Both big and small changes in your budgie may concern you as a budgie owner, so, keeping an eye on your bird, and acting when changes arise, is essential.
If your budgie’s breathing suddenly changes, if your budgie is breathing fast all of a sudden, and if the bird is puffed up while sleeping, then you will likely start to worry.
This article looks into why this happens.
Table of Contents
Budgie breathing fast and puffed up while sleeping:
A change in the breathing and the appearance of your budgie is a sign that there is something up with the bird.
Here is why your budgie is breathing fast and is puffed up while sleeping:
Nightmares:
If your bird is breathing fast while it is asleep, then the bird may be suffering from a nightmare.
All budgies have nightmares, and some birds will have nightmares more frequently or more violently than other birds will.
The nightmares can cause your bird to become stressed and this will cause the bird to start breathing heavily.
Your budgie puffing up its feathers is normal, this is simply how some birds relax before they go to sleep.
What to do:
If you can tell that your budgie is having a nightmare then you don’t have to worry.
While nightmares may be scary for your little bird, they aren’t dangerous unless the bird falls while in the cage.
Keep an eye out on your budgie to make sure that the bird hasn’t puffed up its feathers and isn’t breathing fast because it is sick.
The bird is sick:
Another reason why your budgie may be fluffed up when sleeping, and why it may be breathing heavily, may be that the bird is ill with a respiratory infection.
Puffed-up feathers are a symptom of many budgie illnesses, and, respiratory infections in particular, can cause issues with breathing, issues like fast breathing.
Other signs that may indicate that your budgie is sick with a respiratory illness include nasal discharge, breathing with its mouth open, gasping while breathing, a voice change, coughing, and sneezing.
Your budgie may only start showing signs of being ill quite far into its illness, this is a survival mechanism.
If the budgie was in the wild, and started showing signs of being ill, then potential predators would pick up on this and would target the bird.
For this reason, whether in the wild or in domestic settings, your bird will hide signs of being ill.
What to do:
Your budgie will only start showing signs of being sick when it is in dire straits.
So, if you start seeing signs of the bird being sick then you’d need to take action.
If your budgie is sick then put it in a hospital cage and offer immediate general supportive care.
General supportive care includes putting your bird in its own isolated cage, ensuring that the temperature of the birds environment is between 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit, giving the bird its own food and water,
If you can immediately transport your bird to the vet then do this, the vet will examine, diagnose, and treat the bird for its respiratory illness.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Is My Bird Flying Around My Room?, Why Can’t My Budgie Fly High?, Why Is My Budgie Shaking Its Head?, Why Is My Budgie Flying Low And Shaking?, My Parrot Is Not Active, Why My Parrot Is Silent?, Why Does My Bird Look At Me Sideways?,
