needing help with budgie

[marroqui]

Hi everyone,

It has been too long since my last post and I apologise for that. It has been a hectic three months, with some ups and downs. My life has basically been birds and study, birds and study, then rinse and repeat! I'm now on a short break from study so an finally breathe. I'd like. to inform everyone that our original birds are all doing well, and I will hopefully post an update this week on everyone. But at the moment I am wanting to ask for advice regarding a budgie.

A pet shop here gave my partner a budgie for free a week ago. The worker found the budgie outside of the shop and treated it with mite spray. and the next day when my partner went to buy some things she offered him the budgie so he said ok, and she treated him again with the mite spray. The budgie has been staying in the garage, to ensure he is not carrying anything contagious, as well as, it is more quieter there and warmer when the doors are all shut too.

The budgie has a bit of crust on one of his eyes. He is yellow, and he is VERY small. I think possibly too small for his species? A lot smaller than our lovebirds even. I would actually consider him the size of a sparrow. He eats a lot. But we don't think he is gaining much weight. We did take him to a vet for examination, the one 25 minutes away from us. Who said the crust on the eyes is a possible sign of mites. But she also said they dont appear to be currently present, so it was a possible past issue. She said overall the feathers look fine and the feet etc. However my partner is the one who thinks he is underweight and this wasn't addressed at the vet visit. So we are a bit so-so on the advice. The budgie also sleeps a lot. Well rests his eyes, I dont think actually sleeping during the day but mostly sits in a spot and rests. He perches higher in the cage so doesn't stay at the bottom unless he decides to go eat from the bowl at the bottom. My partner has tried to feed him formula as well and has tried to give him bits of water too.

Do you have any advice on what else we could do? I think if things haven't improved in a week or so we may go to the vet again, one of the ones closer to us. The pet shop put a mite spray called aristopet scaly face and leg treatment: ingredients benzyl benzoate and liquid paraffin. The vet did say that she had vetafarm avimec to put on him if things dont improve as well. She mentioned that what the budgie could have had was cnemidocoples plae (which I think is perhaps a mite?). The pet shop also said they had to trim his beak because it was too long, so it was overgrown previously.

Here is a link to each of the mite products

used by pet shop: https://www.mypetwarehouse.com.au/ar...t-25ml-p-22698

offered at the vet, but not used, also sold in shops: https://www.budgetpetproducts.com.au...rds-50ml/3010/

I am really cautious about bringing him in the house at the moment, and even if there are no more mites present, its more peaceful in the garage so he can rest and recover (hopefully). It has been a week and one day, and he's still alive so I'm hoping that is something. he makes noise when a light is taken away from him or when my partner gets him to feed him. My partner also sprays the garage regularly with mite spray for preventive purposes, and has been doing so for a long time now as he uses the space to rehabilitate birds as well when needed. Overall, I do feel that while the budgie does eat a lot, he still appears to be weak. I do wonder if it takes time to recover. We also dont know anything about him, how long he was outside for, or whether he is only a baby and escaped from an aviary. The first day he was here he kept trying to regurgitate a lot. He hasn't done that since the first day though, so we figured he just didn't like the taste of the mite spray or was only a baby and imitating parents regurgitation.

I've attached photos of the budgie, I forgot to mention, we dont know the gender so have just been saying "he", but we did name him tweety. So the name is useful whether its a boy or girl. We have purchased reptile lamps to provide uv light for him and provide more warmth in addition to a safe heater. In the photos you can't actually see the eye with the crust on it.

I would appreciate any information or advice! Thanks in advance everyone, and apologies again for the long absence!

[boomer girl]

Hi Laila, it is always nice to see your posts here. You new budgie seems to have a rough life outside and you can tell he has been through some tough times. I am sure with you and your partners love and help he will be just fine. I hope it was mites that is bothering his eye and it will get better soon. Is his beak broken? its hard to see it in the pictures. I cannot even imagine what this poor little bird went through being outside and he is a very lucky guy he found his way to your house.

