Parakeet Diseases

In the wild, birds usually do not show to others if they are sick or weak because it is suicidal. Predators will prey on the weak because they are easier to attack and kill. In captivity, there are many parakeet diseases your pet can succumb to and your parakeet, if they become ill, probably won’t show it and by the time you noticed that your pet does not look good, it could probably a lot worse than what it looks like. In this case, proper action should be taken and provide treatment quickly.

As a pet owner, you should be very observant of your pet’s behaviour. There are things that parakeets do regularly and things that you will find unusual for your pet.

In order to catch any parakeet disease early on, there are certain symptoms that you should know about. Symptoms that could be serious and require you to consult an avian vet are: dirty and unruly appearance; abnormal droppings, sleeping patterns, and other activities; picking and plucking on feathers too much; head, tail, and wings are drooping. On the other hand, signs that say your parakeet is in very serious condition and needs to be brought to an avian vet as soon as possible are: breathing becomes labored; tail continuously moves; abnormal discharge from eyes, nose, or beak; feathers stick together and form clumps; bleeding; hunched position; decrease in weight; vomiting; swollen parts of the body; dull eyes; sitting on the floor of the cage; and falling off the perch.

Some common parakeet diseases include malnutrition, malignant and fatty tumors, lymphomas, gout, scaly face mites, diabetes, infections caused by viruses such as Beak and Feather (PBFD) and Polyoma, reproductive problems like egg-binding, egg peritonitis, or excessive egg production, and giardia infections among others.