the bulimic parakeet bit! LOL
It is really the strangest thing. I have googled like crazy getting all kinds of possibilities...but nothing that fits this picture exactly. We live on Kauai and there are no avian vets here.
Your parakeet is showing signs of love. They do regurgitate or (gurge) to show affection. That is how they feed their young and will even feed one another. I've seen a bird nurse a mate back to health by feeding. We run a rescue for domestic and exotic birds. We have birds that try to 'feed' us. As disgusting as it sounds, it's the ultimate sign of love for them. ha ha Diane http://www.LaziBirds.com
Is it normal for the parakeet to use it's toe/foot to gag itself? She does it repeatedly throughout the day.
If my parakeet was really vomiting and not regurgitating, would she gag herself or would the vomit spew all on it's own without her gagging herself for assistance?
Parakeets need to eat gritty stuff to "chew" their food. Do you have that in the cage?
Yes, we have grit...however we hadn't been using it for awhile because she seemed to use it only as confetti and never actually ingested any of it. When we'd put it in the cage she would have all of it dumped out within one minute! It did occur to me that this may help so we put some in this morning and she devoured it! Obviously she needed that!
Also we noticed that she was trying to 'feed' her little toy parakeet last night and this morning and was using completely different 'language' with the toy than usual. I guess her mothering instincts have kicked in big time! I took the toy out just to see if the gagging/gurging behavior lessens as a result.
She's always seemed perfectly happy with just us as her family...do you think she wishes she had a mate now?? I'm not sure we're ready to go there!
Parakeets do NOT need grit. Pet stores will sell it to you but it can actually cause health problems. We have 160 birds here at the rescue and only TWO of them are given grit (gravel). They are doves and should have it. Diane Lazicki's Bird House & Rescue, Inc.
When we had a parakeet when I was a kid we put the grit in the bottom of the cage. We had that bird for a long time so I'm pretty sure the grit didn't cause any health problems...
Aloha Guys, you've given me great feedback so far...
It's been 3 full weeks of this gagging/gurging behavior and it just continues! She's eating (although some days it seems like her appetite is less than normal); she's drinking her average amount of water. She's showing absolutely no other signs of being or looking sick. It's just this behavior that she's NEVER had before and the fact that it seems SO constant. All day...every day...no matter what we do. It seems like a nervous/emotional thing to me...
Any other help or suggestions?? I don't know what to do for her?!
Thanks,
Deb from Kauai
Gagging and regurgitating can be a sign of an impacted crop or a love offering. This is the time of year for them to be hormonal so I would bet she is giving you love offerings but to be safe it wouldn't hurt to consult an avian vet.
Paula
Your parakeet may have something stuck in her throat and she is trying to get it out, either that or her throat may be itchy and she is trying to scratch it. Take her to the veterinarian as soon as you can, because she could accidentally hurt herself.
I don't know what to tell you but I do know that parakeets DO NOT need grit to digest their food there are some birds that do need grit but parakeets are not one of them. I think that you need to take your bird to the vet ASAP to make sure nothing is wrong. Other than that if everything is healthy, they do that as a sign of affection and it is kinda like a love offering good luck.
After 3 vets and numerous visits I finally found out why my parakeet was gagging. He has a tumor and will die from it. The only thing I was told to do was give him drops of predisone in apple juice. It stops him from gagging and also helps with his breathing. As long as he's in no pain and eating I'm good with catching him every day to give him the steroid. I consider it end of life care.
You might want to try changing her food. My parakeet started to exhibit the almost continual gagging and then spitting food/vomit symptoms that would go on for a quite awhile. I had also experienced this with previous birds I've owned where I put it off to 'love offerings'. This time I immediately changed her diet and the gagging stopped. Been over a week now and it hasn't restarted. Good Luck!
My female parakeet started kicking the food out of the container just because. I got them millet and she just destroyed the whole thing. What could she be trying to say?
It may just be her style of eating. I have known some pretty messy birds. Be sure she has an enriched environment, plenty of toys, room to exercise, an interesting view, maybe a buddy. With other things going on, playing in her food may not seem like so much fun.
I have a parakeet that just recently started acting funny... climbing and clinging to the side walls of the cage and the top of the cage, picking at it's back side like there's no tomorrow. It sometimes seems hyper. It's feathers are a little ruffled, but it's been eating like crazy and drinking like crazy. It doesn't seem to be pooping as much as it should... Any ideas?
GET IT TO A VET, IT COULD BE SERIOUS!!!
My friend tried to fix her bird alone and it died
so go to a vet or at least call a vet or 24 hour
animal hospital for tips or idea of what it could be.
You did not say if your bird is a male or female, if it is a female she could be egg bound, Please take her to a vet a s a p
Thanks everyone, I brought him to a vet, said everything appeared to be OK except he needs iodine... seems he has a goiter because he doesn't eat his veggies like he should. Also, I found out that parakeets can act funny during or after molting and if their wings aren't clipped, they can suddenly act as if they're the boss.
Is your bird molting or recently molted? Picking at it's butt can just be it's coating it's feathers. Right at the base of their body above the tail they have an oil gland. They use this oil to coat their feathers.
If it's picking closer to it's cloaca (vent) it could be a more serious problem like egg binding which someone already mentioned.
Paula
We had 2 parakeets but we lost one. Would it be okay if we got another parakeet? They told us that it was they were both brother's, but one was a girl. we are just wondering if we got another bird would our male parakeet get along with the other bird? Or would he dominate the other bird. or would he be happier with some to play with. it would be a new born bird also, so we can raise it right, we also have another question my bird is *grooming* and he is squeaking extremely loud when he cleans like he is biting himself or he get startled.
Thank you.
