I'm a Bad Person :/

[PrettyInInk87]

I'm new here (hence my Junior member thingy) and have been reading quite a bit. I feel SUPER horrible! I have a male Parakeet I have had since he was a baby, about 2 or 3 months old. I got him and a female at a Swap Meet about 2 years ago or more. I really thought all these little guys needed was Bird seed and clean water along with a cuttle bone, toys, and eachother. I knew they could eat fresh fruits and veggies and even attempted it but they never seemed interested so I stopped. I had no idea they NEEDED it. My little girl passed a few months ago and I had no idea why, I felt so bad and now know it was my fault and not natural causes. My little guy is doing great but one thing I noticed is that his feathers aren't fluffy and healthy looking... They look sort of like old unwashed hair on a person, oily. I had adopted 2 other Parakeets to keep him company and a couple of weeks later, they passed while Clyde on the other hand was fine. So happy I found this forum and thank you for providing so much info.

 

[merlinsmom13]

What happened w/the second pair? They died? Maybe you have some kind of contagious illness going on.

 

[PrettyInInk87]

What happened w/the second pair? They died? Maybe you have some kind of contagious illness going on.

Yes the last pair passed 2 week later... I quarantined them for about a week in a smaller cage and they were fine. What do you suggest to use on the current cage as a disinfectant? I usually use bleach for my reptile tanks and bowls but I let them air out for a day before I put them back... Would bleach be fine or even a sanitizing cloth? I really didn't think it was a illness since only the 2 new ones passed. I gave up on adding new Parakeets to keep Clyde company so he is in his cage alone. Don't want the same thing to happen again especially since the person who gave them to me trusted me. :/ I might even consider trying to tame him so that he can spend time out of his cage and with me. He's terrified of me though, will take some time.

 

[merlinsmom13]

Is it possible you are cross contaminating between the reptiles & the birds? The best disinfectant is bleach & sunshine. Air the cage out for a couple of days in the sun if possible.

 

[PrettyInInk87]

Is it possible you are cross contaminating between the reptiles & the birds? The best disinfectant is bleach & sunshine. Air the cage out for a couple of days in the sun if possible.

Maybe but i'm not sure if that is possible, never really thought about that. I don't handle my little guy at all since he's not very fond of me and didn't handle the first female either BUT when I got the 2 new parakeets they were semi-tame so I did handle them. I'll be sure and clean the cage with bleach and leave it out in the sun like I do with the tanks. Thank you! He will also be getting a daily fruit and veggie salad, I hope it helps fluff up his feathers.

 

[merlinsmom13]

It does make sense that you can't handle him & he's still alive. The ones you handle are gone, maybe cross contaminiated from the reptiles. They have salmanella? (snake people help w/this), you should setup a strict hand washing & cleaning ritual between handling the 2 types of pets. I wouldn't get any more until I figured it out. Something is definitely wrong.

 

[PrettyInInk87]

It does make sense that you can't handle him & he's still alive. The ones you handle are gone, maybe cross contaminiated from the reptiles. They have salmanella? (snake people help w/this), you should setup a strict hand washing & cleaning ritual between handling the 2 types of pets. I wouldn't get any more until I figured it out. Something is definitely wrong.

Thank you for your help and yes reptiles carry salmonella and any egg bearing animal at that, birds included. Maybe he's a tough cookie and come to think of it, not trying to justify or anything since I don't know what went wrong, but I did handle him as well when I would handle the others. I do plan on handling him now though, I really want to spend time on him and see if he will enjoy interaction with me since he is alone.

I just soaked his water dish, food dish, and all other items in the cage earlier. They are outside in the sun right now... I also soaked the cage bottom. Once I am able to get a small temporary cage I am going to do the rest of the cage and also repaint it.

AND I found an Orange Sided Green Cheek Conure on Craigslist a bit ago so i'm going to see if I can adopt him. He comes with cage and everything. I will be making sure I do a complete cleaning of everything before I bring him home. Thank you so much!

 

[upcgirl]

Pretty, Cage Wizard and Poop Off is another great choices to use to clean bird cages

 

[Atwee921]

Its okay, at least you feel bad and your willing to learn more

 

[HRH Di]

Not bad, you just didn't know. You're correcting that now and your little will do much much better. You'll be surprised what a different bird he'll be. Good luck and let us know what we can help with.

 

[darkling]

You're not a bad person. We all start somewhere and at least you're trying to learn.

Please quarantine for longer than a week with your new conure. More like a month. Just to be sure you don't suffer another loss.

Welcome to the forums!

 

[PrettyInInk87]

You're not a bad person. We all start somewhere and at least you're trying to learn.

Please quarantine for longer than a week with your new conure. More like a month. Just to be sure you don't suffer another loss.

Welcome to the forums!

Thank you! You guys make me feel much better... Glad to have joined a great parrot forum family.

Actually, I am going to rehome my little Parakeet guy since i'm getting the conure. He seems fine but i'm sure he'd love a companion, another parakeet. I'm not going to charge a rehoming fee either just as long as I find someone who will care for him and has other Parakeets. I've been thinking about it for a while now. There will be no other birds in the house, the Conure will be an only bird with no distractions.

 

[darkling]

I kind of want to get a second conure myself but I waffle on it. On one hand I'd love for Pi to have a bird companion but on the other I'm worried that I might lose some of the relationship I have with her.

 

[PrettyInInk87]

I kind of want to get a second conure myself but I waffle on it. On one hand I'd love for Pi to have a bird companion but on the other I'm worried that I might lose some of the relationship I have with her.

