An adult female parakeet (note the tan cere)

Parakeets, also known as budgerigars or budgies, are one of the most common parrots in captivity.  They are often considered "starter birds" due to their small size and relatively easy care.  Despite their small sizes, parakeets pack powerful personalities. Hand-raised parakeets can be great companions and many even are very good talkers and mimcs.

Unfortunately, parakeets need a lot more care to stay healthy than most people expect.  Parakeets need balanced diets (not just seeds), spacious cages with different heights of perches and different diameter perches, , access to fresh sunshine (or an ultraviolet-B emitting lamp such as Zoomed's Avisun), and regular baths and showers to stay in peak condition.

Caging

A parakeet needs lots of opportunity for climbing and hopping around its cage.  Perches should be placed at different levels so that your parakeet can fully explore the cage.  Although most perches should be the same diameter, just a little bit wider than the foot can curl, it is a good idea to provide a couple of perches that are a little thicker and one that is a little smaller so your parakeet can flex its feet in different ways as it moves from perch to perch.

Parakeets appreciate toys.  Twigs, leaves, and flowers from a hibiscus bush or mulberry tree are easy safe toys for a parakeet to shred. Small pieces of notebook paper, paper towels, or plastic bottle caps (such as from the top of a 2 liter soda bottle) are other readily available home-made toys. Lots of parakeet toys are available with bells and leather strings.  Avoid toys with mirrors as some parakeets become obsessed with them and treat their image as a mate.  Avoid toys with metal pieces unless you are sure the metal is safe.  Do not use charm bracelets or other metal trinkets as they may have dangerous metals such as zinc and lead that can be deadly if chewed.

Parakeets need access to bright (but not hot) sunlight.  The high intensity white light stimulates normal behaviors and the ultraviolet-B rays in sunshine help maintain a normal skeleton and allows the hens to better use the calcium in their diet to produce normally-shelled eggs.  Putting your parakeet near a window may help provide the white light but glass and window screen block the ultraviolet-B rays.  If you do not have a safe way to give your parakeet access to unfiltered sunshine, a safe alternative is to provide a lamp that emits ultraviolet-B, such as Zoomed's Avisun.

A regular bath and shower can help keep plumage clean and bright and clear out any secretions in a parakeet's nostrils.  Many parakeets learn to love their baths and will get quite excited when they see you run the water.

Diet

Most commerical parakeet diets are made of seeds.  Unfortunately, seeds do not provide enough vitamin A, iodine, and other trace minerals, and many are also low in protein.  Even the "balanced seed mixes" do not work well for the typical parakeet because it will just pick out the easy seeds, such as millet, and will throw aside seeds that may be more difficult to crack and open to eat.  Over time, this diet leads to problems such as abnormal fat deposits (lipomas), goiter (hypothyroidism), scaley skin, brittle feathers and overgrown beaks (vitamin A deficiency), problems with egg-laying and abnormal bone growth (calcium deficiencies).  Even if you offer supplements such as fruits and vegetables, they simply do not have enough nutrients to overcome the problems with seeds.

A nutritionally complete pellet diet is the best option for many pet parrots but not all pellets are equal.  Some pellets are heat processed which decreases their nutritional value, some do not use certified organic ingredients, and some may have excessively high levels of certain nutrients, such as iron, and so on.  It is quite possible to be feeding strictly a “complete” pellet and still see signs of nutritional deficiency or overdoses of things like iron.  It is also possible to run into issues with the artificial dyes and flavorings used in some commercial diets.  Many pellets put in colors and flavorings that do nothing for the parrots but are appealing to the human buyers!

At Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital, we strongly recommend that Harrison’s Bird Diet High Potency Fine and Superfine Pellets be a part of a parakeet's diet. Some parakeets can eat a diet that is 90% Harrison's and 10% fruits, vegetables, and other healthy treats.  Other parakeets may need some seed mix along with the pellets in order to do well.  Since there is no way to predict which parakeets will develop these issues, it is a good idea to make diet changes under the supervision of a veterinarian. If you are switch your parakeet to a pellet diet and you notice weight loss, regurgitation, or diarrhea, a veterinary exam is needed as soon as possible.