[marroqui]

Hi Deanna, thanks so much. I agree the budgie seems to have suffered outside and I have no idea for how long. I am thinking not too long because I think domesticated ones or even aviary ones would not survive so long outside of their homes. The pet shop lady said the same thing, that it was destiny that my partner went to their shop that day and that she had the budgie there. I hope that if it was mites like the vet said that they are not still currently around and that they havent done severe internal damage. I dont want this to spread to the other birds and we have never had a mite problem. Tweety does eat a lot, we purchased budgie food for him. It actually works out because we Also have diamond doves and a ringneck dove who also can eat the budgie food. I was going to talk more about them in another post. We were getting canary/finch seeds for them, but with the budgie, we were told we can give them budgie food too. Tweety just mostly sits and rests all day. Which I am thinking is normal for now, so he can recover. When Ashu, our lovebird had pain earlier this year she would just sit all day as well, and this was for at least a month or so, and now she is thriving again. I hope tweety will eventually thrive too. His beak is not broken, it was apparently overgrown so the shop trimmed it. And he knows how to eat so I am thinking that he is not a baby but I am not sure. He is just extremely small. No matter what, he is inside a safe place now.

[maxollie]

Hi, Laila. Welcome back to you, your partner, and all of your flock. I admire you both completely for being kind and taking this budgie into your home. It is always difficult to tell the age of a budgie, with no real history of the bird. Did the vet who looked at her give you any idea how old she might be? My view is that she is not a baby, and my estimate would be at least 1-2 years old, maybe even older. And I think you have a girl. The cere above the beak is ivory color, and also somewhat crusty looking. This indicates this budgie has at one time been in hormonal condition to mate. Males have dark blue or lighter blue colored ceres. This budgie could also have been a breeding hen. This particular mutation is a yellow Lutino and at least in the picture, the eyes look reddish in co!or. That is a sign of the Lutino mutation.

To me the eyes look very small, which also tends to make me think she is older. But the mite meds could also have affected them. The feet also look older, as well as the head and body. I have never had mites with any of my birds so cannot give any insight on that problem. It seems to me like this little budgie has been subjected to lots of mite spray, including spraying the garage. I do not support chemicals of any kind around birds. However, I am not judging you for that, and you must listen to the vet of your choice. I also do not support artificial lighting. It is apparent that she has been in a bad life situation, and it will take some time to rehabilitate her, if you can get her through this very difficult time.

As to the overgrown beak, that does happen on occasion to all parrot species. I would begin offering some fresh leaf lettuce and cilantro to her, a few times a week. With budgies you do not ever want to feed any cabbage family fresh veggies to them, because they have a phyto chemical in them that can and often does cause esophageal tumors in budgies. This includes kale, broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, etc. Fresh foods will help to increase her energy and also provide calcium and immunity uptake. I would provide a good birdy vitamin, by mixing a few drops in with her seed mix cup about once every ten days. I do not support putting bird vitamins in the water she drinks, because they can go rancid.

I also would provide her seed and water cups on the upper and lower level. She is bound to be weak, and will benefit having them higher in the cage as well. Once she is 100% improved and back to good health, she will be much stronger, and navigate the cage much better. Sleeping is good for her, and helps to heal her. As long as she is not displaying any other symptoms of bacterial or other illness, the sleep is, in my view, necessary for her recovery.

It is always advantageous to seek other vet opinions, if necessary. We will watch for updates. I am sending good and positive thoughts for her complete healing. Wishing you the best!!!((((((hugs to you ))))))and scritches to all your flock members.

[marroqui]

Hi Ellen and thank you so much for the reply too, I know you know a lot about budgies so I was also hoping to hear from you as well.

I never even thought that Tweety could be older, that is really interesting. I do wonder as well if she was a breeding hen and just escaped her aviary or something like that. But why is she so small? I'm actually thinking she is even smaller than a sparrow. Yes she does have red eyes so I guess she is a lutino mutation, the same as our peach face lovebird astro.

