Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Nancy M. is concerned about her young budgie,

 

Hello, a few months ago you helped me with a question about my parakeet with a feather cyst.

 

I now have another young parakeet since August who is unable to fly and seldom chirps or makes a sound. It appears to be a male. 

He can fly from the cage to the floor but is unable to obtain enough height to fly more than a few inches above the floor. His flight feathers have not grown.

 

He spends most of the day sitting on a lower shelf on the cart we keep the cage on.

 

He is able to climb very well and seems to be content and does engage with our other male parakeet while in and out of the cage.

 

Any thoughts? He was purchased at Petco where we have obtained all of our other parakeets who were able to fly within a few weeks. 

 

Thank you.

 

Dear Nancy

 

We hope that you were able to help your bird with the feather cyst. Yes, just picking them out is really all anyone can do for them. Canaries are also known for this issue. Inbreeding is a problem for birds which only results in this happening more.

 

Your new parakeet sounds like it has developmental issues in terms of flight. A form of retardation or a neurological condition.

 

He also was probably never fledged so his chest muscles were never fully developed.

 

He may be able to live a few years if kept in a shallow cage and watched to make sure other birds don’t pick on him and that he can reach the food and water and have some low-hung toys or loose balls to roll around.

 

Catherine

 

Dear Catherine

 

The information about the feather cyst was helpful.

 

Update 2/28/2022