Parrot/parakeet health question?
My landlord (who lives in the house) has brought a small parakeet type bird into the house. It’s in a dreadful state - all its feathers are manky, and I’ve seen it pluck its own feathers out. It’s kept in a cage all day, and from what I can see, it can’t fly. It uses its beak and claws to navigate around the cage.
All it’s fed are monkey nuts, bits of fruit and water. The landlord says it plucks its own feathers out because it’s bored. I just think it’s really cruel. It hardly has any contact all day. The owner doesn’t get back till about 8pm and then hardly does anything with it. I think he’s hoping it’ll speak, then “I can sell it for £1000″, but there’s no way this thing will speak unless it receives some TLC. The landlord’s not a bad bloke and he doesn’t mean it any harm, but I just think no one wants it - its exchanged hands between his family several times already.
I can’t really ring the RSPB/RSPC though, as he’ll know it’s me and I’ll most likely get kicked out.
- Quickswitch79
Normally birds like that learn by serious repetition, so a lot of people use recordings. But this is not a good state for the bird. I don’t think it would hurt to buy some toys and actual seed and put it in there. The bird probably won’t be talking any time soon without any practice at all, and with the condition it’s in, something needs to be done about it.
Yes its bored and obviously needs some human company in the day. Could you/would you take it on? Toys would help it and it will only learn by people talking to it and saying the same stuff over and over again. Also its diet sound pretty poor. They should have fresh fruit and veg. Monkey nuts are very fattening (54% fat, 9% saturated fat) and should only be a treat. Do you know what type it is or give us a description? Tell your landlord your concerns - he might listen or you could buy him a book or print stuff off the net. Parrots need as much tlc as a small child which most people dont realise. It cant just be left in a cage. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
plucking is a symptom of boredom. actually the monkey nuts and fruit is good for the bird. does this bird have toys, get good sunshine ?handling a parakeet at this stage of the game can be difficult if it’s never been done,not impossible,but a challenge. ask him if he’d let you take it,if you have more time on your hands?
Yes boredom can cause feather plucking, but so can a bad diet. A lack of vitamin A will really mess up the feathers. If the bird is missing vitamin A you will notice black tipping on the feathers, and there will be a dullness of color to the feathers also. It sounds like the bird really should be seen by a Vet to have a blood test done to rule out any health issues.
Its sad that people get a bird and then have no idea how to care for it. It just isnt something you put in the cage and forget about.
All bird have special requirements for dietary needs to remain healthy.
Maybe what you could do is first find out exactly what type of bird it is, and read up about them, and then let your landlord know what the bird need to get back to looking and feeling better.
You could also offe rto take care of the bird for the landlord since he is gone all day, tell him you are very interested in the bird, and maybe he will let you care for it.
Sapphyre
Certified Avian Specialist
If you need any other help please contact me.
the poor bird, plucking is causedby boredom and its difficult to get them to stop. its needs a better diet and a lot of tlc and human company.