Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 9/16/2006

Question
Hello,  For the last 2 days my two parokeets seems to be acting strange,  First of all they are very active and never allow you to handle them,  why this is I son't know but they have been like that ever since I purchased them for my Mother,  But at any rate they all of a sudden are letting you touch them and are "Puffing themselves up" and are very quite.  But they look like they are all swollen when they "puff themselves up.  Any Idea or suggestions.  I am still feeding them the same food I have ever since I purchased them a year ago.

Thank You

Jim Kozlowski

Answer
Hi, Jim.  Thanks for posting.

If you think your keets are ill, they probably are.  You know your birds better than anyone else and if you think they are acting poorly, get them to an avian vet ASAP.  Not a cat/dog vet, but an exotic animal vet that treats birds.

The fact that they are allowing you to touch them when they aren't usually tame, indicates to me that something is wrong.  The "puffing up" is what sick birds do to hide the fact that they are losing weight.  Weight loss is a good sign of illness.  Don't hesitate, get them to the birdie vet ASAP!

They are likely not tame because they weren't handfed and/or imprinted on humans when they were babies.  Also, since birds prefer other birds to humans, when you have more than 1 bird together, especially with keets, they "share their lives" with their own kind versus their human companions.

Chrys