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CHAPTER 7 - BUDGIE HEALTH


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Parakeets will hide their illnesses.

Because they're so small, parakeets will hide their sickness from everyone as long as possible.  After all, sick birdies in the wild are generally caught, dead, food-for-predators birdies.

A healthy, happy budgie will generally have "on" and "off" periods - the "on" periods have them playing with their toys, exploring their surroundings, chirping and beeping and burbling etc. 

Their "off" periods have them simply resting with their beaks tucked into the feathers on their backs.  My flocks generally have 2 or three off times during the day.

A parakeet that sits at the bottom of the cage floor all fluffed up is a parakeet sick.  Should that happen, you should take him or her to an avian vet.  The Association of Avian Veterinarians has a great lookup page where you can find the local avian vets in your area.

Parakeet Health/Safety Tips

Here are forums and resources you must read regarding the health of your parakeet:

Aerosols, Air Conditioner, AlcoholBalls, Beads, Bedding/Litter, Cage/Cage Covers, CarpetCats, Candles, ChainsChocolate, Cleaners, Clips, Common Household Hazards, Cooking Bags, Cooking Oil, Cotton Candy Toy, Cuttlebone, Febreze, Foods, Glue, Halogen LampsHappy Huts, Leather SpraysMineral Blocks/Lava Rocks , Pens, Plug-In Air Fresheners, Pine-Scented Items, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Potpourri, RopeSalt, Scented TissuesSwing Incident, Teflon, Toys, Toy Size Issues, Zinc

The above are superb resources for learning how to take care of your parakeet, but how do you go about dealing with actual sickness?  It's time now for:

Budgie Illnesses

So your parakeet just doesn't look right.  What to do?

Go over checkpoints like so:
Anatomy of a budgie - Cage for a sick bird - Cold/hot feet - Competent vets - Droppings as disease indicators  - First aid for birds - Recognize a sick bird - Shorten nails/beaks - Warmth therapy
Air sac mites - Bird lice (mallophaga) - Blood-sucking mites (red mite) - Burrowing mites (scaly face/leg mites) - Photo gallery - Roundworms
Broken blood feathers - Feather loss due to a shock - Feather picking - Molt - Delayed molt - First moltFrench Molt (BFD, Polyoma virus) - Normal molt - Viral plumage disease (PBFD)

The above are really excellent resources to help you take great care of your budgie.  But what can you do if real problems exist? 

Glad you asked!  It's time for:

Next > Chapter 8 - Budgie Problems


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Parakeets/budgies/keets/etc. are NOT disposable birds!  Please do your research before choosing to share your life with one of these wonderful birdies..

The Ultimate Internet Parakeet Toolkit

Copyright 2007 Barbara Ling and Owlbert
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