IndianRingNeck.com

Kibbe (5mo old IRN, came to live with us on Friday) is doing a strange itching thing... her nostrils and eyes are clear, and she does not appear to be in any discomfort or distress.. but she frequently takes one of her toes and digs at the end of the top (red) beak. Almost like she has food caught in her "teeth." I cannot see anything obstructing her beak/mouth; she eats just fine, and her toenails are all okay. Any ideas?
The only other thing I've noticed is she had a small sneezing fit last night - about 6 or so sneezes in quick succession - but just that one time.

it is just a nervous symptome.
give him interests ( toys etc), good food with vegetables and fruits and supplements ( Calcium ) and spend time with him.

Yeah they like to chew on their toes

The sneezing probably is nothing to worry about unless you see discharge.
Your humidity may need to be higher in your house. I see you live in Michigan and I don't know about your house but mine is very hard to maintain a fairly high humidity when running the furnace or a wood burning fireplace or stove.



Donna

how much is the humidity in your house donna?
here we have enough humidity, inside my house, now with the central heating, is about 60-75%.

Indoor plants help add humidity. Not much, but it can be enough. Now I'm just imagining everyone up north filling their birdrooms and the area around their cages with potted plants... he he.

Our birds even trim their own nails! And yes, it does seem to be a nervous habit and some birds do it more than others. Hane doesn't often, but if you're holding Tsume he will bite his nails almost continually. If we don't let him chew his nails, he'll pluck a feather. We're working on getting him more comfortable and confident. It's just taking time.

Jibby does this too, it looks like hes trying to pull his nails off, but he will usually do this after a preen. I just thought it was part of the preening process. Sometimes they will sneeze to dislodge something in the nares. Mine usually sneeze after having a bath. (water up the nose is not pleasant!) or if they are grubby and get food all over their beaks and up the nares.

I want to know all about this humidity thing that alot of owners in America talk about. They seem to place alot of importance on having a high humidity environment ? Just wondering.

Me too.

By the way - IRN snot can be quite plentiful at times!
Have had a few facefuls over the last few years, and it amazes me how they don't scratch themselves when they jab a claw into their nostrils (yeah, not a birdy term)!!

I like to keep my house humidity at about 75% and in the breeding room when they are on eggs I keep it about 85% humidity makes it easier for chicks to hatch from the eggs. But mostly I have all kinds of birds and some are native to the rain forests and wet lands so if the house gets to dry they have respiratory problems and sneezing. It's not good for a macaw to be housed with dusty birds such as the grey, cockatoo, and tiels, so I have the macaws housed away from them in another room.




Donna

cookie sneezes after a bath too. dont need to worry bout humidity here i live in the lismore region and its always humid love living in the wok of australia

Most of those concerned with humidity are in the northern climates, during the winter. Especially breeders. Some birds will even bathe before entering the nest box to help with humidity for the eggs. xD



Here in FL, we have noooo problems with humidity, that's for sure!


Egg shells are permeable and they have a semi-permeable membrane inside, so they can lose and gain moisture.

"The humidity should be high enough to prevent the... chick from sticking to the membranes and drying out."
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/incubation.html