Parakeet Care

Question
I bought a parakeet about 3 weeks ago.  I believe he is about 8-10 weeks old. I am concerned about the fact that he sneezes quite often.  I would estimate about 10-15 times a day. However, his cere is clear and he does not appear to have any sort of discharge. Other than the fact that he sneezes all the time, he appears to be very healthy.  I brought him to a vet (not an avian specialtist)for an initial check-up a week after I brought him home. She said that he appears to be very healthy. I was going to buy him respiratory medicine, however, I do not want to give him medicine if he goes not need it. Please help. I am very concerned about him. Also, I have been trying to change his diet by switching him from seeds to pellets due to the fact that I read it would be much healthier for him. Unfortunetly I have been unsuccessful at this task. He refuses to eat the pellets.  Any suggestions? Thank you so much for your time and knowledge.
Jessica

Answer
Hi, Jessica.  Thanks for posting.

Your keet could be sneezing because s/he has something in it's nostrils, s/he could have allergies to something, etc.  Are you sure your keet is sneezing and not doing something else (10-15 times a day is a lot of sneezing)?  I ask because it's not often I hear parrots sneeze or hear other's complain about their parrots sneezing.  Buying over-the-counter respiratory medicine is usually a waste of money.  If your keet is truly sneezing, there's a reason for it.  If it's some type of respiratory problem, your keet would be showing other symptoms, and would need an antibiotic, which requires a prescription.  A non-avian vet isn't trained in dealing with parrots, therefore, if you're really concerned about your keet, you need to get s/he to a bird vet who can determine what the problem is.

Are you leaving seed in the cage at the same time pellets are in the cage?  If so, your keet will always eat the seed over the pellets.  Part of the problem is that your keet doesn't recognize that the pellets are food, so s/he isn't eating them.  Try mixing seed and pellets 25% pellets to 75% seed for a week.  The next week, mix seed at 50% and pellets at 50%.  The third week, mix seed at 25% to 75% pellets.  I'd leave the mix at the 25/75 (seed/pellets) because keets are naturally seed eaters.  Also, you might want to try different brands of pellets until you find a brand your keet likes.  In addition, I recommend you also offer your keet other types of food, such as corn bread, cooked brown rice mixed with frozen veggies (unthaw the veggies before mixing with the cooked rice), whole grain breads and cereals, etc.  Be aware that parrots won't eat anything they don't recognize as food, so you have to keep offering the foods every day you want your keet to eat.  Eventually, s/he will try the food.  It could take some time, so don't get discouraged.  Do not keep the seed/pellets in the cage at the same time.  If the pellets/seed mix is in the cage at the same time you offer other food, your keet will eat the seeds.  When I feed my parrots their human soft food mix, I remove all other food from their cage until they are finished eating their soft food.  Then I return their other food to their cage.

If you have additional questions, please come back.

Chrys