Mysteriously dying parakeets

[Razz Gavin]

My grandma has two parakeets in the same cage that have been together for about 3 years now and have been perfectly fine up until last week when the younger one died without warning. My grandma went and bought two more parakeets a couple days later and now, two more days later, one of the new ones is dead. Nothing has changed inside the cage and I checked for mites and injuries but the bodies were perfectly clean.

It might've just been random chance that the two of them had an internal complication, but if they got sick then why didn't the others get sick as well?

 

[BantyChooks]

Do you have any Teflon or non-stick cookware?

 

[Razz Gavin]

I believe that's what my grandma uses. But it's pretty much on the other side of the house and my grandma's been using it for ages and its never affected them. In fact she actually hasn't been cooking much at all lately

 

[Chickassan]

Any scented candles or air fresheners?

 

[BantyChooks]

I believe that's what my grandma uses. But it's pretty much on the other side of the house and my grandma's been using it for ages and its never affected them. In fact she actually hasn't been cooking much at all lately

It has a higher potential for toxicity as it ages, but still, if she hasn't been cooking plus the fact some birds are fine makes it seem rather unlikely. No other ideas, sorry.

 

[Pater est Pullis]

Does she use mop & glo, to mop? My wife killed our parakeets, accidently, mopping the kitchen.

 

[Razz Gavin]

Any scented candles or air fresheners?

She occasionally has scented candles, but once again not in a while

Does she use mop & glo, to mop? My wife killed our parakeets, accidently, mopping the kitchen.

Nobody's mopped recently either and they don't use any strong chemicals

My grandma was somewhat concerned about one of them attacking the other, but the only bit of aggression was the one that's currently alive bullying the one that's been in the cage the longest. The ones that died weren't at all involved in this bird drama. Plus the fact that there were no injuries or even pulled feathers.

I really hope this doesn't continue and the two that are left are fine

 

[JaeG]

Your poor grandma. This is a great site listing all the potential dangers for our pet birds. Some won't apply to you but there are many toxic fumes that can adversely affect birds. Also, some types of wood are poisonous if you've recently replaced perches. It's worth a read through just in case there is something that you guys hadn't thought of.

http://www.naturechest.com/toptendaforb.html

Then again it could just be an unlucky coincidence. Just make sure there are multiple bowls of food in the cage to ensure that the newcomer has full access to food, as the original bird may be a bit territorial and prevent it from eating if there is only one food source. Rearranging the perches, toys etc is generally enough to stop any territorial behaviour but it's always a good idea to have at least two food bowls in the cage.

 

[Coops4me]

Parakeets get Lung mites. If you can pick them up listen to there breathing. If you hear crackling (sounds like rice krispies) You need to treat them. In the shop every time we bought Parakeets they had lung mites.