Two days ago she went and drank water by herself, so that felt like a big improvement. And now my partner can hold the water cup in front of her and she will go and perch on it and drink from it. Before reading your post we actually moved everything lower in the cage so that she would not have to use too much energy to get around everywhere. This advice was given to us awhile ago when our conure wasn't well last year and I used an American online vet for some advice who said to move all the perches as low as possible to reduce use of energy while recovering. So I figured this would be good for the budgie too. We have her in a small cage at the moment too, but there is room for her to move around if need be as well. I'm going to refer to her as a "her" from now on, given its possible that she is a girl now. I'm not surprised, we always seem to end up with girls, even when we think they're boys

The vet didn't mention what age she might be. Unfortunately it seems that none of the vets here have much knowledge on birds when we need it. We haven't been to a local vet though yet, so if need be we might do that in the future and maybe they might have an idea as well. It is a shame, and even the vets in Spain find it shocking that in a country like Australia, and in particular Tasmania, where there are so many native and wild birds everywhere, that vets are not trained properly on birds. They are only trained on how to treat common illnesses which is not always enough. It should be a compulsory part of studies. And even in Tasmania, the university here does not even have a veterinary program. That is even more of a shame considering its the greenest state in the whole country with agriculture being the main industry. If any local people want to become vets they have to live interstate to do their studies. Although with the spread of online education, its now possible to study via distance, even for veterinary programs, and to just attend a university physically a few times a year, but they should still incorporate more avian studies into the programs.

This is a link to the bird seed we are currently giving her:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Peckish-Bu.../dp/B07GSJCLR4

If you scroll down a bit it shows the ingredients which mentions it has shell grit, as well as, pellet vitamins. I am wondering if those vitamins would be enough? If she even eats any of them. She may only be eating the seeds right now. Also do budgies need the grit to digest? I read somewhere a long time ago that they do. We also ordered another kind of budgie seed, which is due to arrive in two weeks time, and its a local brand, this is the link:

http://seedhouse.com.au/project/birds/

It is the seed mix right at the top "natural budgie". We get seeds from this brand in bulk through someone here, so for the lovebirds we get the small parrot seed from them, which our ringneck and conures also eat from. Any opinions on which brand might be better? The peckish one is generally cheaper to buy, in the shops at least, but we can usually get a good deal on the seed house one too when the person who orders them can get enough orders from many people.

I remember seeing you mention a lot in this forum about not giving cabbage family vegetables to budgies. I think I asked you previously as well, but is this also true for lovebirds and other parakeets like ringneck and conures? Or just budgies? What about for doves? Which vegetables do you recommend for budgies? just plain lettuce? is romaine lettuce ok? And silverbeet? I used to buy cilantro sometimes for cooking, so maybe I'll start to get them again for the budgie too. And is fruit ok for budgies? My partner gave her a little bit of raspberry today.

I also agree with not putting vitamins or medicines in the water as well, because of what you ,mentioned and because we dont know how often they drink water too. I prefer it on the food. We did this with the conure last year when she wasn't well and watched as she took her medicine while eating her food instead, which was recommended to us by all vets too.

May I ask why you dont like artificial lighting? My partner purchased uv ones in order to provide a little bit more heat. But we always open curtains (and in the garage the door) to let natural light inside on the sunny days. We are in winter at the moment and getting 1 degree (Celsius) weather overnight with maximums of about 12 to 13 degrees during the day. We are also still using the oil filled heaters as well, which have been amazing and gives peace of mind knowing they are safe for everyone too. It's cut the electricity bill in Half too so another bonus.

I also wanted to ask, the crust that is still on one of her eyes: if it was from mites, will it fall off itself? I agree she probably has been subjected to too many mite sprays. My partner will only spray the garage with the spray probably once every two weeks. We won't give the budgie any mite spray. Considering, she is possibly (hopefully) improving in health. I'm not a fan of chemicals either and try to avoid as many as possible. I use lemon or vinegar diluted in water to clean the house now.

Sorry for my long post!

[maxollie]

Hi, Laila. Thank you for the informative post. There are different species of budgies\parakeets. The English budgies are always bigger. If you google .......information on different species of budgies\parakeets .....that should be helpful to you because it will show the different sizes, and should describe each one. Here in America, most budgies that are homed are small. I would say they do resemble the size of a sparrow. My Muffin has a longer tail feather, and with the tail feather he is probably about 4-5 inches long. Also, like all mutations, it often depends upon which bird hatched first, because the older one gets the most food, having hatched first, and then of course each egg hatches every other day. Also, parents DNA contribute to the size, and I feel that hens are often a bit smaller than males. I think once she begins eating and drinking well, including the fresh veggies, minus cabbage family, and also fresh fruits, you will see a big improvement in her. She very well may molt a lot of feathers due to new diet, so do not be concerned about feather loss. I would feed the second natural seed only mix for now. You can always add pellets later. And I steer clear of grit, because it is hard on the stomach and intestines. As to the fruits and veggies, you can feed whichever ones you choose. You and your partner are masters at feeding your flock, so go for it!! I am sure you are feeding cuttlebone too! I do think her little feet are very thin, which makes me think she may have low calcium, and therefore all the good fresh foods and good seeds, will increase her calcium levels and those feet hopefully will get bigger. Any lettuce you choose is fine, except for regular head lettuce which is basically water and does not have the good nutrients that other lettuce has.

