If you notice any sign of illness in Birds like Common Macaw Diseases, it is important to provide supportive care until a pet can be taken to a veterinarian for assessment and treatment.
Macaw General Information … Index of Bird Diseases … Symptoms and Potential Causes … Bird Health Care
Visible signs of illness to be aware of are:
- Weight loss / lack of appetite
- Partially closed or watery eyes, closed eyes or swelling of the eyelids
- Respiratory symptoms, such as rasping noises, difficulty breathing
- Ruffled plumage (feeling unwell, cold)
- Drooping wings, sagging body, falling off perches (weakness)
- Bulges in feathering (tumors?)
- Excessive saliva (toxicity?)
- Dirty vent (indicative of diarrhea)
- Any change in the feces not apparently diet related
- Behavioral: Listlessness or extreme mood changes
Macaws are particularly susceptible to the following diseases / health problems:
- Avian Bornaviral Ganglioneuritis (PDD)
- Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease, PBFD, Beak and Feather
- Psittacosis (chlamydiosis or parrot fever)
- Respiratory Signs, Chronic Depression, Weightloss: Aspergillosis (fungal disease), bacterial infections / pneumonia, nutritional deficiencies (Hypovitaminosis A), Psittacosis / Parrot Fever, and inhaled toxins
- Chronic Sinus Infections: increasing humidity and using air filters may help minimize the problem.
- Sunken-Eye Syndrome: Caused by sinus infections. The eye sinks into the socket.
- Herpes Infections: May cause proliferative lesions, but more commonly exemplify itself by depigmentation (loss of color).
- Feather picking (various behavioral as well as physical reasons can be the cause – boredom, but also heavy metal toxicity, giardia, bacterial / viral diseases)
- Toxicity – heavy metal poisoning
- Allergies
- Coacal Papillomas: Thought to be a viral condition. Contagious to other birds (thought to be sexually transmitted). Affected birds should not be used for breeding.
- Kidney disease (gout) – May be caused by excessive supplementation of Vitamin A.
- Lipomas (tumors) in older birds
- Macaw “Acne”: Small swellings on face caused by small, ingrown feathers on face and eyelids, simple surgery to release trapped feathers; antibiotic injections, cortico-steroids needed if bird rubs and scratches affected sites. (Ref: Jeannine Miesle, MA, Allied Member, Association of Avian Veterinarians)
- Beak malformations in chicks (improper feeding technique?)
- Annular Toe Lesions: Seen in chicks, may result in loss of toes.
- Miscellaneous Infections: Bacterial, viral or fungal
If you notice any sign of illness, it is important to provide supportive care until a pet can be taken to a veterinarian for assessment and treatment.
Please refer below for recommended tests.
Young Macaws:
- CBC – Complete Blood Count to test for internal infections
- Chlamydophila Immunoassay – to diagnosis a disease, which can be contagious to other birds or humans (aka Parrot Fever)
- Culture: to diagnose bacterial or yeast infections
Adult Macaws:
- CBC – Complete Blood Count to test for internal infections
- Culture: to diagnose bacterial / yeast infections
- Full-body x-ray with gas sedation
Should your parrot be sick, it is important to provide supportive care until he or she can be taken to the vet for evaluation and treatment.
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Information contained on this website is provided as general reference only. For application to specific circumstances, professional advice should be sought.