Our 2 year old, male parakeet has been holding his wings slightly away from his body. It looks like he's warm, but the house is 75 degrees. Vet states that all looks okay. How can we tell if he has a heart ailment? What else might be causing him to do this? We are very worried.
By JillyD from Sacramento, CA
I've seen this as a form of begging in birds. Are they getting enough attention? Food? Water? Treats? Are they bored and/or frustrated? (Being destructive, shrieking, pulling feathers out?)
But if they are scratching a lot they could have mites and are trying to cool down because it soothes the bites. Have you googled the issue?
We did Google this, but nothing came up that was healpful. The vet seems to think that it's pin feathers may be bothering him. It's gone on for about four weeks though. Seems like a long time for a bird to have pin feathers. He isn't shrieking or pulling feathers out. He stands up really straight (like he's scared) and kind of holds that pose for awhile too. His appetite seems to be good.
My budgie has become very angry with me and I don't know why.
By Bianca from Chicago, IL
I didn't have the faintest idea what a budgie was until I used a search engine. If you are having behavioral problems with your bird talk to a vet.
They get that way at times. I have had to watch mine, mine is VERY uncomfortable with people...I had to do some of the following exercises with him to get him less agitated when I would change out his water and food.
Walk over to the cage.
Put your hand inside the cage, very slowly, point at him. Once he acts like he wants to end the contact...then slowly retrieve your finger, still pointing at him and back up and turn around and walk off.
Try this again, every so often throughout the day. I did this about 10 times at first, it teaches the very smart bird that it can control any contact from you.
I also did a thing to make it more comfortable..i little squares of paper with hearts cut out of in onto his cage front with clear tape. He cant see as much going on and he is more comfortable. as a matter of fact, he has never been so active.
Where is the cage at? If he is showing possessiveness, I would move the cage around the house one day about ten different times and then walk away T hat shows him you are in charge of the cage and he is not.
LOL I love budgies!
Also, here are some free videos on bird training, which I like to view every so often.
www.squidoo.com/
Robyn
I like this video also, it is on utube after it plays there are lots more here also...notice the soft voices and eating by the cage and talking to the bird as if it was a friend visiting you. www.youtube.com/
Budgies, like any creature, can go through times of moodiness. Be patient, gentle and loving with your budgie and hopefully the mood will improve. Robyn Fed has some good ideas and links as well. Is your bird aggressive to everyone, or just you? And have you changed anything(cage location, new toy) that might be making your bird nervous and acting out from insecurity? If you have a good avian vet, they can be a good resource and there are lots of bird forums with good advice as well. I like ThePerch.net.
While I was away, for 6 weeks, my male budgie stayed with a friend whom he knows and who loves him. He was molting and it was suggested to my friend that she sprinkle a few drops of flax seed oil in his seeds about 2 times per week.
Before I took him home, yesterday, my friend told me that he has almost stopped singing and talking. This began about 3-4 weeks ago, she thinks.
His "nose" has changed color to 2-tone colors of bright blue by his nose air vents and the rest is now an off-white color and almost appears (this could be my imagination) to be a little swollen or protruding.
Is any of this normal? He's 3 1/2 years old.
By Gerry from Las Vegas, NV
I'm sorry to say I don't know about birds, but I'm thinking that you should get your little friend into the vet. Since it's a combination of both appearance and behavior, it sounds like it could be serious.
Best of luck . . . I hope your bird is feeling better soon!
Ditto with mrs.story!
First, your little budgie is a male. The part of his 'nose' that turned blue is called the cere.. If it is blue, violet or shades of, this maens he is a male. If the cere is beige, brown or sort of fleshie colored, it is a female. The rest of the beak is called a mandible. Upper and lower. Different species of birds have different color mandibles. The main thing you shound watch for is changes in his 'poop'. If it's runny or odd color, check with your vet. Your birdie may have stopped talking because he missed you. Give him a little time to adjust to being 'home'.. If you're still not comfortable, check with an AVAIN (bird) vet. I hope this helps. Diane www.LaziBirds.com
I just got two parakeets, one girl and a boy. My girl parakeet bites herself; why does she do that? I also noticed that my boy bird puts food in my girl bird's mouth. Then he rocks back in forth like he's dancing. Why do they do that? This is my first time having birds.
By Paulina
Make sure that every so often at least twice a day you blow out the seed cup. This means the bird will leave empty hulls when he eats the seed. He cannot dig under this to get at food. So that is the first thing to know. He could have mites. Or he could just be preening himself. Here is a link to lots of parakeet information. www.ehow.com/
I think you will enjoy your birds so much. I have one, and they love mirrors, and toys. Check out the toys and such on drsfostersmith they have amazing things for birds to do. My parakeet, Perry, is as wild as he can be and hates to be picked up or touched etc. But he is very sociable and his best friend is a Rooster we keep on a special area in our room. It is great to see them interact! This is a picture of Phoenix the rooster when he was younger, visiting with Perry who loves him dearly, more than he loves me. lol
Blessings,
Robyn
Why is my parakeet biting?
By elizabeth
Parakeets bite for many reasons. Did you just get your parakeet and he is scared? Perhaps your parakeet is very protective over a certain toy. It could also be because they are pregnant or are protective of it's other parakeet friend. Are you feeding your parakeet? Cleaning his cage, feeding him things other than seeds? You have to put yourself in your parakeets shoes, because depending on an individual bird they may bite for various reasons.
It could be that your parakeet is showing affection or that he/she is scared. I let my parakeet bite my nails to show that I am not here to attack him. When I call her name she flies right to me. :O)
My boy parakeet seems to be feeding the girl. What does that mean and is she getting all her nutrition she needs?
By Michy from Chicago
My budgie keeps throwing her eggs out. What do I do?
By stephen j from Manchester, Lancs
