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Coughing sounds during the night

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Coughing sounds during the night

Postby giorgos » Fri Jul 30, 2021 5:52 am

Hello. I have an 1yo african grey, Marcus. Last night i noticed he did some coughting sounds at around 12PM. Room was fully dark. He was inside his cage. After i took him out he continued for a few seconds and the he stopped(I let him stay out and sleep for about 3hours).

Does anyone has any idea of what could that mean?

I could not upload an mp3 file so here is the file on google drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KasyVb ... sp=sharing


Thanks in advance! :gray:
giorgos
Parakeet
 
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Re: Coughing sounds during the night

Postby Pajarita » Fri Jul 30, 2021 10:22 am

Hi, Giorgio and Marcus, welcome to the forum. I listened to the audio and, although the sounds were very faint, it sounded as if Marcus was either sneezing or cleaning up her nares (nostrils). You see, birds don't cough. They can't because in order for a cough to happen, you need to have the kind of respiratory system that mammals have, namely, with two lungs and a 'closed' circulation (meaning, the breath you expel is the same air you inhaled right before the cough). Birds have two lungs like we do but they are not flexible like ours and they also have a number of pairs of air sacs with an open circulation (when birds inhale, the air goes into the lungs but, before it comes out in an exhalation - as it happens to us, for example- it needs to travel through all the pairs of air sacs so each pair of organs -lungs or air sacs- 'pushes' the air to the next pair until it comes out. This means, they can't cough.

They do have something similar to our cough but you need to put your ear to the bird's chest and listen for 'crackling' noises coming from inside.

As to the possibility of the bird sneezing or 'cleaning' their nares... this only happens when there is something wrong. It could be a respiratory infection (does he have labored breathing? a tail bob? weakness in flight? or any other symptom?) , it could be that the environment is way too dry (A/C will do it) and the mucosa in their nares (nostrils) and trachea (windpipe) has dried up, it could be that the air is too dirty (if you use an A/C most of the time, you need to use an air purifier, too), it could be that the bird is not getting enough betacarotene (lack of betacarotene in diet results in vit A deficiency which, in turn, causes the papillae in the choana -back of the throat- to become blunt or even disappear and they need it healthy to 'clean' the air that goes into the lungs), it could be that the bird has always been clipped and his respiratory system is atrophying (birds that don't fly have an atrophied pair of air sacs because that pair can only inflate and deflate completelt when the bird is in flight), etc.

Now, there is one thing that I need you to understand: at one year of age, you are dealing with the equivalent of a child and NOT an adult bird. At that age, the large species look like adult birds in terms of size but they are not, they are still developing and are still very vulnerable to disease. The sad truth is that most pet birds die very young so you need to not only observe Marcus very carefully for any other symptoms, you also need to re-evaluate your husbandry: is the bird getting the right diet, meaning, plenty of raw produce and a good staple food for during the day that is NOT pellets, nuts, seeds or any other protein food? Is the air in the room where he is clean (I assume nobody smokes in your home!) and humid enough for him? Does he fly every day? Etc.

I am sorry that I cannot be more precise but there are many reasons why a bird sneezes and, while most of the causes are easily corrected (better diet, more flight, clean and humid air, etc), it can also be from an infection (coughing is always an infection which could be bacterial, fungal or parasitical) so, if after you have reviewed your entire care of him and changed whatever was not 100% right, the bird continues to sneeze after a few days, please take him to an avian vet because it's going to need prescription meds.

Please let me know if there is anything that needs clarifying or if you have any other doubts.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
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Re: Coughing sounds during the night

Postby GreenWing » Sat Sep 11, 2021 6:59 pm

I listened to this and it sounds like a sneeze; my CAG does it, too, but not often - in fact it's really rare. Is your house dusty? Do you vacuum often, keep the cage clean otherwise? (I have air purifiers and that helps, and my CAG mimics ME coughing... the sound your bird is making though is a legit CAG sneeze).

Anyway, I strongly recommend you take your bird to the vet just to be sure your bird isn't sick. Please take your bird in to be checked -- better safe than sorry.

Make sure your bird is getting a healthy diet with plenty of nutrients for good health...
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GreenWing
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