Budgie parakeets > Talking birds > Distemper

Distemper

When in their native state, parrots are affected with a disease commonly known as distemper, and it is sometimes quite fatal to them.

When a bird is taken sick and looks drowsy and dumpish his mates will usually torment the poor thing to death. Sometimes young birds taken from the nest will be affected with this trouble, and the others with which they are caged will become infected.

We have known some cases where a large number of birds have died in a very few weeks, and we have never found any sure cure for this disease. At the start it appears to be an ordinary cold, but there is quite an offensive smell, and it affects the blood as well as being simply a local head complaint.

There is a discharge from the nostrils and the head is much swollen and the eves swollen so that in same cases they are entirely closed. A minute quantity of copper sulphate is sometimes given with good results, and the homeopathic medicine called "spongia" is considered a specific. A half teaspoon full of grated onion and onion juice given once a day sometimes helps, and the Bird Balm should be rubbed on the eyes.