Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I'm new here - my name is Jill, and I have a rainbow lory, who is 3 years old, named Paco, and he is the most wonderful bird I have ever owned. Anyway, I look forward to reading more posts on this forum. My question is this - our family has recently passed around pink-eye, and last night, I noticed Paco was scratching his right eye profusely and closing it almost constantly. This morning, I noticed that the lids are pinkish instead of grey in color. Does anyone know if pink-eye can be caught by birds? If not, does anyone have any idea what this might be, and if I should take him to the veterinarian? I'd appreciate any feedback. I have owned birds all my life, but we had mostly parakeets and cockatiels, and they never had any eye problems. Thanks a bunch!

I really haven't heard of a bird getting pink eye from a human and "most" illnesses are species specific or at least specific to birds, humans, reptiles etc (not all but most).

There are several things that can cause this in a bird, it could be an infection, it could be a virus, it could be an allergy, it could be just an irritant. The best way to find out for sure would be to have a vet look it over. If your bird hasn't seen a vet recently this would be a great time to get her/him checked out fully.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for your response!! His eye seems to have recovered. My husband thinks he probably scratched it too hard one day and irritated it. With all the allergens floating around in the air, too, these days, your suggestion of an allergy wouldn't surprise me, either, as I have been having very itchy eyes as of late, too!! Thanks again so much for your reply - I truly appreciate it.