Why do our parakeets keep dying?

Question

We have bought 3 parakeets in the past 2 months and each have died. What would we be doing wrong? We took great care of them all.

Answer 1

wat ever the reason ..plz dont cage the birds..they r meant to be free..discourage this practise by not buying those kinda of birds...wouldnt u wish to be dead then be caged for life...
try picking up pets which r in distress...not ones who r forced to slave & entertain us....
every efforts counts...be it just u or many more...starts with each one
take efforts to learn bout the differnt species before u get them

Answer 2

I will try to list a few ideas for you to consider.
First is to make sure you have a healthy parakeet or a purchased pair of parakeets.
Give the new "keets" ample time to get used to their new surrounding. Leave them alone and just talk softly when it's time to feed them in the beginning. No startling noises, no poking.
Be sure your "keets" are not in a draft. This is sure to kill them very quickly. By the time you notice that they have a cold, it's usually too late.
Chemicals-beware! They are highly sensitive.
Check the water that you are giving them. How is it treated? It may not be safe for birds. You may have to filter their water or purchase it.
Bird seed is just fine as long as you give them a variety of seeds, fresh washed veggies, fruits and such. Try getting Drs. Foster & Smith bird catalogs. They have everything.
Also consider their cage? Is it bird safe? Store bought?
Check the area where the cage is. Inspect the area carefully for everything. I have had to put my bird cages up high so that when the furnace comes on, they are not in the direct air-flow. Do you have an air-conditioner or a furnace?
Lighting should also be considered and heat.
Another thing is house plants. Many are poisoness.
Take care in bringing "keets" home. Air-conditioning a no-no.
Check the food for the "keets". I buy ours from WalMart and from the catalog. Haven't had any problems and my birds are now seniors. Are you feeding them enough? Remember that the empty shells with fall in the seed dish where it will appear full of seed, but it isn't.
I hope this is of some help to you. I have five birds, three of which are now considered "real seniors". A parrot who is 65,
a cockatiel who is 15, a lovebird who is 14, and two more lovebirds who are now 6.
Good luck and sorry to hear about the others.

Answer 3

Wash and sterilize the cage, dishwasher seed and water cups, and buy new perches. If the first Parakeet was sick then it might have spread to the other birds from the wooden perches or contaminated plastic. They may have had liver problems if you bought them from a pet store, this is common in these places sadly. Buy from a breeder this time it will be a little more expensive but they should be hand tamed which would be a lot more at a pet store then what a breeder will give you.

They may have been paired even if they look immature, if you separated a pair then most likely they starved themselves out of grief. Look for birds that are bouncy and happy, not snuggling with each other unless you buy both. I had one that did this.

A seed diet is alright if you use water supplements with peeled fruit.

If your bird looks sick take them to a vet immediately. Don't wait until morning or the next day, birds hide their illnesses very well and are very sick by the time they look it.

Answer 4

There could be so many different reasons. Most of the time when people think they know how to take care of birds they really do. But once in a while people don't really know everything they should. So just in case...

You DO know that when a bird eats seed it dumps the shell back into the dish on top of the uneaten seed. So it looks like the dish is still full. You DO know this right?

I only ask because I have seen more than one person who had no idea and thought the bird wasn't eating. They starved it to death by never dumping the hulls and giving the birds fresh food.

I would discuss the problem with your vet. If you have another bird die, you could take it to him for a post mortem. If you can't find a definitive reason for this, then maybe you should get out of having birds. You don't seem very lucky with them....

Answer 5

Go to a different pet store the next time thats for sure, like the other person said they could be old birds and your obviously not doing anything wrong if your feeding them watering them and allowing space for them. If you hav ea small cage and kept all of them in there they could have become afixciated, for every bird you should have at least 2 feet wide and 3 feet high but that is only for one bird.

Answer 6

given that you got your birds from someone else, you should take them to a vet for a checkup. how do you know it looked like it was going to lay an egg? when a bird has an egg inside it, it doeesn't look much different, tho it may be a bit heavier. She may also make circles on the ground and sit down from time to time in an area she thinks is her nest. they can die from not being able to pass an egg. in that case, they need to be taken to a certified avian vet immediatly. if your bird looked "bigger" by puffing out feathers, that is a sign if sickness and not a sign of having eggs. it is a sign they need to go to the vet. did you know that any chemical cleaners can kill a bird? also if you use anything with teflon, which is the black stuff on non-stick pans and inside many hair-care appliences, it makes an invisible gas that kills birds. the only way to really know for sure why the bird died is to bring the dead bird to a vet. I really think you shoudl bring the living one to a vet too. And if you do not have any books about how to care for a bird, you should buy one. They should be eating pellets and vegetables, not seeds. Seeds are just an occasional treat. feeding a bird sunflower seeds is like feeding a child candy -- good once in a while but not for too long. But sunflower seeds will not kill a bird that fast. they will make a bird mal-nourished, fat, and loose it's feathers first. it could be just old age, it could be the person who had them did not care for them properly, it could be disease (which is why when you first get a bird, any how-to-care-for-a-bird book says you *must* bring the bird to a vet). they would not die in 2 months from sun-flower seeds unless that's all they ate their whole lives and they wont' die from lack of sunlight or from moving too much. please take you living bird to a vet. if you really wanna know why the other one died, the vet can tell you, but i don't think spending money on a dead bird is worth it. just the living one.

Answer 7

Well I have cockatiels and they say when you are cooking that something in the Teflon pans is toxic to them.......I don't know if it's the same with parakeets or not. Have you tried talking to your vet ? Also, DON'T feed birds birdseed. That's the equivalent of starving them to death. Feed them pellets. Talk to your vet about this. We found this out when one of my cockatiels was having trouble breathing. We were feeding them a seed diet and we were starving them. I felt horrible !!!!! But you can gradually get them on the pellet diet with little or no problem. Mine are fine now and I haven't had any problems with them in over 2 years. Again, I say, talk to your vet.

Answer 8

Do you use any kind of household cleaners around the birds? If so, that is probably the cause of their deaths. As can any kind of perfumes/colognes, hair sparys, scented candles, and so on. Along with teflon coated pans. If they are over heated, they can omit toxic fumes.

I hope this helps.

Answer 9

first, before you get any more birds, go get a book at the pet shop about parakeets and read it, it will tell you everything you need to know

Answer 10

well there's lots of reasons like the way your house looks like if you have mold and stuff or if its messy they could have died from that or what you feed it like should never feed a bird chocolate or if ya have air fresheners in the house they shouldn't be around them but relay i think you should talk to your vet about it there the experts:)i Had 2 birds that died in my hose almost instantly so iv bin reading about that stuff:)hope i helped ya out:)

Answer 11

I would pay especial attention to what you are feeding them. To much salt or other minerals can cause serious problems.