Sick parrots can become quite a worry for an owner and although in some ways they are quite a hardy animal, when it comes to sickness they are not so indestructible. They do not have a really strong constitution, so just like any other living creature they do need some quality care when they are sick. A simple illness can elevate itself to a fatal condition that cannot be recovered if a parrot owner is not vigilant.
When you see your parrot getting less active than what it has been, you need to check straight away to see that it is not ill. If it is it should be taken to the vet straight away. However, there are times when a vet is not instantly available and you may need to take care of it for a while until your parrot can get treated by professional help.
Here are some ideas which can help you to take care of a sick parrot.
Warmth: parrots like to keep themselves warm and will use up most of their energy and metabolism to keep the body warm to about 104 degrees. The very first thing that you should be doing is to support the birds by artificially creating some warmth for it and allowing it to use its energy to deal with the sickness. A cold temperature can elevate the sickness so you keep the cage away from drafts.
Humidity: providing a humid condition for the parrot is imperative if the sick parrot's respiratory system is involved in the illness. A humid condition can ease its breathing and can keep the bird's air passage free. A vaporizer or humidifier will work fine; else you could place the cage periodically inside the bathroom and run the hot water in the shower. To know if the bird's respiratory system is involved in the illness you could observe the following: clicking noises while breathing, a discharge from its nostrils, breathing heavily or opening its beak to breathe.
Fluids: A sick parrot is easily dehydrated and the best thing that you could do is to give it a lot of fluids so that it can keep itself hydrated. A sick parrot certainly will not drink a lot of water by itself, so you need to administer fluids especially when its temperature has increased and its digestion may be disturbed. Try to give it electrolyte solution, apple juice or even water with the help of your finger or a spoon or eye dropper.
Nutrition: a good amount of nutrition should be given to a sick parrot so that it can mount up energy to help the bird fight its illness. The best thing that you could give a sick parrot is lots of carbohydrates and other easy to digest items. Some of the examples can be: infant rice cereal, molasses, papaya juice, honey, wheat cream.
If the parrot will not eat, or regurgitates its food it could have sour crop so do not force it to eat. This is a serious illness which need immediate attention because a parrot can only go a few days without eating and if it has sour crop, chances are that it will not eat at all.
A sick parrot should always be kept isolated and away from other birds because it will get picked on by the stronger birds, but also in case it has an illness that may spread. A sick bird should be kept in a quiet place just as you would a sick child. Cover its cage to keep most of the light out and put the cage in a warm (not hot) spot that is not in a draft. Avoid anything noisy around the bird so that it can rest peacefully.
