Baby bird with a cold

[BirdLover5]

Hi as u may know im handraising a ringneck at the moment (5 weeks old). The last couple of days ive noticed that he is starting to sneeze, at first it was every once in a while but today they seemed more frequent. His droppings arent runny and he seems to be eating fine.. I was just wondering if i could have made him sick as I had the flu a few days ago? Im guessing that if his cold gets worse he is too young to be put on medication? should i take him to the vet? any help would be appreciated thanks in advance

[CrazyBird]

a good avian vet is critical if you suspect ANY illness in a bird, no matter what the age.

Your bird can be treated, if he's found to have a respiratory infection, etc.

I have read conflicting things, but believe personally, in my experience, that birds cannot catch the flu from humans.

Good luck.

[pixibubbles]

Sorry.. i;d say the vet too... or possibly the breeder he came from if they are exceptionally good as he may be able to offer better advice than we can and may be faster than the vet....i dont know the situation but i'd book the vet anyway. i know birds can pass illness on to us and i think we can to them but it is a VERY rate occurance BUT

if you REALLY had the flu, as in full blown influenza and not just a bad cold, and you suspect your bird has it then get to a vet. if flu can kill a human i suspect it could to serious damage to a bird. Keep his warm and calm.. maybe half cover cage. let us know how the little feather head goes :)

i'm sure he will be fine, you're obviously a good mom and whatever it is you;ve spotted it early.

as a note... when the bird is having difficulty breathing and has respiritory problems the tail bobs with every breath... if you see this and there are no other reasons (past injury for eg) and the bird hasnt done it before get to vet ASAP

[BirdLover5]

Just wanted everyone to know Neela is doing fine.. He/She is now 7 weeks old and for the first time began to fly today :) .. Heres a pic I took today

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l7/badchoicez/neela5.jpg

Yes he is standing on my laptop being cheeky! :rolleyes:

[pixibubbles]

omg he is soooooooo beautiful... i want one lol. maybe he wants to say hi to us all on here?

i remember the learning to fly thing... as running around with pillows for weeks lol.... flying wasnt the problem for sparky... it was landing... even now she skids to a halt... misjudged it yesterday and had to be fished out from the back of te tele again lol

[BirdLover5]

Haha thanks heres a couple more pics.. He has a fasination with the computer mouse because it flashes blue & red, seems to be his favourite :p

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l7/badchoicez/neela3.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l7/badchoicez/neela4.jpg