Lisa Shea Forums Parakeets General Parakeet Chat Non stop regurgitating and toy attachment

Hey everyone, I need some advice!
I've noticed that my parakeet Misty is in a cycle of nonstop toy attachment and he's always regurgitating on them. When it's at its worse, there is like a puddle of gross seed regurgitation at the bottom of the cage. He's not sick or anything... But it's really gross and kind of annoying. The constant spitting is ruining the walls in the house and my mom hates it and honestly I'm really annoyed by it myself...

well its normal behavior with a adult ...especially if in breeding mode...its a small thing like their poops...with other animals its shedding or drooling or chewing so it goes with the game...

what are you feeding...are you giving this bird a gourmet table of choice if you are you may want to temporarily cut back on fresh veggies and feed just a seed diet for awhile to help bring it out of breeding mode..i also hope your NOT feeding millet sprays...also remove any MIRROR toys in the cage...an let it out to get some of that excess energy burned off...

a damp wiping of walls and it wont ruin walls...or partially cover the cage back near the wall...with his cage cover...

does he come out at all...and for how long...???

above all remember this is normal...every pet has a drawback of some sort as mentioned above...every kid does too lol...and hubby chuckle...in other words in a perfect world all would be perfect....


just lets also hope this is only regurgitating and NOT VOMITING...

the picture of this bird is a little extreme but some will look something like this at times just read the link

http://www.birds-online.de/gesundheit/gesinfektion/wuergen_en.htm

EDITED :

HOWEVER, please note IT IS NOT TRUE that budgies need other budgies to keep them company....in fact this most often causes more serious issues than not...so do not go running out an buying more birds

hate to say it but it sounds more like vomiting where you say its spraying it on walls an you see puddles on bottom of cage which means SEE A AVIAN vet as recommended in that link..also thoroughly disenfect the entire area EVERYTHING inside and outside the cage.

one more question to the above ...how does the birds poop look ...seriously...any undigested seed in them or are they not formed an watery...by not formed i mean they should be round like a donut with some white in the middle...???

Hi Tarren, one of my guys, Levi, went thru a regurging stage too. Not just to one certain toy, but almost any toy. He too would sometimes leave a small puddle of goop underneath a toy.
It didn't get on the wall tho.

I did, cut back on veggie feeding and removed some of the toys. A couple in particular that seemed to be the main...uhh interests?
I made sure he was getting plenty of out time, but really his door is almost always open anyway so...
and I put him to bed a little earlier for increased dark time. Males too will go in to breeding mode, as do females.
I don't remember how long it lasted, maybe even a couple months i think. But now he doesn't do it anymore. He just...stopped.

Like illusive said, it could be vomiting, not just regurgitating. Does he shake his head and let it go all over the place? Is there a funky smell to it? Vomit, as gross as it sounds and is, would have a bad smell to it.

Regurging is more controlled and they spit it up right where they want it, as if they are feeding the toy or whatever they're regurging to.

Are you sure the puddles you're seeing are coming from his mouth not the other end? Any undigested seed in his poop? If it's his poop that has seeds in it, it can be very serious so he would need treatment right away.

You might want to keep the bottom of his cage lined with paper towels so it's easier to clean up and not getting the grate all goopy. I always have the cage bottom lined anyway for easy clean up.
I don't know where you keep him, but maybe you can hang something on the wall behind his cage to keep it clean til he's over it?
That is if it doesn't freak him out having something new hanging there. LOL
Ya know they make special posters that are laminated to put behind bird cages that are easy to clean up. They look pretty cool too.
Check it out
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13402&prodid=26295&catid=1874

if the link doesn't work go to drsfostersmith.com and put BGG-22208 in the search
i like the misty woods

Hey, I'm sorry for the late reply! Thanks everyone for your advice and suggestions.
Despite everything I've tried, it seems like it's getting worse.
First, I'm 100% positive that it's not vomit (from being sick) but instead him regurgitating. Other than the regurgitating, he's acting totally normal.

Recently though, it seems like despite me letting him out to fly around and taking away the problem toys, he STILL does it. Like all the time. It's like the only thing he does. It's so bad that his face is covered in it and it's all stuck in his feathers... I don't know what to do. I let him out all the time (he's out right now!) but it's like as soon as he gets back in his cage he does it again.

I've had three other birds throughout my life (2 males 1 female) and I've never seen them do this.

Tarren I would take your little buddy to an avian vet asap. It sounds pretty serious to me. If that is all he is doing and cannot stop then he needs medical attention.

this is NOT normal inspite of what you think if his face is becoming a mess...normal regurging does not do this with a bird..there is NO mess other than "maybe" some seed left (only a smalllll bit) on a toy...

as mentioned bring your bird to a AVIAN vet...you HAVE A PROBLEM...and cultures need to be taken from the birds crop etc.

good luck to you both...hope we hear sooner rather than later whats going on after you bring the bird to a AVIAN vet as all will benefit from the knowledge here about this.

i can not stress enough about AVIAN vets tho...very important in situations like this as regular DVM's do not have a clue about the diseases our birds get and all they would do anyway is send the stuff out to a AVIAN vet or lab which cost you more...

http://www.aav.org/search/index.php

Thank you to everyone for your replies!
I'm still dealing with the same regurgitating issue with my keet. I really don't think he's sick. As a matter of fact, I KNOW he's not... I had a sick keep before and I know how its behavior was. This isn't sick vomit, it's regurgitation. He only does it on one specific area of a perch and for the most part, it's mostly just seeds. When I let him out of his cage to fly, he doesn't do it. He only does it inside his cage and only on a specific part of his perch. Other than the regurgitation, he's perfectly normal, playful, he chirps, he flies

I removed all bells, mirrors and toys that seemed to trigger it but it hasn't stopped... It seems like now he's just bored and that's all he does when he's in his cage.

Then I guess I would look into a new environment for him. New cage, new lay out and new toys. Change the look and feel of the cage and you might change the behavior.

Bob loves it when we redecorate! lol