And also, Laila, if she is a breeder hen, and to me, her cere sure looks female, who has been hormonal, you also need to watch her for any signs of possible laying of eggs. If her calcium levels are low, the eggs that form will not have a stong shell, and she may get egg bound, or the eggs can break inside of her. So, that is an important reason to get her on a good diet immediately, to hopefully help her to lay normal eggs. With spring approaching there in a few months, hopefully, she will not lay any eggs until then, and will be in good immune and nutritional health by then, so will not get egg bound.

It is very likely any vet could not tell you her exact age. My estimate is only because having had budgies for many, many, years, I can look at one and think of the ones I had that were various years old, and refer back to your pictures of her.

I have never used UV lights, and have only seen comrnts here on the forum about them. Many use them. It is just my ....organic everything....thinking, so it is your choice whether to use them.

As to the cabbage family veggies, the research I conducted that was written by two vets, spoke of only budgies having this problem, so I cannot speak for other species, but, with all the past years or months of you having birds, I am sure you would have had some red flag come up about any or all of your flock members, since you are always feeding fresh foods.

I think once she has the good diet, her eyes will improve. With eyes, there is not, in my view, much we can do about treating them ourselves. Your vet might have the answer. And also, if it were me, I would send pics of and tell the Spanish vets about her. You know how respectful I think of them. They are super intelligent.

And also, I thought she was in a large cage, and since you say small, it may not be necessary to put seed cups and water cups on both levels.

I hope this info is of help to you. We will watch for updates! I have a good feeling that you will rehabilitate her. Being a female is my opinion. On!y a DNA test will tell you for sure!

[marroqui]

Thank you for all the information Ellen. I really appreciate it, it is really helpful.

We won't give the grit to her as my partner said she peels her seeds so doesnt need it. We can give the peckish brand budgie seed to the doves instead who might benefit from the grit. I mean shell grit, not aviary grit. The one that has calcium. That's the one that's in the food. The budgie still has that food as the other one hasn't arrived yet, but apparently she is mostly eating the seeds. I do not think she is eating greens yet. Is silverbeet ok for her? I tried to check online to see if its a cabbage family vegetable and couldn't tell. I think it is also known as chard or Swiss chard? We give that to the lovebirds and the doves seem to like it as well. I will start to get lettuce for the budgie too. We have run out of cuttlebone but hopefully will be able to get some soon to give to her for added calcium.

I think for gender, you are possibly right as you always seem to be right on the forums by looking at the budgie's ceres. And I wouldn't be surprised if she was a girl after all. We always seem to end up with girls.


I will keep an eye on her for egg laying too. For now, she doesnt seem to be interested that and just seems to want to recover. My partner said she flew a little bit yesterday in the garage which was a good sign. She does perch on his finger. And also the crust doesnt appear to be on her eye anymore. I hope thats a good thing and that she's getting better. He said she is gaining a tiny bit of weight. He said she makes noise when she is cranky about something lol. ike if he turns the uv light off or when he slowly starts to blanket her then she starts making sounds. or sometimes she has her blanket on her but the uv light is still on for awhile, if he puts his hand near it she can see the shadow and starts making angry noises. I can't describe the noise but its like a constant chatter but not a happy chatter lol. At least she makes noise though.

I will see if we can contact the Spanish vets again too to see if they know much about budgies. They are really kind and helpful over there.

