EATING DISORDERS

Constant over-eating can occur when birds are given too much sunflower seed, or food that is too sweet, to name two cases. Often, the germ of over-eating is already planted with the hand-feeding of young birds that are given too many "goodies." Dirty aviaries and cages, vitamin deficiencies, and the like can also cause over-eating, which can prove to be a very stubborn condition.

These birds act lethargic. They look rather ill, and spend practically all their time on the feeding dish with their wings hanging down. They look thin and undernourished, and their breast bones stick out. Their droppings are grayish-black. The under part of their bodies looks rather unhealthy too, sometimes showing a veritable road map of blue and red veins and arteries, in addition to being swollen, hard and, in most cases, infected.

The menu must be adjusted to the needs of the birds and the season. Avoid sweet food as much as possible. No eggfood or self-prepared strength foods should be given for about twenty days. However, you can offer stale brown bread soaked in water on a daily basis. Add disinfectant to the drinking water.

OBESITY

Birds suffering from a lack of exercise because their cages are too small or because their owner has not provided anything to keep them occupied, and those that do not get the right nutrition, are most liable to become obese. Getting, fat is, however, a very slow process. The bird owner must watch very carefully to spot the first signs. When the birds can barely sit on their perches anymore, things have already gone too far.

The birds sit on the bottom of their cage, panting heavily, and do not seem to want to move. The contours of their bodies have become blurred, heavy and cylindrical and the skin appears yellowish when the feathers are blown apart: the fat shinning through the skin! Just blow on the breast or abdominal feathers and you will see what I mean.

Birds suffering from obesity live much shorter lives than those that have plenty of exercise. Hang some strong sisal ropes in the cage or aviary, and a few bunches of spray millet or weed seeds; they will love playing with those.

Then improve their nutrition, strictly by the book if need be, and provide lots of well-washed greens or fruit, free from chemicals, but definitely no food with a high protein or fat content.

Cage birds must be released every day in aviaries or (when tame, as in parrots and parakeets) allowed to fly freely for at least one to two hours. So treated, they will get sufficient exercise and will not suffer from gout.

Inside their cages, they must also get more exercise. This can be achieved by keeping them in larger cages, or by putting the perches farther apart, so that the bird is forced to make a greater effort to get to the other side. Do not work from the assumption, "My bird is fat, so if I don't feed it for a few days, it will be all right again." The bird must be fed, but with the right kind of feed. It will perish, however fat it may be, if it receives no nourishment.

CONSTIPATION

Birds, especially parrots, housed in a too-small area have a great tendency to become constipated. Insufficient activity, too-fat or too-sweet food and eating too much are also causes. If the droppings are expelled with some difficulty and are dry, large and hard, you can assume the bird is constipated.

First, consider whether the bird's menu is in order: adding greens and fruit is advisable, as is adding some Epsom or Glauber's salt to the drinking water. It is more effective to put salts into the beak with a medicine dropper. A small amount of an oily laxative, obtainable at any good drug store, dissolved in the drinking water or administered with a plastic dropper can bring about a noticeable improvement: raper seed rubbed in grease can also do wonders,

Another good "old" remedy is to add ten drops of syrup of buckthorn to the cage' s water cup.

A good general rule is that any bird not feeling up to par should be immediately separated from the other birds, and should not be returned until It Is completely cured.

DIARRHEA

Diarrhea is not a disease, only a sign that something is wrong with the bird's health. Diarrhea occurs mainly as a result of neglect or malnutrition. When it continues over a long period, it can become quite dangerous, even deadly.

Diarrhea can be caused by some sort of enteritis. Many causes exist: wrong or contaminated food, a cold caught because the patient was exposed to too many and too sudden changes of temperature, bacteriological infections, etc. Consult an avian veterinarian immediately, and place the bird in a hospital cage with a temperature of 86-94'F. My experience is that warmth alone is often sufficient to cure a diarrhea patient.

I have also had extremely good results with an infrared radiation treatment. Irradiate one side of the (hospital) cage, so the sick bird has the choice of sitting, in the radiation or not. A reliable hearing device is recommended because the bird also needs warmth at night. Also, keep a small 15-watt bulb burning so the bird can eat and drink if it wants to.

Give weak black tea or peppermint tea in place of water. Mix some pulverized charcoal through the sick bird's favorite food and seed, and administer some tetracycline HC1, terramycin or aureomycin, as well as preparations which contain vitamins and trace elements. If diarrhea continues, consult a veterinarian without further delay. He or she will have recourse to stronger antibiotics.

Reprinted by Pretty Birds from Pet Dealer Magazine by Dr. Matthew Vriends

Use Browser BACK Button

Pretty Birds: Copyright © 1997: Last Modified 07/13/00: Copyright Law and International Treaties protect these Web Site Pages. Warning: Reproduction or Distribution of these images, program, text or any portion of it, may result in severe civil and criminal penalties and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law.