Parrot Health – Detecting Illness

Show no weakness is the survival mantra for parrot health in the wild.  As a creature living in the wild, parrots do have predators that will seek them out as prey if they show any weakness.  Therefore, in order to survive parrots over the ages have developed a habit of hiding any illness.   The ability to hide ill health is a trait that parrots carry with them into captivity.  By the time a parrot physically shows ill health, in many cases, it is too late to save their life.

A key element of parrot health therefore, is for the parrot’s parent to constantly monitor their parrot’s health.  This is largely done through observation and looking for any actions or physical appearance that is a change from the ordinary.  This task is extremely difficult for the new parrot owner since they don’t have any baseline of parrot health to work with, and unfortunately in some instances, their new parrot is already sick.

There are several general areas that an owner should observe for any changes.

Birds are naturally more active in the morning than any other time of day.  If your bird is quiet, not playing with toys, not eating, not moving around in their cage, you may have an ill bird.

Some specific parrot health things to look at:

• Standing on both feet – normal is one foot
• Sitting on the bottom of the cage
• Losing balance, teetering, or falling off a perch
• Increased sleeping
• Low level of activity
• Not playing with their toys
• Shaking or shivering

The birds physical appearance should be looked at closely every day.

• Look at the eyes for clarity and any possible fluid discharges.
• Does the beak look all right?
• Are the feathers laying down nicely and not ruffled?
• Do the legs look ok, no discoloration, flaking or crusting?
• Is the bird’s breathing normal and not labored in any way?

An owner should inspect the fecal matter.  Now I agree this isn’t a particularly enjoyable part of pet ownership, but it can provide valuable insight into parrot health.

Research has found some important things to look at in this area.

A bird’s fecal matter consists of 3 elements:

1. Feces – this is the solid part of the matter, but will vary to some extent based on diet.
2. Urates – this is a milky white substance around the feces
3. Urine – this is the liquid part of the matter.

Now what to look for is again any change in the matter.  If the parrot has had a consistent diet with little or no variations the fecal matter should be similar at all times.  If the diet changes the fecal matter will change.

Remember our bird friends are like children and just like children they will pick through their food and eat what they like the most.  So in many instances the fecal matters colors and  textures will reflect the personal food preferences of the parrot and not necessarily an indicator of parrot health.

Keep in mind that the parrot will try to hide its illness so it’s up the owner to observe the parrot’s habits, appearance, and study its waste to detect a possible illness.

Parrot Health – Medical Care

It is very important to establish a relationship of a qualified veterinarian prior to the need for emergency services.  In actuality, upon acquiring a parrot one of the first tasks should be a visit to a veterinarian to assess the initial parrot health and create a baseline for the birds condition.

If you’d like to learn more about parrot health and other parrot facts, subscribe to the FREE Parrot Care Center email Mini-Course.