my quaker parrot is staying fluffy what is wrong?

Answer 1

maybe he is cold

Answer 2

A bird which stays fluffed up all the time is definitely ill. Please do take him to the vet immediately. Birds do not show signs of illness until they are so ill that they cannot mask it anymore, because in the wild they would become easy prey for predators if they showed any signs of weakness. So by the time a bird just sits still and fluffed up, it has usually already been feeling ill for a bit, and with birds, there is no time to waste as they can deteriorate rapidly. Also choose a board certified avian vet if you can, not just an oridinary vet who does not know anything about birds - many birds die unnecessarily because they are taken to the wrong type of vet. I hope he recovers soon. I have two quakers myself.

Answer 3

This could be symptomatic of a couple of things, sickness and cold being the most likely.

This time of year, cold is something you might fight with. I'm not sure how long you've had your quaker or how old he is. If he's at least a couple of years old and he's always lived with you and this is the first time you've noticed it, it's not likely he's cold. But if it is cold, there are a couple of things you can do. As someone already mentioned, make sure your bird isn't located near drafty places - near heat/air vents, windows, doors, etc. I live in Denver, and in the winter it gets cold enough that my birds can't even be on outside walls because of the cold they radiate. If you don't have problems with any of this and you need to create warmth in a cheaper and more efficient manner than turning up your heat, you can place a desk lamp with a regular bulb or a heat bulb (usually specified for reptiles) directed at your bird on or near his cage (make sure he can't reach the wires!). I have a couple that clip onto my cages - they run about $10 at Walmart. The reptile lightbulbs are about $10 as well. They put out a little more heat than a regular lightbulb. Secondly, you can look into buying a heated perch. There are websites online that sell them more reasonably than you will find in stores - for a quaker about $15 to $20. These plug into an outlet and maintain a warm temperature for your bird to perch on. My birds have them in their cages and almost will not get off of them during the fall/winter months.

Someone suggested using a space heater. Be careful of these! Some of these heaters contain parts that have teflon. They can emit poison into the air near your bird (you can read numerous articles online about the dangers of teflon to parrots). I've known people who have thought they were doing a service to their birds by giving them a space heater to only wake up the next morning and find their birds dead. If you choose to get a space heater, make sure you get one that is rated bird safe and is teflon free. They do make some small wall hanging panels that would work, but they are very expensive.

If your bird isn't cold, then most likely he's sick. You should monitor him closely for no more than 24 hours to determine if this is possible. If you can eliminate the possibility of him being cold, you can probably more successfuly determine if he's sick. A sick bird often has a poor apetite, stays huddled down, remains fluffy, or seems lethargic. Hopefully you've already familiarized yourself with his droppings. A sick bird often has signs of sickness in his poop - watery, non-forming, and discolored puddles are not a good sign. (do remember that the colors change with types of food so color alone isn't a good determining factor). If you think your bird is sick, you should take him to an avian vet immediately. By the time many birds show symptoms of illness, they are already very very sick.

Finally, just a side note, most of my birds kind of fluff up in the evenings when they're settling in for the night and first thing in the morning when they're waking up. I'm not sure how long your bird has been displaying this behavior, but it could be simply a comfort or sleepy behavior. Keep a close eye on your bird's behavior beyond the fluffing.

Hope some of that helps!

Answer 4

if it is fluffed up all the time, or alot of the time, sleeps a little more then usual, and takes many visits to sit in a cornor on the ground of the cage, ur bird is sick. if i has done all of these lately it will be hard to get it better. Go to a near by pet store and look for a small bottle that almostt looks like an eye dropper. (look at bottum of this answer to see name of product.) You'll drop tow maybe three drops of these in birds water EVERY morning. make sure to dump and refill water rite before u do this in the morning. If you have a heat lamp or a lamp of anysort hat can be about the same hieght of the cage, set it up next to the bird's cage to give it heat. Also if you can or do have a heat pad place one on the bottum of the cage on MED. or LOW. *LOW if u also ahve the heat lamp set up or u wont be home enough to make sure it's not burning the bird) and place it at bottum of cage under neith the paper. Add an extra contaner (small jar lid) of seed on ground of cage that is soaking in water. Because if the bird becomes weak it will want to sit on ground, and it won't be strong enough to break open it's sead, u want it to be as easy as possible for the bird. If there is another bird in the cage or nerby the sick bird, sepperate them, all bird sicknesses are spredable to other birds, small animals. It is hard to get a bird out of sickness, but if you realy care, and do all this, it mite come threw it. I don't care how old u are, or wat ur job is, my dad brought 6 birds out of sickness, and was a breeder, while he had 4 kids, was in medical school ,was in the army, and his wife was a little younger then he. so u can do it.

please E-mail me, I'm conserned about the bird, and want to help as much as possible, ask all and any questions u want in the E-mail. [e-mail] or [e-mail] would work also if you really need an answer quick, and the first doesn't respond. I can't find the name of the medican, I'll figure it out in like 5 min. so if u e-mail me i'll tell u then. thanks plese ket me help more :((

Answer 5

Take it to the vet. Keep it warm in an aquarium over a heating pad. Warmth is the best medicine. Make sure there is plenty of food and water. I would even buy some KAYTEE hand feeding formula to feed to it wet for better nutrition. You can offer it pedialite for babies instead of regular water. Then hope for the best and pray it survives being sick. We all go threw rough times sometimes. the poor baby. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 6

Fluffed feathers generally indicate that a bird is cold (he's trying to hold warm air near his body). Try increasing the temperature in the general area of his cage or perch - a small space heater might be good if you don't want to increase the temperature in your entire place.

Answer 7

Add heat to warm it up, but if it doesn't respond well to that it is sick. It should start eating better with the heat even if it is sick. Depending on the age of the bird, it could be simply suffering from old age.

Answer 8

your parrot lived for ten total years -- (40yrs old in human years) and also you do not comprehend to take your chook to an Avian qualified vet at the same time as he's clearly very ill? might want to be something from coronary heart attack, to mind anurism, to poisoning from fumes or from chewing on rubber or something. i'm sorry on your loss. at the same time as a chook is as ill as you describe, it is probable too previous due for a vet besides. (for sure you ought to have taken it to the vet once you said something replaced into incorrect, notwithstanding the prospect of surviving the holiday TO the vet replaced into small besides.) a vet can nevertheless inform you what killed the chook. you're probable an outstanding chook proprietor who loves his chook, and also you ought to probable get yet another one in case your grieving for this one and your room looks empty without it. yet before you get yet another chook, do a glance for on amazon for "parrot" or "parakeet" and skim a e book that tells you a thanks to seem after birds, because in the perfect 10 years on my own -- in the ten years when you consider that to procure this chook it truly is -- the technological expertise of chook-holding has better very much, and we now comprehend a lot extra about a thanks to seem after a chook and a thanks to ineract with it than we knew 10 years in the past at the same time as i'm assuming to procure this chook. i'm no longer particular even there have been Avian qualified vets 10 years in the past? I in difficulty-free words discovered out about them 5 years in the past by technique of interpreting books alongside with the african gray i purchased.

Answer 9

you need to take it to the vet. Birds don't show sign's of being ill, until it's almost to late. It may have a cold.

Answer 10

Ours does that also. Normally they do it when they are about to nap or sleep. I hope that you are covering his cage at night with a sheet to protect him from drafts.

Answer 11

most likely the bird is cold. keep it away from drafty places.