Parrot care - Parrot Health

When dealing with an injured or an unhealthy bird, there are five most important things to consider:

1.Heat

Heat is the first element to be regarded, as the best temperature for a bird is at at least 85 degrees, and 90 degrees is preferable. Parrots use most of their metabolic resources and energy for keeping a body temperature at around 104 degrees. That is why, when caring for a sick bird, you should turn up the heat past 85 and when the bird shows signs of recovery, lower the heat gradually, about 5 degrees per day, before reaching room temperature again. At 85 degrees the parrot should begin to pant, and by slowly turning the heat off, the panting should stop. So, to sum it up, the main idea is to artificially maintain a high temperature, for the bird to be able to concentrate its energy mostly for fighting the illness.

2.Humidity

Humidity is the second most important thing in dealing with the parrot health issue. This is especially vital when the sickness is of a respiratory nature, but it is not so important if the bird is physically injured or healthy. Humidity allows the parrot to keep air passages free and damp, thus easing the breathing. My first choice to solve this problem would be a vaporizer, or a humidifier.If you do not have such things handy, the least you can do is take the bird in the bathroom and turning the hot water on and off in the shower. The first sign of a respiratory problem on a parrot are any kind of odd noises in the breathing, like wheezy, raspy, bubbly, or clicking noises. You should also get concerned if your parrot has difficulties breathing. This is easy to notice, as the first warning is a more significant movement of the tail during breathing. Last but not least, if your bird holds its beak open to breathe, but it’s not panting, then you can be sure you have a respiratory problem regarding your parrot’s health.

3. Fluids

Due to a certain health problem, your parrot may not get the amount of fluids its body needs. That is because it has a high temperature and a disrupted digestion, so it may not drink on its own. The solution to this is for you to give your parrot fluids, from a spoon, a seringe or even from your finger. My tip is to use apple or grape juice, infalyte brand infant electrolyte solution, D5W (medical glucose/saline solution), bottled water with some sugar or honey. If this doesn’t solve the problem, call a veterinary to give it fluids under the skin.

4. Nutrition

Just like with fluids, when your parrot refuses to eat, you will have to feed it, by any means, even force feeding, because birds are quite fragile! They can die of starvation in 48 - 72 hours in good health, so imagine how quick it can get when a parrot is already sick. As I said earlier, in addition to providing high room temperature for the ill parrot, thus concentrating a great amount of energy to fighting the sickness, one must continue provide food to the bird. My advice is to feed it products high in carbohydrates and also easy to digest, like infant rice cereal, baby food, cream of wheat, ground-up pellets mixed with fruit juice, molasses, honey, fruit juice (not orange juice), Instant Ounces brand emergency food for birds, papaya juice or nectar. Remember that only with the adequate food can a bird get indeed healthy! So help it fight the illness!

5. Quiet/Level of Activity

An ill parrot should be kept in a dark room with no toys to play with, so that he remains quiet and inactive. If you undertake noisy activities, move the bird to a part of the house that is quiet. It’s a bit like having a sick member of the family, isn’t it? Well, these little fellows are often considered like being part of the family.

To remember: If the bird is on antibiotic therapy, it could have problems digesting food, so you have to feed it yogurt, bene-bac, lactobacillus supplement, or acidophilus. This also helps preventing yeast infections. Should it still appear, meaning white spots in the mouth or tongue, the vet can prescribe an antifungal preparation. Avoid overfeeding the bird, as it may regurgitate. Smaller amounts at a time may do the trick!