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The Pet Cockatiel Part 5: Health

© Mary Wilson

Advancements in avian health are being made every day. To go into diseases that affect parrots requires an entire book, and a thick one at that. This doesn't mean that your pet cockatiel is prone to illness. On the contrary, these birds are quiet hardy. What it means is that a good avian veterinarian is a must for treating pet birds. Instead of focusing on disease, this article will discuss prevention. Fortunately for bird owners, we can perform several tasks that greatly reduce the risk of our pets of contracting diseases.

When feeding our pets, be sure to feed and water them in clean bowls. Birds need clean, fresh water daily, and ideally, the water should be changed at the first sign of soiling. Since birds like to create "parrot soup" out of their water bowls, it can be difficult to achieve this level of cleanliness. The water dish should be rinsed and refilled at least twice a day, for those working. The use of a locking dish, placed far from perches and food dishes may help reduce contamination.

The cage papers should be changed on a daily basis. Birds often peck through the grate at what may look like a tasty morsel of dropped food. By changing the paper, the bird owner reduces the bird's risk of coming into contact with its droppings. Also, use only paper, such as newspaper or paper toweling on the bottom of the bird's cage. Using shavings, corn cob, or other bedding, can cause the growth of molds, fungus, or bacteria, and the bird owner cannot accurately see the bird's droppings. Observing the droppings of the pet bird can provide clear signs to the health of the bird. Runny, off color (if the bird doesn't eat colored pellets), or whole seeds in the droppings are usually signs of illness. Some of the pellets contain food coloring, which can alter the color of the droppings. I had a parrotlet, for instance, that ate only the red Zupreem pellets. His droppings turned bright red from the coloring, which gave me quite a scare until I realized what he was doing. This is the primary reason why only natural colored pellets (not red, yellow, green, or blue) pellets should be fed to pet birds.

Cages should be wiped down at least monthly. Only natural cleansers, such as vinegar and water, or those made specifically for parrot cages should be used.

The copyright of the article The Pet Cockatiel Part 5: Health in Small Hookbills is owned by Mary Wilson. Permission to republish The Pet Cockatiel Part 5: Health in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.