Parakeet's Feathers Clumped Together

RE: Parakeet's Feathers Clumped Together Post By J (Guest Post) (07/17/2007) Maybe he's under stress? Anything from the below feedback can be what he's going through. Any chemicals? Too hot or cold? Loud noise? Cat?? A stove? If it continues, it would be good to give him some antibiotics and take him to the vet. RE: Parakeet's Feathers Clumped Together Post By Edie (Guest Post) (07/16/2007) Our bird started violently throwing up today and then began pulling at his feathers. Does anyone have any advice? RE: Parakeet's Feathers Clumped Together Post By j (Guest Post) (06/29/2007) thank you for all the help. no, the birds aren't near a stove or a draft. we make sure to cover the cage at night. we put a water bowl in the cage but they never went in it, so we're trying to mist them every other day or so. no one smokes in our house and we don't fry anything much and we don't use chemicals around them if you count swiffering the floor. we had been working on one of the bathrooms in the house last week and couple weeks before. i heard since birds can get stressed from noise, that that was one of the reasons he was being strange. they are far away from the bathroom, but people coming and going. but i've cleaned the cage since then and it's pretty clean so far. and plus we give them bird vitamins, and it looks like the feathers on his head are growing back and he isn't fluffing his feathers a lot. i'll keep all your advice in mind. :-) thank you. RE: Parakeet's Feathers Clumped Together Post By GrammieCracker (Guest Post) (06/29/2007) OK, when your bird 'gurges' it is a sign of affection. He/She is trying to feed you. If you watch birds together, they will feed each other. It's the ultimate sign of bonding. As far as the feathers around his neck and head, as new feathers come in, they have a casing around the base of each feather. In the wild they 'preen' or scrape these casings off of each other. A bird by itself can preen it's own feathers as far as they can reach. They CANNOT reach their neck and head! I would check with a vet to be sure this is the situation and to learn how to preen for your bird. We do it here at the rescue for our guys. These casings can be very uncomfortable for birds. Daily bathing and/or misting is VERY important. http://www.LaziBirds.com Diane RE: Parakeet's Feathers Clumped Together Post By Lynda (Guest Post) (06/28/2007) I once had a parakeet that ate everything from his perch to the paint on the cage, even his own droppings occasionally. Check to see if this could be the case. Analyze your home and habits, especially any chemicals you might be using near him, or if you have accidentally sprayed his cage/water/food with some chemical/repellant/propellant. Birds usually need sand to mix with their seed for best digestion, but the sand must be fairly for a bird not raised outside. Have you fed him anything other than seed, like fruit that's not organic? Is his cage in a draft? Do you cover his cage at night? Is he near a gas stove or high in a room that is gas heated? It can kill him. He needs to be near fresh body temp air. Their normal habitat is the tropical environment. Go to Google and read all you can on care for parakeets. Decide what you might have done. Keep the water, food, cage, rinsed but not with soap or cleaners. Just warm water unless really dirty. Then use only mild baby shampoo to clean it. Rinsing very well and drying it. I always used bird paper in the bottom of the cage for easy cleaning, and kept a cuttle bone for him to sharpen his beak on. Is anyone else around to stick anything in the cage. Is there a smoker in the house. Do you fry a lot. Is he kept in the kitchen or near air freshener or floor cleaner, or windex or Endust? All of these things can kill a bird of any kind. Hope you find the answer immediately, and that you will not try to doctor the bird yourself, but remove the offending problem. Then, make certain his food is not from Walmart who used chemicals and a dusty elec. sweeper daily on their nasty floors, giving the bacteria/dust particles plenty of new zip codes to land on, like the pet food and human food cans/boxes. These cleaners are SUPPOSED TO HAVE VACUUMS ATTACHED, but few do and no one monitors them. I am convinced that this is also once thing that contributes to human illnesses. Consider particles eaten off any toys or rope you might have hanging. He might have eaten something like rope hairs that are choking/gagging him just as it would a human. If not discovered/improved in 48 hours, see a vet or pet shop owner asap. They usually know a vet who helps them when their pets are ill, and can share their experiences. God help and bless you and your parakeet. : ) RE: Parakeet's Feathers Clumped Together Post by Lynn Beth (154) | (06/27/2007) Contact Birds need water to take a bath with every day, whether from a dish or a spray bottle. Definitely check with a vet to find out what you should be doing to help it. RE: Parakeet's Feathers Clumped Together Post by Maryeileen (138) | (06/26/2007) Profile | Contact I agree, get him to a vet. ASAP. RE: Parakeet's Feathers Clumped Together Post By toni (Guest Post) (06/26/2007) As yoho said please get that bird to a vet if you have not done so already. Since you mentioned him regurgitating. Especially since birds hide their illnesses so very well, Good luck and I hope it is okay!! RE: Parakeet's Feathers Clumped Together Post By yohofred (Guest Post) (06/26/2007) They sell a kind of bird medicine at the pet store that you put in the water dish. The thing with birds though is they will hide an illness really well as a sort of defense. Usually by the time you notice they are sick it's best to call a vet. Good luck