[maxollie]

She is doing great, and you and partner are as well! I think she is improving. I am super happy her eye is better. And she is able to fly some. The seed mix she is eating now will be fine until you get the other one. I think it would take several months or more for the grit to become a problem. I did a quick research on swiss chard, or as you call it silver beet, and it is a veggie family individually, no relation to cabbage at all, so I see no reason why she cannot eat it. I love it myself. I like to stir fry it with some small cooked bacon pieces, olive oil, fresh garlic, and some chopped jalapenos, and green and red bell peppers! And of course I have to put some hot sauce on top! I love the hot seasonings!! Lolo!

It sounds like she is benefiting from the UV lamp and the blanket! Poor little budgie, she really must have had a terrible life! But the God of our heavens looked down on her and sent her to a loving and caring home and you and your partner, and I am confident she will thrive and love life with you both and the whole flock. I sm sure her forceful chirps are of happiness and abit of attitude! And the warmth from both the UV and blanket, are making her feel so much better. Budgies are such loving and hardy birds. They love to eat, drink, and play with their mirror girl and or boy friends, as I have mentioned, and in all the years I have homed them, they rarely get sick, if at all. And they can learn to talk and sing songs. My Muffin is a master of both, and he simply learned all of it by listening to me talking, and Penny, my cockatiel, talking and whistling and singing. Muffin makes every sound he does! It is amazing!

Hopefully, if she is a girl, she will not get the egg laying started, at least for a few months, but if it does happen, it will be no different than the lovies, and you sure know how to handle them!!

We will watch for updates. And if you do contact the Spanish vets, p!ease let us know what they think of her and her progress in healing.

[marroqui]

Thanks Ellen! I feel like she is improving a little bit each day, but in her case I think it will take more extra time. My partner says she has gained a little bit of weight, not much but a little, which is a good sign. She also seems to be eating a lot more too. Although my partner has been saying he doesnt think she eats much unless he is there.

I do have another question, the last two or three days she has had poop stuck on the feather around her bottom. She still poops normally with poop going down to the floor etc. But from time to time instead of dropping it will stick to her feathers. My partner thinks its because she sits a lot and doesnt move too much so it gets stuck. I tried to do some googling on this topic and found mixed responses from changes in diet causing this to constipation to other kinds of diseases of the liver or even worms, which is frightening me! My partner wants to bring her into the house in a week or two, but if this poop thing is an issue maybe its not such a good idea. To be honest I think she can rest better in the garage, its more quieter there and the doves only make soft sounds. In the house its noisy, the lovebirds chatter all day even though not too loud, but the bigger birds are extremely noisy and I dont think the budgie will rest much with their noise. As mentioned, she still makes normal poop that doesnt stay on the bottom feathers, they drop as normal, I think its probably once or twice in a day it has occurred. I don't know if more than that because my partner is the one who is with her most as I'm with the lovebirds most of the day inside.

I think he mentioned bringing her to a vet one more time previously but I'm not very sure if he still wants to do that. We haven't contacted the Spanish vets yet either.

Also the other day we gave the budgie some romaine lettuce and my partner said she went and pinched some of it.

I love hearing about your little muffin, he sounds so so adorable! We did put toy mirrors for tweety in her little cage to make her feel comfortable. But she mostly rests all day so I dont think she is ready for playing yet. I am the same, apart from the conure, none of the birds we have had have ever been sick, except our beloved kiara and to this day I still dont know how she ended up with liver problems in our care when everyone else seems to be fine. I still dont know what happened to the conure when she was ill either, but thankfully it wasn't contagious and baytril and pssitavet medicines seemed to treat her so maybe it was bad fruit or she ate her own poop I think. While ashu, nala etc have had slight mishaps like injuries or choking, they have never been ill and I really want to keep it that way.

That recipe with silverbeet sounds delicious! Hot sauces are really yummy! I tend to buy the milder versions though lol! You guys are lucky in the states, as you must have so much varieties of hot sauces and seasonings to choose from! Plus maybe some that come from Latin America? That must be nice! Our varieties of brands and sauces here are so boring. I feel that there is not enough to choose from. We do get tabasco sauce in the supermarkets though. And there are some independently made brands of hot sauces, but they can be quite expensive.

Last week I bought fresh silverbeet from the green grocer here and decided to try some in our food too, I had made a sausage casserole with some other vegetables so I added a little bit of chopped silverbeet towards the end. It was nice! Just felt like I had added a herb to the food like when you add cilantro or basil or something. I can't describe the taste os silverbeet, but maybe I could say it was a little bitter? But I liked it in the for and next time I do a casserole dish ill add it again!