Harrison's Bird Mash is a good way to introduce your parakeet to this new diet.  It can be mixed with seeds, particularly seeds that have been coated in a little bit of red palm oil, and your parakeet will then get a little bit of health mash along with each seed it eats.  You can also soak the mash and mix it with seeds and form tiny little dough balls. As your parakeet picks out the seeds from these dough balls, it is getting used to the taste of the mash.  Over time, pellets can be substituted and your bird will make the switch.  There are many other tips that can help your parakeet make the transition to pellets.

For parakeets that can't tolerate 90% pellets, there are some seed-based diets that are good choices, such as Lafeber's Nutriberries and Avi-Cakes.  If you are using unsupplemented seeds, it is important to give vitamin and mineral supplements.  We recommend the supplement Bird Builder in the water of a parakeet that only eats seeds and are happy to go over vitamin and mineral supplements that can help balance the seed diet.

But I Know A Parakeet That Lives On Nothing But Seeds...

We recognize that there are parakeets that seem to live long lives on bad diets.  For example, we know of a parakeet on nothing but millet spray and cheap seed mixes for over 6 years.  This is similar to the guy who lives into his 60s despite a lifetime of eating junk food--some parakeets just have a little better tolerance for bad diets than others.  The owner of this parakeet thought the bird was in good shape but a physical exam revealed a single large fatty tumor, scaley feet and an overgrown beak due to a vitamin A deficiency, and it had trouble breathing if it moved around much due to its obesity. We think the single most important thing you can do to give your bird a healthful life is to start with a good nutritionally balanced organic diet.

Common Problems

    
Scaley beak and feet that are caused by the bird mite Knemidokoptes.

An unhatched Knemidokoptes egg found in a skin scraping of a parakeet.

Mites: Parakeets that develop a thick scaley build-up on the beak and legs may be infected with a mite such as Knemidokoptes.  This parasite can cause permanent deformities to the beak if left untreated.  Treatment usually involves an antiparasitic drug such as ivermectin.  If your parakeet has an unusual appearance to its beak or feet, a veterinary examination is needed to determine the underlying cause.

Fluffed, Poor Appetite, Diarrhea, Tail Bobbing, Breathing Problems: These are all nonspecific signs that can be due to infections, poisoning, egg-laying, nutritional deficiencies, and a variety of other causes. Provide extra warmth to your parakeet and get it in to a veterinarian as soon as possible. Most problems are easier to treat when they first are detected. Waiting even a few days to see if your parakeet gets better can worsen its chance at recovery.

Excessive Egg Laying: Some hens produce so many eggs in a short period of time and end up weak, twicthing, and even seizuring due to low blood calcium.  This is a life-threatening emergency that requires immediate attention by a veterinarian.

Scratching & Feather-plucking: A parakeet that scratches at itself often is suffering from an infection by the parasite Giardia or some other infection or internal disorder.  They are much less likely to feather-pluck as a result of a behavioral issue than other parrots.  If you see this behavior, collect several fresh moist fecal samples and place them in a Ziploc bag along with a moistened piece of paper towel.  Keep this at room temperature and bring along to your visit to the veterinarian.

Abnormal dropppings: A change in your parakeet's droppings is a cause for concern.  Sometimes it can be linked to a change in the diet--perhaps you gave your parakeet a piece of grape earlier and its droppings seem more watery that afternoon.  Usually, if it is due to a treat, the droppings will return to normal within a few hours.  Other times it can be a sign of a serious illness such as an infection, kidney disease, liver disease, and many other problems.  You should follow the advice above and collect several abnormal droppings to show the veterinarian.

This parakeet has "popcorn droppings".  This is often attributed to infection with Giardia, but it can be caused by many other diseases.

Lameness: In younger parakeets, this is often due to an injury such as a sprained or broken leg.  In older parakeets lameness may signal a more serious internal problem such as a tumor.  Tumors of the gonads and kidneys can often cause a parakeet to sit at rest holding one leg up or limp as it moves around on its perches.

Change in color of cere: The cere is the area right at the base of the beak where the nostrils are located.  In adult males it is bright blue while in females it is brown or tan.  A change in the color or texture of the cere can be normal in aged parakeets or it may signal a seriously underlying illness.

The male parakeet's cere changed color due to a testicular tumor.

Copyright 2010
Kevin M Wright and Jay D Johnson
Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital
744 N Center Street
Mesa, Arizona 85201
(480) 275 7017
info@azeah.com