The colorful and sociable Budgies have adapted very well to our homes from their distant habitat of origin. Life in captivity has some advantages for these birds, such as extra longevity, and being guaranteed food…even too much!
As is the case with all pets, their comfortable position as far as food is concerned can bring them some unexpected problem. For this reason, our site proposes you in this article on obesity in budgerigars some guidelines to try to avoid it and informs you of the consequences that this condition can cause, as well as the different pathologies that can derive from it.
Causes of obesity in budgerigars
Obesity may not be a disease in itself, but it gives rise to the development of too many pathologies, so we could define it as a predisposing cause to suffer multiple alterations.
When there is a caloric excess in the daily intake, and a deficient burning of the energy that is consumed, the final balance is positive and our parakeet begins to gain weight without us even realizing it. The plumage can make us doubt about the body condition, but when our parakeet seems "eternally balled", it means that he already has enough grams to spare.
Excess energy
Mixed-seed diets have a danger, and that is the ability to choose. In these mixtures we will find very fatty and appetizing components that will be eaten first, such as rapeseed or sunflower seeds. We also tend to make the mistake of giving extra supplements to animals that don't need it, such as continuing to give breeding paste to parakeets that don't need it, because they love it.
We give them prizes like honey bars, biscuits or bread too often, or we opt for commercial bird feed, but without pricing. The tendency to believe that birds are self-regulating, and that their feeders always have mixed seeds, further contributes to this excess supply and consequent obesity in parakeets.
Lack of exercise
All of the above is aggravated by the sedentary lifestyle of our parakeets, who will rarely leave their cage, or if they do, it will be for a short flight around the room. Under normal conditions, birds need a lot of energy to get going and fly considerable distances, but our parakeets just jump from one perch to another, and the calories left over after meeting the metabolism's demand for maintenance are stored as fat.
And what can I do to correct it?
The varied diet should also be measured The fruit and vegetables offered should have established days and hours, as well as than the seeds or feed. For example, the mixture of seeds for a short period of time in the morning and at night, and the established days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday…), the fruit and vegetables at noon, rotating what is offered: Monday apple, Spinach Wednesday…. It should be removed after a while to avoid dirtying the food if we plan to offer it again later. In the corresponding article on "Fruit and vegetables for parakeets" you can expand this information.
If our budgerigars have an aviary in a yard, it will be easier for them, as they will be able to expend some calories on a short trip. And if we also enrich their environment with more toys, swings, mirrors that encourage interaction, and extra trunks or hangers to climb, they will consume energy while their quality of life improves considerably. Otherwise, we can opt for a larger cage (we recommend visiting the article on our site on "Types of cages for parakeets"), and with various heights.
Vitamin or mineral supplements, very fashionable according to the times, are not really necessary in birds with a varied diet and kept as pets, so it is better to do without them while trying to lose weight to our parakeet.
Prizes such as cookies or carbohydrates in general should be eliminated. Although we know that all parakeet owners have been excited to share a piece of cupcake with them, they don't need it, nor do they want it!
The pathologies developed as a consequence of obesity that are going to be mentioned below, will surely dissuade those who continue to offer everything they eat your parakeets:
- Pododermatitis
- Lipomas
- Xanthomas
- Reproductive Problems
Pododermatitis
The appearance of lesions on the plantar surface of the legs is a direct consequence of bearing more weight than it should. Our parakeets live, and even sleep on them, and are kept on perches that do not always have the right surface. If you also have to put up with an extra 30 grams all day, the typical nailhead-shaped injury will eventually appear on the part of the leg that grabs onto the perch. In fact, the ailment is often referred to as "nail"
We can notice that the parakeet refuses to climb onto the perches, dozing in a corner of the cage and living on the floor. You may be somewhat apathetic due to the pain, and if there is secondary contamination with bacteria, the problems multiply.
How is it treated?
While starting a weight-loss plan, it's best to look for padded hangers, with a surface wide enough to hold being able to hold on without unloading all the weight on the injury, and apply healing ointments.
In the most severe cases, it is necessary to bandage both legs to prevent chafing. Our veterinarian will prescribe an anti-inflammatory to relieve the pain associated with this consequence of obesity in parakeets. And if antibiotic and healing ointments do not work, you may need systemic antibiotic therapy.
Lipomas
Excess fat leads to the formation of lipomas, that is, a cluster of adipocytes located in the skin or subcutaneous tissue. They can be pedunculated, so that their removal is more or less simple, but general anesthesia is unavoidable. Unfortunately, obesity is one of the biggest risk factors for general anesthesia in all animals.
In other cases, these formations are attached to the body, so that a clean removal is almost impossible. You can see the yellowish color of this fatty formation by separating the plumage from the abdomen or in the area of the keel.
Therapy with drugs, products that favor the elimination of lipids in the blood, or anabolic steroids, to try to reduce its size has not given good results. In this way, prevention is always preferable to cure, and in this case with more reason.
Xanthomas
This is the deposition of cholesterol crystals on the skin. They appear as localized masses, more or less defined although they are usually irregular, and are characterized by being quite bleeding.
A particularly compromised location is on the edge of the wings, a rather delicate area, as it is constantly exposed to chafing, and even if a clean removal is performed, healing is complicated. On many occasions, there is no choice but to remove a part of the wing. Again we are forced to general anesthesia in an obese parakeet, something that can be more risky than the pathology we want to solve.
Diagnosis by cytology to differentiate it from any other mass or tumor is simple, cholesterol crystals can be seen under the microscope without difficulty. Drug therapy in this case has also not given good results in an attempt to avoid the operating room.
Reproductive problems in Budgies
Excess fat can lead to reproductive problems in budgerigars for two main reasons:
- Impossible to copulate: the large amount of fat that accumulates in the abdomen can prevent the cloacae of the male and female from mating and, therefore, fertilization.
- Dystocias: due to abdominal fat, the female may suffer retention of eggs or inability to lay. This gives rise to a major complication, egg yolk coelomitis, which occurs when the retained egg finally breaks inside the parakeet's body, giving rise to an emergency from which few females recover.
Now that you know the consequences of obesity, if you notice that your budgerigar is swollen, fat and over his ideal weight, don't hesitate to go to the vet to tell you how to help him lose weight. weight. Likewise, we recommend you consult the most common diseases in parakeets to be aware of all of them and avoid their development.
