Ask Lafeber

Question:

October 11, 2021

confusing and sudden death of bird


I had a male lovebird and he seemed like he was in good shape, he was always happy and he just had babies with his mate this year, I kept track of what he was eating closely and kept dangerous toys away from him, but one morning, he started making small chirps and his eyes were squinted, then the next time I checked, he was on his perch for a few seconds, swayed, and dropped dead, is there any way to prevent this? If so how?


Answer:

Hi Vela,

I’m very sorry to hear about your lovebird. There is no way to know why he died without taking the body to a Vet for a necropsy. Birds are good at hiding signs of illness, so he may have been sick for a few days and just hid it well. Sudden death is often cause by an airborne or ingested toxin, but if your other birds are OK, then something else caused his death. Lovebirds can live into their 20’s, but most only live around 10 years, due to inbreeding or poor diet. It sounds like you took great care of him, so it’s unfortunate that he died, but he may have had some internal issue that you couldn’t have known about.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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