Budgies are a great choice. These birds are very friendly, curious and sociable. Add to this that they are unusual and interesting. If you approach their education with responsibility and desire, you can achieve good results. The bird will learn to sit on his shoulder, play with pets and even talk. But unfortunately, they also get sick. Today we’ll talk about why budgies are itchy.
How is this manifested?
The bird begins to behave uneasily. She runs around the cage, fussing, constantly tugging her feathers with her beak. As a result, flares may form on the back, under the wings. Quite often, the veterinarian is asked why parrots itch. It is very difficult to determine overnight. It is necessary to analyze the conditions of the bird and its health.
We are observing
Before you go to the veterinarian, have yourself a diary in which you will write down everything that happens to your pet. This will allow you to quickly determine the true cause of what is happening. Very often, the reason why budgies are itchy is due to severe itching. This leads to the appearance of bald spots and wounds, sores and scratches on the body. Each of them as a result can cause an inflammatory process. Wound infection can cause complications and even death of a pet.
As a rule, healthy birds pay a lot of attention to their hygiene. Throughout the day, they take care of themselves and clean the feathers from pollution. These are very clean birds. Therefore, if the feathers shine and look neat, then we can assume that everything is in order. The situation can be considered the opposite, when creases appear on feathers, feathers fall out and bare patches appear on the body. In this case, you need to take the bird to the doctor. There can be a lot of reasons why budgies can itch.
What triggers an itch
As we have said, it is this sensation that provokes the bird to pull out feathers. But itching is not a disease, it is only a symptom. To determine why the budgerigar is constantly itching, only a doctor can conduct an examination and examination. You can select a list of main reasons:
- Poor nutrition. Sometimes the owners are very surprised, because they believe that they feed the bird correctly. Poor feeds are often not well balanced in vitamins and minerals.
- An excess of vitamins may also be the cause of feather loss, so the recommended dosage should be carefully observed.
- Hormonal and endocrine diseases, viral and bacterial infections can be added to the same list.
- Metabolic disease. Most often, this is an age-related problem, but sometimes such a violation occurs in young parrots.
- Allergy and fungal infections.
- Severe stress. Wavy poorly tolerate temperature extremes, high humidity, too bright lighting, a frequent change of residence. Stress in a bird can cause pets, loneliness, lack of a couple and even a cramped cage.
We forgot to indicate another reason why budgerigars itch on the cage. This is a commonplace molt.
What is it normal?
To begin with, there are several points when birds change their plumage. It can be French, juvenile and seasonal molt, each of which has its own characteristics. During French molting, the bird plucks feathers under the tail and on the wings. This leads to the fact that the bird can not fly. It becomes inactive, practically does not show interest in the outside world. In severe form, the bird completely loses feather.
Juvenile molting is usually easy. This is a change of fluff chicks to an adult feather. Seasonal molting is also not a big problem for an adult bird. This is a common process that can only become difficult for a sick bird.
Parasitic diseases
When the doctor decides why the budgerigar often itches, he needs to determine their presence or absence. External parasites, such as downy-eating, ticks, lice-eaters, fleas, pathogenic fungi that provoke mycoses, can also cause severe and frequent itching in budgerigars.
If the bird is very worried, while it changes the color of the feather or feathers fall out, you should consult an experienced doctor. It is possible that this is due to the activity of the itch mite. It is worth noting that this disease requires prolonged treatment and can give relapses. If the bird is affected by ticks, down-eating, other external parasites, then a number of laboratory tests and diagnostic tests should be carried out. After this, adequate treatment can be prescribed.
Parrot molt: what to do
Why do budgerigars itch? This is a question that a doctor must decide. This is especially true if the bird constantly itches on the bars of the lattice, growths, bumps and sores appeared on the body. If the reason is feeding poor-quality feed, you will have to reconsider the pet's diet. Probiotics, enzymes, homeopathic remedies, symptomatic preparations will help normalize digestive processes.
If itching is caused by parasites or scabies mites, then you need to use special acaricide-insecticidal lotions, emulsions for birds, drops (Front Line, Stronghold). Antibiotics, strengthening, symptomatic medicines, vitamins can also be prescribed. Usually this is enough to make the bird feel relieved.
Treatment duration
Depends on the severity of the lesion. If, against the background of parasite damage, the parrot has acute inflammation in the structure of the dermis, then "Aversectin Ointment", paraffin oil, helps. For abscesses, Vishnevsky ointment is used. Just make sure that the preparations do not get on the mucous membranes and beak of a feathered pet. Affected areas need to be lubricated 2-3 times a day, depending on the severity of the pathological process. Plain birch tar helps to relieve itching. Treatment should be continued until the symptoms disappear completely, that is, with a severe lesion it can take several months. In addition to the main treatment, it is very important to carry out processing of the cell, inventory. If you have several birds living, then the patient needs to be put off from the rest until complete recovery.