That is one thing I have read about birds. You can have a nice bond with a Parrot but once another Parrot is introduced there is a chance that he might prefer the birds companionship or want nothing to do with them at all. I guess it's a gamble... For now i'm extatic about adding the little guy to our family. Can't wait to get started on him. I still can't believe how beautiful he is!

 

[mnsalani]

Congrats on the upcoming little one! Conures are really neat, and we'll want some pictures!!!

And don't feel bad. There really needs to be more information about what pet birds need, even the smaller ones. It's great that you are here, willing to learn If you have any questions at any time you can send me a message and I'll try my best to help out. Best of luck to your little flock!

 

[PrettyInInk87]

Congrats on the upcoming little one! Conures are really neat, and we'll want some pictures!!!

And don't feel bad. There really needs to be more information about what pet birds need, even the smaller ones. It's great that you are here, willing to learn If you have any questions at any time you can send me a message and I'll try my best to help out. Best of luck to your little flock!

Thank you! I made a thread with his picture but i'll go ahead and post it here too.

Apple

 

[IcyWolf]

Am I the only one that is thinking that maybe there was something wrong with these budgies before she got them? It just seems odd that both of them died(in a very close time span, correct?) not long after you got them and your original guy is still ok? It's definitely not a complete diet but feeding them only seed shouldn't kill them in a two week period unless they weren't actually eating the food. As sad as it is, I have known plenty of people that keep budgies and 'tiels and feed them nothing but seed all of the time, out of sheer laziness and lack of interest in the bird. It's usually people that buy them for their kids and then get stuck taking care of it when their kid looses interest, that I see feeding this way, but I have met birds that have lived for years on only a seed mix. Like I said, I'm not condoning that, just saying that that shouldn't have killed two budgies in two weeks. How long did your friend have them before she gave them to you? Maybe they just didn't adjust to the move and stressed too much? Years ago, my uncle had a pair of lovebirds that he had for 15 years(also fed nothing but seed their entire lives, he just didn't know any better and I was too young to know any better and tell him), he ended up giving them to a friend of his and she had them less than a week before they both died, she did nothing different than him, kept them in the same cage they had always been in, they just got really stressed at being moved and thrown into a different environment. Also, I'd like to add, while it is important to wash your hands between the reptiles and birds(ideally you should wash your hands between handling any animals that are housed separately, even if they are the same type of animal), we had a bonded pair of 'tiels, a single 'tiel and a budgie that lived in the same room as our reptiles for over a year without any problems. We had snakes, lizards, inverts, a bunny, a chinchilla, and the birds in the same room(it was the animal room, they had the biggest room in the house ), we made sure to not exchange any dishes between them and we always used hand sanitizer between handling different animals and their cage items and it worked out remarkably well.

 

[IcyWolf]

Oh, and I just had to add, apple is adorable!!

 

[PrettyInInk87]

Am I the only one that is thinking that maybe there was something wrong with these budgies before she got them? It just seems odd that both of them died(in a very close time span, correct?) not long after you got them and your original guy is still ok? It's definitely not a complete diet but feeding them only seed shouldn't kill them in a two week period unless they weren't actually eating the food. As sad as it is, I have known plenty of people that keep budgies and 'tiels and feed them nothing but seed all of the time, out of sheer laziness and lack of interest in the bird. It's usually people that buy them for their kids and then get stuck taking care of it when their kid looses interest, that I see feeding this way, but I have met birds that have lived for years on only a seed mix. Like I said, I'm not condoning that, just saying that that shouldn't have killed two budgies in two weeks. How long did your friend have them before she gave them to you? Maybe they just didn't adjust to the move and stressed too much? Years ago, my uncle had a pair of lovebirds that he had for 15 years(also fed nothing but seed their entire lives, he just didn't know any better and I was too young to know any better and tell him), he ended up giving them to a friend of his and she had them less than a week before they both died, she did nothing different than him, kept them in the same cage they had always been in, they just got really stressed at being moved and thrown into a different environment. Also, I'd like to add, while it is important to wash your hands between the reptiles and birds(ideally you should wash your hands between handling any animals that are housed separately, even if they are the same type of animal), we had a bonded pair of 'tiels, a single 'tiel and a budgie that lived in the same room as our reptiles for over a year without any problems. We had snakes, lizards, inverts, a bunny, a chinchilla, and the birds in the same room(it was the animal room, they had the biggest room in the house ), we made sure to not exchange any dishes between them and we always used hand sanitizer between handling different animals and their cage items and it worked out remarkably well.

Oh, and I just had to add, apple is adorable!!

Thank you!

You know, my initial thought was the same as yours but not having very much bird experience I just thought it would be something I did. All three lived together in the same cage and only the 2 new ones passed... I got them from a lady on craigslist and they really did seem healthy but with what I have been reading, they hide their illnesses. One strange thing I did notice is that they would breath a bit hard at times. Again, having had experience with many other types of animals, 2 weeks is not very long and they could have been sick already.

I have a video of the 3 hanging out on my sons toys... They were only put on this toy for the video and other times they spent out of the cage was on the actual cage.

The new birds are the 2 nearest the camera, green and the mostly yellow one. Male and female... The little guy I have now is the blue one.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTpnCnoNzQY]YouTube - ‪Parakeets‬‏[/ame]

 

[stephend]

It sounds like your healthy bird may be carring a disease that is fatal to birds, this has happened in human populations look up Typhoid Mary. It seems like you should not introduce new birds to him and just be his friend yourself.