My Parakeet Flies Funny

User Question
One of my parakeets flys funny. Like shes too heavy or something. She eats well and plays. Could she be pregnant?

Lisa's Answer
Parakeets don't carry babies within them like humans do. They lay eggs - and they can lay eggs at the rate of an egg every 2 days. They don't really "carry eggs" inside them for months and months. So unless this was just one or two days that you noticed your parakeet flying funny - and then she laid an egg - I really don't think it's a baby-in-the-parakeet issue.

There IS a condition that occurs in birds called egg binding. This is when the egg somehow gets stuck within the parakeet. This can be very dangerous for a parakeet, as you might imagine. A parakeet that is egg bound is usually obviously ill. She'll sit at the bottom of the cage, breathing heavily as she tries to push the egg out. Also her poops will get much larger because they'll be bunching up inside her, getting stuck going past the egg. If it looks like your parakeet might be egg bound, you need to take her to a vet.

But if your parakeet is just FLYING funny but seems normal in other ways, it's probably just an issue with the wings. I have three parakeets and out of them, Pinto is the worst flyer. For no reason at all, when the other two are flying towards a spot in the room - say the top of the curtains - Pinto will just not quite make it and spiral downwards. Then I go rescue her and she flies back up and is fine again. She just doesn't have as much energy or wing strength as the other two do.

Of course if you clip your parakeets wings this would be causing the problem! But my parakeets are fully feathered and even so, Pinto sometimes doesn't quite make it to a destination. It's just like with human beings and sports. Some humans are good at sports, some are great at sports, and some just aren't quite that good. Your parakeet should be happy that it's in a safe environment where flying is just for fun, and not a necessity to escape predators!

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