parakeet health?

2 Responses to “parakeet health?”

1. RANDLE W on September 26th, 2008 2:53 am

   If she just finished vigorous exercize, no. If not go.

2. cartier95 on September 28th, 2008 1:45 pm

   this is the best site :

   This morning I noticed that one of our parakeets is having a problem with one of her legs. She keeps shaking it?!? to one side (like a cat does when it steps in water). It seems like she has no strength in it because when she tries to place it on the branch she misses and looses her balance. She keeps trying to step on it but cannot for a long time. As a result she cannot sleep and looks like she is suffering and miserable. I have taken it to a vet who took a good look at it but said it could be that maybe the leg got caught on something and she pulled it or that she could have a lack of vitamins in her diet! I wasn’t satisfied with neither answer. Could you please help identify the problem. Could it be a disease

   the answer :

   I’m not a bird vet and I’m at a disadvantage because all I have to go on is the info in your post, so I’ll try to help as much as I can.

   There are several possibilities here. Since you’re more familiar with your keet and what has occurred, you can try to put 2 and 2 together from the info.

   The vet could be correct in that the keet got a toenail, foot, or entire leg caught in something, and in it’s struggle to free itself, it pulled a muscle or otherwise injured itself. I’ve seen many, many instances of this in different types of parrots. Do the keet’s nails need to be trimmed? Does the bird have any type of toys made out of string, chain, etc., that a toenail/foot/leg could get caught in? This would cause the bird to favor that foot/leg, maybe even the hip, for up to a week (give or take a day or 2) until the soreness/injury healed itself. Behavior would be similar to what your keet is going through…not putting weight on the leg/foot, clumbsiness, etc.

   Could also be a vitamin deficiency that has become worse and the bird is now showing symptoms. What type of diet is your keet on? How old is the bird? Is the bird in good feather, droppings normal?

   Could be a genetic or developmental problem that is just now showing itself (age of bird will help here).

   Could also be itchiness or soreness in the lower part of the body, whereby the keet is “flicking” it’s leg sideways because this helps or bird thinks doing this will help alleviate the problem.

   Is the bird’s vent (anal) area “dirty,” as in do you see feces caking up around this area? I’ve seen bird’s with intestinal/digestive bacterial problems flick their legs like this to try and clear any feces from around the area.

   There could be some type of internal problem, such as a cyst, tumor, infection, etc., that is causing problems for your keet. Is there any blood present at all? Does the bird cry out in pain (either when it’s by itself or if you touch the area)? Is the lower part of the bird’s body distended at all? Is there sufficient humidity in the room the bird is in (to prevent dry skin and itching)? Is this bird female and could be laying an egg (single female birds can lay infertile eggs)?

   Is this vet a bird vet, i.e., avian vet, exotic animal vet? A regular cat/dog vet won’t do because most don’t have specialized training in avian medicine. I think a bird vet would have performed a more thorough exam for some of the types of things I mentioned above, such as a fecal smear and probably a mouth smear (cloanal and cloacal smears) at least.

   As you can see, there’s many possibilities here, and this is just based on the information you provided. More details might be helpful, such as did this begin suddenly, is this bird housed with other birds, types of toys, types of perches, answers to my questions within the text above, etc. Is your keet eating and drinking?

   I’ve seen lots of birds with leg/foot injuries. Usually they heal up just fine on their own, as long as something isn’t broken or permanently. I usually see some healing progress within a couple of days, with complete recovery in about a week, sometimes 10 days, depending on the severity. However, this only applies to injuries, not internal medical problems. I’d say if this bird has internal medical problems, you’d see a decline in health instead of progress. Important thing is to be able to recognize the difference and seek medical assistance for the bird in time if things start going downhill.

   If you have any questions, please come back. If you have more details, send them and I’ll see if they help any.

   Chrys

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