Ask Lafeber

Question:

July 16, 2021

Wheezing


Hello and it’s me again. I noticed one of my four lovebirds is wheezing or have sort of stuffy breathing sometimes. She seems to be fine however. This has been happening for few months. Is it because the air is too dry?


Answer:

Hi Lily,

Wheezing isn’t normal. If your house is really dry and the environment is dusty, it might cause wheezing. Do you use any shavings in their nest boxes? If so, you should only give them aspen shavings – 100% natural, that is sold for small animals. Other shavings have dust and aromatic oils that can cause respiratory issues.

Also, if you have two breeding pairs, I’m assuming each has their own cage? However, the pairs can distract each other when nesting, so if they can see each other, you might try a visual barrier when they are nesting, to see if you have hatching success. It’s also important to remove the nest boxes and rest the pairs for 6 months between each clutch, whether they hatch or not. They should be limited to two clutches per year, with the rest period in between each time. If you are allowing them to nest again right away each time, this can also be the cause of the hatching issues. In the wild, they only nest once per year.

Thanks for the update,

Brenda

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