Sudden death of parakeet :(

[Agferrell]

Our Marble passed away this afternoon quite suddenly. Hanging out in his cage and I went to open the cage and let him out but found his ladder and perch dislodged and he was taking his last breaths on the floor of the cage. He was just fine beforehand, eating, drinking, playing. Had flown up on my head for the first time maybe 2 hrs before that. We had only had him 12 days, from Petsmart. The only thing different today was my husband and kids were playing w the guitar and amp for a bit. It was a but louder than the TV usually is but not excessive. Could it have affected him? At first I was thinking a seizure perhaps, because of the items in the cage being dislodged. I know for sure no one had messed with him. :/

 

[fiddlejen]

12 days? You definitely need to go back to PetSmart about that.

 

[Anansi]

Hello, and welcome to the Parrot Forums family.

I am so sorry for your loss. I don't think the guitar play had anything to do with it, unless the sudden sound frightened him enough to fly hard into the wall of his cage. The best chance that you have of determining why your budgie passed away would be via necropsy. Any number of sicknesses might have been responsible for his death, or it might have been something he ingested, or if anyone was cooking with a teflon pan.

It's even possible something went wrong with one of the dislodged items in the cage. The sizing between the rungs of his ladder is a possible culprit, for instance. Or the perch might've been loose, causing a fall. Take a good look at everything inside of the cage.

But only a necropsy could really tell you. If you decide to go this route, make sure to go within 3 days. The sooner the better, as each day that passes makes it harder to determine the cause with any degree of certainty. And until you are ready to go, he would need to be kept in a refrigerator. (*Not the freezer.)

Again, I'm very sorry for your loss.

 

[Agferrell]

Yeah, we took him back to petsmart. It's just kind of bugging me, the unknown you know? I wanted to check here on the music, my hubs is a musician and I dont want a repeat incident for sure. We did get replacement, at Petco instead of petsmart. It was weird, petsmart had 1 sleepy parakeet, and 4 or 5 finches and that was it. Petco had maybe 20 parakeets, chirping, playing, being social. It just seemed a much better place to get a bird.

 

[Flboy]

So sorry! For sure, the music shouldn’t be an issue!

 

[fiddlejen]

Of the three "big(ish)-box" petstores near me, the local Petco definitely has the best-run bird department. Including the happiest-looking & best-cared-for -looking budgies. I hope your new one will do better!

I'm also very sorry about the first one.

Most birdies love music. I'm sure your new one will be fortunate to have found a home with you. (Although, as a petstore budgie, it is unlikely to ever be appropriately appreciative!)

 

[charmedbyekkie]

I'd hesitate before getting another bird if you don't know what caused the death of the first one. Diseases such as PBFD last a long time and can be transferred so easily - using the same perches/toys, your furniture coming into contact with the sick bird can then infect your new bird, etc.

Have you addressed what Anansi mentioned?

- any scented products (air fresheners, candles, oils, etc)
- any PFOA/PTFE (hair dryers, non-stick pans, air fryers, irons, etc)
- any strong cleaning detergents/bleach/etc
- any aerosol sprays
- any smoking
- proper spacing of the cage bars
- proper spacing on the ladder
- exposure to ingestion of zinc, metal pieces, etc


If you bring a bird in without making sure your home is bird safe, not just in terms of disease but also bird proofing, there's little peace of mind to reassure that you've lessened the chance of this happening again.

 

[itzjbean]

Sorry to hear of the loss.

PetSmart/Petco parakeets and birds generally are not known to be very healthy. You're much better off finding a hand-fed parakeet from a breeder, and probably for less $$.

You said you found the ladder and perch dislodged -- this shouldn't happen in a proper set up cage. Can you provide a picture of the cage and what's it in? Could the ladder/perch have fallen on top of him or possibly he got stuck in it?

You should have a large cage (large enough for them to fly around in it, open and spread their wings several lengths) with plenty of different toys, variety of perches and feeding bowls. I use stainless steel at the bottom of the cage as I hate the plastic ones, easier to clean the stainless steel ones.

 

[Agferrell]

How do I do pics? The new birds are sitting in amazingly quickly! The colored one got out when I was putting millet in and we wound up hanging out a bit, and then the albino came out a while later. Step up has even started! The bird that passed away hadnt gotten anywhere near getting on my hand. I'm hoping things go better this time, it's sad for me but I've also got toddlers that I have to explain all over again.

