Budgies are one of the more commonly kept types of birds as pet and although they are often easy to keep, especially for people who are new to keeping pet birds, we do still see a number of questions each month about caring for a budgie.
One of the more common questions that we have seen recently is from people reaching out worried about budgie panting but this does not always mean that there is something wrong with your pet budgie so we wanted to publish this article to help as many of our readers as possible.
If your budgie is consistently panting then it can be due to stress, anxiety, and fear in the bird with there being a number of reasons that can cause these issues in a budgie.
In some budgies, they may pant if they are having problems regulating there temperature and this can be common if the ambient temperature in your area has rapidly increased within a couple of hours.
In some cases, a budgie panting can be due to a respiratory infection in a budgie but this is a less common symptom.
If you notice that your pet budgie is panting as well as wheezing as it breathes then this could be a strong indication that the bird has a respiratory infection so you may want to book a video call with a veterinarian to have them assess the state of your budgie to offer professional advice on how to proceed with treatment.
What Does It Mean If My Budgie Is Panting?
A budgie panting is not considered a normal behaviour but some budgies can pant for short periods during the day, often less than fifteen minutes without there being anything wrong.
If your budgie is panting for longer than this on a consistent basis then there is probably a potential problem or trigger that is causing this behaviour in your pet budgie.
As we covered in our article on a budgie opening and closing its beak for no reason, some budgies will develop habits and behaviors that are not considered normal for most budgies but just like in habits in humans, it may be normal for your specific budgie.
You will know your pet budgie better than anyone though so it is usually much easier for you to try and workout if there is a potential problem with your budgie with its panting or if it may just be a habit.
Budgies tend to be more intelligent than many people think and you may be accidentally encouraging your budgie to pant and built up a habit.
Naturally, if you realize there is a potential problem with your budgie you will give it attention when you investigate the problem and potentially take the bird out of its cage.
Your budgie may accociate panting with playtime and being able to get out of its cage for a little while and the que and reward link can be formed to create the habit causing your budgie to pant when it wants to play or get out of its cage but this is rare.
Is Panting Normal Budgie Breathing?
The only situation where it can be considered normal for a budgie to pant is if the ambient temperature in your area has increased rapidly causing the budgie to struggle to maintain a steady temperature.
Budgies tend to need a slow, gradual change in temperature to allow them to acclimatize correctly so a rapid increase in temperature will often result in budgie panting to try and cool itself down.
If you do suspect that your pet budgie is only panting due to having problems with temperature changes then letting the budgie take a short bath in a bowl with a small amount of water in it can be a great way to help your budgie cool down.
One thing to note is that the water in a budgie bath has to be room temperature as the cooling effect happens when the heat from your budgies body is used up to evaporate the water off your bird.
Many people think that they need cool water to help reduce their temperature in their budgie and although this can work, it presents a risk of chilling the internal organs of your budgie so we always recommend water that is room temperature.
Its just not worth the risk to put your budgie into cooled water as it really doesn’t take much to cause a budgie problems with its core temperature.
How Can You Stop Your Budgie From Panting?
If your pet budgie is panting because of fear, stress or anxiety then you are usually able to stop your pet budgie from panting by removing the cause of these emotions.
If your budgie is panting due to having some sort of a respiratory infection then you will often have to get some type of medicine from your veterinarian to help your budgie get better quickly.
The problem with fear, stress, and anxiety in a budgie is that you will often struggle to easily identify the cause of the emotion and it can take a surprising amount of time to workout what is triggering your budgie and causing it to pant.
One thing that we have seen time and time again is that it may be other pets in the household, often pets that a budgie has lived with for many years without issue with the budgie potentially even being friends with the other pet.
The slightest thing may be able to change your budgies perspective of the other pets in your home with something as simple as your pet dog looking into the budgies cage to see the bird and barking loud giving the budgie a shock.
Even if the budgie used to be fine with your dog, moving forward, it may be a trigger for fear and cause your pet budgie to pant when your dog enters the room.
What Should You Do If Your Budgie Doesn’t Stop Panting?
If you have tried to work out what the cause of your budgies panting is and tried to take steps to prevent it but your budgie still pants then you should seek advice from an avian vet.
The budgie may have a respiratory infection and it is rare that the bird will be able to recover from the infection itself without having medication to help it.
As we touched on earlier in the article though, some budgies can develop a habit to pant or just do it as a part of their normal behaviors.
Ususally respiratory infections will also have other symptoms in a budgie with the bird wheezing when it breaths, the bird having to take deep breathes that sound like a sigh and the bird being quieter and more lethargic as usual.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over why your budgie is panting and how to stop it to an end. We hope that we have been able to help you better understand the potential causes of a budgie panting as well as how you are also able to go about preventing the behaviour in your bird in the future too. Thankfully, most of the time you can workout the cause of the panting quickly and get your bird back to normal within days.
