I recently got a parrotlet around 5 months ago, and she has been fine but recently I have noticed that while she is a resting or napping you can visibly see her breathing, you cannot really see it when she is completely asleep with her head in her back. I recently lost a bird to a veterinarian and it was very costly at the same time so I want to avoid making an emergency visit if possible. Other than that, she has been very active, eating well, poop is fine, no tail bob and her weight is fine (it is not changing). I want to know if I am just being paranoid and birds breathing is just visible while they are resting

hi! i have to say that all parrots are different, but in this case, if the parrot has never had any respiratory issues they should be just fine <3! its very normal for parrots to be visibly breathing while they sleep, some may even snore. but if you have serious concerns about her breathing while she sleeps, you should probably see an avian vet.

if you see your parrot excessively panting, or suddenly waking up due to shortness of breath, it could have been a nightmare, but even so, if something like that were to happen quite often, you should go see an avian vet. parrots are extremely skilled in hiding illnesses, so its better to be safe than sorry!

note: i strongly do not recommend taking parrots to vets that do not specialize in birds. i strongly recommend to find a local avian vet. i say this because there have been many cases of vets completely butchering off flight feathers or overdosing parrots and killing them. Thanks <3

Monitor her food intake and her weight, both are good indicators of any issues. And Yah, only see a Certified Avian Vet, not a cat and dog vet that also sees birds. Very important and worth every extra penny that might cost.

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Also, how does the tail look? A tail should line up with the back of the bird and point slightly out, not directly down. A tail that points right to the floor, or a tail that bobs with breathing is an indication of a respiratory infection and needs an avian vet immediately.


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Her tail is lined up fine with her back and her wings aren’t dropping either, my last bird had this so I’ve been watching for that as well. Her breathing was fine when she had her companion in her cage with her at night but it passed away. One reason I suspect that our parrotlet might feel lonely and scared without her? Another reason I know is that when birds get depressed they can be more prone to illnesses and we are trying to get her a companion asap- but I hope it’s first reason rather than the second

Make sure you are not using teflon/ptfe/pfoa/pfcs in the house--they can be very deadly when heated (even if the bird is on another floor---doesn't matter if a bird survived 1 or 100 exposures- your bird can still suddenly die from them or become extremely ill. These chemicals are seriously SO dangerous and nothing to mess around with or put to chance.


Make sure you are not smoking, vaping or using non-avian cleaners



Make sure you are not using candles, air fresheners, wax warmers, diffusers, aroma-therapy etc. Glade plug-ins are PARTICULARLY BAD.



If you are already doing all of these things, get your bird to the vet, as it could be an infection and they hide illness until things are getting really bad and they can no longer mask it. If you are using these things, that is even more reason to get your bird to a vet (avian certified if at all possible, as it makes a world of difference).

We have one Teflon pan but I know the dangers of it so whenever it’s in use all the windows are open and the vent above it is on, and as an extra precaution we take her to the opposite side of the house. We use a humidifier but I believe those are safe and are good for parrotlets because they live in a warm and humid climate. While she’s resting, her breathing seems to be deep but not fast and I don’t know if that’s ok (no tail bob or open mouth breathing.)

Bird commonly breath wlth very little of no signs that they are, i.e. a still bird.

Commonly, Birds are taken to an Avian Medical Professional when they seen to be sick, and since birds tend to hide their illness, when they show signs that they are sick, they are really sick and as a result, many birds die when at the vet's clinic.

As stated above, Avian Vet care is a speciality and see a dog and cat vet does not assure 'best service' for a Parrot.

If you are seeing even a minor change, its time to get your Parrot into seeing an Avail Vet.

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This is not safe at all!!! She us still getting some of the toxin. Think of a person smoking at one end of the house with the window open and everything you do, you would still smell it and know someone was smoking in the house. These dangerous chemicals are smaller and finer than that and the off gasses travel everywhere.

Throw out all Teflon, or nonnstick with those chemicals.

Also birds evolved to hide being sick , until they can't. Its not a conscious choice for them, its hardwired .

Track weight even 1 gram lost in a tiny parrot can be a big deal

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Agreed with Laura. You need to get rid of that pan. Her smoking analogy is good, and ptfe is even better at spreading itself around than smoke. It's not going to cost much to replace it with something safe, so why not?

We had a member whose husband cooked eggs in the same Teflon pan they had been using (nothing different from normal, nothing burned, short cook time). Birds were in a completely different room with the door shut and everything, but once day, that pan still killed almost all of them (vet confirmed ptfe toxicosis)..again, they had used the same pan before without apparent issue ...Not worth the risk (because it is so dangerous and inconsistent)

PTFE/PFOA/PFCS/Teflon has also killed birds on totally separate floors of the house through shut doors. Opening windows will not prevent potential exposure to deadly levels of chemicals. While you should always open up the windows if you think your bird has inadvertently been exposed to an airborne chemical (like smoke, burning plastic etc), it should be a last resort when prevention isn't an option--it isn't something you can rely on for protection...