 

[Agferrell]

Forgot to mention scents wise, my hubs does vape and on occasion theres a candle or mister thing. I ama not a fan of lots of scents so I keep things pretty well vented. Nothing is close to the cage

 

[noodles123]

You CANNOT vape around a bird. You cannot use teflon or any non-stick around the bird....That is likely your culprit. You must stop using any scented products--- especially vaping and any use of PTFOA/PTFE/PFC containing products. I am not trying to be insensitive--- I know that people honestly just don't know these things, but if you got another bird already, there is a lot to be concerned about within your environment and since I know you do not want a repeat, stop all scented products (no aerosols, no scented oils, no carpet cleaners, fabreeze etc). You can't even safely use standard cleaners or candles around a bird.

 

[munami]

I would recommend only vaping outside and just making sure to wash hands with soap before handling the bird. I would completely nix the candles because regardless whether they're scented or not. As Noodles said, there are lots of things to be mindful of.
PTFE PFOA especially have been known to kill birds from different floors. You never know how air ventilation works in a house.

 

[Scott]

My deepest condolences for your loss of Marble. Very sorry to hear, many members have given superb advice.

 

[Agferrell]

Yeah, I've been paranoid about any scents n such so we put them on the porch while cleaning, cooking. I'm very sensitive to scents so I keep things ventilated. The new birds seem to be settling in really well.

 

[RandomGemini]

Yeah, definitely no vaping around birds. Vape outside only. The vape juice has chemicals in it that are not safe for birds and birds are super sensitive to inhaled toxins. Basically, anything they can breathe in like that gets sort of amplified because birds are way more efficient at respiration than humans are. Also, Petsmart and Petco supply their pet birds from a bird mill. Please do not purchase birds through them and instead locate a local bird breeder. Bird mills are just as bad as everything you hear about puppy mills.

 

[ctwo]

I have a similar story. Couple years ago, I got a budgie from petsmart. About 5 days later he passed after crawling into his hooded food dish. I thought he may have suffocated in there. Petsmart gave us another bird and that one passed on the 8th day.

Now, Kiwi came from a flower shop and has been with us for many months.

I never thought of the hairdryer.

Are 10 year-old teflon pans still dangerous?

 

[Agferrell]

I'm confused on teflon. Haven't found a longevity of toxicity for a particular product. Most of what I've found says bad for ppl and birds, instant death for birds, and it's when the pan gets too hot. One or two places said any heat. I'm not a fan of them anyway and want to switch out. What about cleaners? Is that a instant killer or over a period of time?

 

[munami]

Rather than Teflon what you're looking for is PTFE PTFOA free. Teflon is just the brand name and has become the colloquial term. Anything with non stick coating can have PTFE PTFOA. While the nonstick coating for pans often times does come off, it doesn't usually all come off, especially for parts of the pan you don't necessarily use, like the sides.


It is infinitely safer to use ceramic PTFE PTFOA free, stainless steel, or cast iron pans. You still have be careful of cooking fumes from overheated oils so I would turn the hub on and/or open windows. Keep the bird out of the kitchen for other reasons too, such as hot surfaces, knives, or boiling water. It only releases fumes when overheated however, it is so so so easy to overheat it, especially on a stove top! Not worth the risk. Stainless steel and cast iron lasts longer if you invest in a nice set.


Any sort of chemicals can be a death sentence for your bird. They have such delicate respiratory systems so inhaling can be instant death. I would use a vinegar soaked solution or non toxic cleaner. If you need to disinfect with bleach, thoroughly wash anything your bird comes in contact with. Always ventilate regardless because frankly it's not very good for you too.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

PTFE and PFOA can also be found in other things that do heat up as well. While the overheating number is recorded for humans, they did not explicitly test if that same holds true for birds.

Other products with Telfon/variants would be, as I mentioned earlier: hair dryers, air fryers, clothes irons, space heaters, heat lamps, etc. You would have to check with the manufacturer explicitly citied those ingredients. If you search the forum, some members have posted their findings.

Just because a bird is in another room doesn't mean they won't be affected. We always hear stories on here how "Oh, my bird has never been affected" while another person posts "My bird died because of it, despite being in another room, on another floor". You make that choice.

 

[Talven]

Now that everyone has scared you with all the things you are potentially doing wrong that might have harmed your bird I will toss in my opinion.

Your poor little guy was probably suffering from something already when you got it. Pet stores tend to buy on mass and as cheaply as possible because they expect to lose a certain percent due to health issues. More often than not the cages aren't cleaned properly either. Usually they overstock the cages as well. Because they sell at such a high price to make up for the losses they don't really care about the health of the birds.

Not all pet stores are like this but the vast majority are. If you find you are looking to get more birds in the future look for a breeder. Usually they care about the health of their birds a lot more.