If you parrot is feather plucking then it is a serious behavioral problem. The real problem is that once it had started it is nigh on impossible to get your parrot to stop. It is a very stressful situation for the bird and the owner. Try to spot a feather plucker early by inspecting the upper chest area to see whether feather are missing if there are then this is a sure sign that you have a plucker, and you have to step in to treat them before the problem gets worse. You should provide lots of toys and branches in the cage. Put your parrot in a noisy part of the house an spend more time with them.

Other illness in a hand reared baby parrot is quite rare, but action must be taken immediately if you feel that your bird is not 100%. This could be indicated by simply not adhering to his normal routines, i.e. if you feed him a certain item in the morning, say toast, if he fails to eat there may be a problem. Droppings are also a large indicator and I believe that an experienced parrot keeper can tell precisely the condition of his birds without even seeing the birds providing he can look at the droppings on a daily basis. If your bird is on a dry diet then obviously the droppings will be more solid green and white. If birds have a fruit diet this will be watery and not as solid as a bird on dry seed. If you feed your bird pretty much the same routine on a daily basis then the droppings will be easily identified as different to the previous day and therefore should causing some alarm. Very watery and dark droppings are a sign of ill health. It is always better to be trigger happy in terms of visiting your vet rather than leaving it too late. Birds deteriorate rapidly once they are ill, if you cannot maintain a level of fluid intake and food consumption.

The standards of vetinary care in the avian world are rising all the time, but it can be incredibly challenging to find a vet that has experience of treating parrots. If your parrot has stopped eating then he will need to be fe intraveniously and this is something that you want handled by an experienced vet. If you have to travel a long way to get the treatment your parrot needs then so be it.

So if we could summarize this article it would be to say that one has to keep a careful eye on one’s parrot’s droppings, and make sure that a highly qualified vet is on standby should the droppings seem unusual to the discerning eye.

For further information on parrot care please see http://hubpages.com/hub/Parrot-Care-How-to-Care-for-Parrots-in-the-Wild After you see how to care for wild parrots you will better appreciate their captive needs