Panting after flight

FlyBirdiesFly · Jan 30, 2018

The birds were just doing their usual flights around the room, but then I heard Bluebell breathing heavily. I ran over and saw that her beak stayed closed, but I could clearly hear her panting and her chest was moving up and down. It stopped after a couple seconds, and she looks fine now. It wasn’t that much flying, which is what concerns me. Bluebell is a little overweight and likes to stay in her cage a lot, so she isn’t very fit, although she does a little flying (nowhere near as much as my other birds) every day. She just isn’t very active. Is this a reason for concern? How can I increase her cardiovascular fitness so she can sustain flight for a long time like my other birds?

texsize · Jan 30, 2018

When my Cockatiels fly around they also breath very heavily for 20 seconds or so.

When Luna fly's she does not look to be breathing hard but she does not make long flights .

When Bella fly's she does not breath hard but if she lands on my shoulder I can hear her heart beat "going like 60".

I cant think of anything to be done about it. I guess you can check with your avian vet and make sure they are healthy enough for flight.

texsize

FlyBirdiesFly · Jan 30, 2018

My other birds are super flyers. Kermit is lightning fast and can do high speed maneuvers in the air with no problem, and zip all around the room. Ducky can fly around and around for a long time before landing, and is very good at searching for me around the house, flying from room to room. Pearl my baby budgie is also great at maneuvering around, and the sound of her flight is almost like a helicopter. Bluebell can go where she wants to go, avoid obstacles and not bump into things, but she really doesn’t fly much for the fun of it. Any tips for encouraging flight and getting her to fly without making her so tired? Also just getting her to be more active and not such a perch potato?

bigfellasdad · Jan 31, 2018

perch potato, loving that

Id concentrate on getting her losing weight initially, reducing the snacks and treats, swapping out for healthier things maybe. Birds normally poop prior to flying, assuming that is to reduce weight in flight, so it is important.
Do you bring all of your birds out at once? If so maybe allow Bluebell a little extra out/flight time but restrict flight to shorter durations. The only time ive had more than one bird is some years ago i had a pair of budgies, they flew together all of the time and took great delight in doing so.

Good luck with her

FlyBirdiesFly · Jan 31, 2018

Thanks for the advice. While I’m in the bird room, I do take all my birds out at once and that does encourage Bluebell to fly with them. But even so, she doesn’t come out for more than a few minutes at a time. I will try giving her less pellets and swapping them out for fresh veggies. She doesn’t eat that many seeds, so the only thing I can think of is reducing her intake of pellets.

Jottlebot · Jan 31, 2018

My Alexandrine used to pant after a lap round the room. I was quite worried about it. Nothing to worry about though and it stopped as he got fitter. Can you feed her out of the cage for a while, when she can get out and fly I mean, so she has to fly to get it? Or could you target train her to fly to a target?

Panting after flight

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