Your pet bird is a part of the family. When it comes to keeping him or her healthy, it’s your responsibility. What do you do when your bird falls ill? This can be stressful for any pet owner. Fortunately, there are some tips to follow to better care for your feathered family member.
Make Sure Your Bird Stays Warm
For most birds, the ability to maintain a high temperature is what keeps them alive in a variety of climates. Birds use a variety of different strategies to maintain their body temperature. With a low body temperature, birds will have a lower appetite, poor digestion and may not be able to fight off infections. It’s crucial that you keep the bird’s environment warm, particularly when the bird is ill. Keep your home at about a steady 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. For most pet birds, this is sufficient to help with the healing process.
Pay Close Attention to Your Bird’s Sleep Pattern
When your bird is sick, it might be tempting to keep a light on to check on him or her throughout the day and night. This is a bad idea. To have a light on at all hours will mess up your bird’s sleep schedule. When ill, you want to maintain your pet’s sleep schedule as much as possible. Most birds will adapt to their human’s schedule but it is up to you to make sure it doesn’t change suddenly. To change it will lead to sleeplessness, stress and will make it harder for your feathered friend to heal.
Watch Your Bird’s Food Intake
When sick, your bird may lose his or her appetite. The problem is that birds need more calories to fight the illness. Without nutrition and fluids, your bird may not heal properly. If your bird is not eating properly, then you need to speak to a veterinarian right away. You cannot solve this problem on your own. Some may need medicine or hospitalization to get the proper nutrients.
Keep Sick Birds Separate
If you have more than one bird, do not allow the sick and healthy bird to share space. You want to be able to monitor the sick bird’s habits on his or her own. This allows you to see how much the bird eats and allows the bird to get much needed rest. In addition, you also lessen the risk of the illness spreading from one bird to another if it is contagious.
Be Strict With Medication
If you want your bird to recover, make sure that you administer all medication prescribed to him or her. Some owners have difficulty remembering when to feed the bird the medicine or do not know the proper way to administer it. Make sure that you understand how to give the bird the medicine. Also, do not stop the medicine if you see that your bird is becoming healthy again. Take the entire dose for the entire length of time to make sure that the illness is out of his or her system.
Birds will sometimes relapse if you do not feed them the medicine properly or finish the entire treatment. When it comes to medicine, keep in mind that you can shop bird medicine online. Some vets do not stock every type of medication. Instead of waiting for your vet to get it in stock, you can make your purchases online. Additionally, you can find better deals online than through the vet’s office.
Your bird deserves to stay healthy. If your bird falls ill, make sure that you take care of him or her to the best of your ability. The healthier your bird is, the more likely he or she is going to recover quickly.