[maxollie]

Yum!! yum!! That is MY kind of food! Swiss chard too, is a little bitter tasting raw, but I also like to make a salad with it. I add raw garlic chopped, olive oil, some chopped cooked bacon, and chopped red or green peppers, and I drain a can of black beans, rinse them, sprinkle the beans over the top of the salad, add some chopped raw tomatoes and some Parmesan\Romano grated cheese! You really can use your own imagination with fresh veggies of any kind. I do think the fresh are the best for us too!

I am thinking there could be an ingredient in the bird seed, that might be drying the poops, so it is sticking to her. Try using a very tiny amount of fresh unsweetened and organic apple juice, sprinkled over the top of the seed mix, every couple of days. See if that will take care of the problem. I do not think, right now, it is anything to worry about. With a bird like her, who we have no history, it is difficult to know what diet they had, or in her case, how long she might have had that diet, or had been out in the wild.

I think it is wise to leave her in the garage for awhile longer. She is adjusting well, is content and warm there, and needs time to heal. I agree putting her in the same area as your other flock, may cause her to be afraid, with the noise of the various species you have. You will have p!entry of time to get her used to that new environment.

And I think it would be awesome for you to create one thread only, and post your thoughts and updates there only. I am sure, there are many visitors who are reading your posts and threads.

I think she is definitely on the mend. We will welcome your updates anytime!

Quite honestly, I do not think there is anything better in life than having birds and other animals in our homes. They teach us many lessons of life. I know I would be lost without my two little birds, Muffin and Penny!

Speaking of my Penny, the cockatiel, he is a drummer! He takes his beak to the cage floor or his food cup, and makes rhythm just like a person playing a drum! I started to take my finger and create rhythm on the top of a jar lid, and he learned that!!! Lololo!

[marroqui]

I agree. Birds are life changing and such small fragile little creatures. I really love them a lot. I love the recipe with the beans. We eat a lot of beans here too. Sometimes I use the raw ones and soak them and cook them, sometimes its just easier to have the canned ones too! They are good as warm meals or in salads, as you mentioned. Very healthy and so easy to prepare. I love parmesan cheese. I sprinkle some on nearly everything that I eat! Next time I will try the recipes you have mentioned for a nice quick easy meal. It is really cute what little penny does, making little drum noises!

I wish I had better news about tweety today. She is still alive, but my partner said she has not eaten all day. He is not sure why. He has tried to get her to eat and she won't. She just sits and rests. Which is what she's normally done but at least she was eating a lot, but today - nothing. And there is still poop getting stuck on her bottom feathers occasionally too. Perhaps it is from the seed mix. Maybe the pellets in the mix. She has been making a different sound from time to time as well. I don't know if it is a good sound or bad sound. But she's resting when she does it. More like a squeaky sound rather than her usual budgie style chatter. But if she's not eating at all then something isn't right.

He rang the Spanish vets today. But unfortunately they did say they really would need to see her and check her poop under microscopes etc in order to determine what is going on. They did say to hold off on vegetables for now though and to just provide her with her seeds. It is really annoying that none of the local vets seem to have the facilities or a microscope to just examine a bird's poop. This can determine so many things. It agitates me that we have to be helpless because of this. They really need to get more training on birds.

Update: my partner said she ate just before putting her to bed. He took her out of her cage and made a small little gazebo for her outside of the cage sandpit her inside to warm her up a bit. Apparently she started eating in there for a short while. After she stopped so he made a small gazebo inside the cage on top of the area where she sleeps and he put her in that area and she stayed there while he blanketed the doves. After awhile he said she ate again after she had already had her blanket so its good she knew that her food was right near her. Then apparently she went back to the sleeping spot that he made for her. I dont know why she didn't eat all day though. Normally she eats a lot. I do wonder if there is an issue internally. Maybe its the cause of the poop getting stuck on the bottom feathers too. Hopefully she stays warm throughout the night. I did read somewhere that blankets on the birds cages conceal the heat so that they dont feel the cold air. I hope this is true.

[maxollie]

That squeeky voice concerns me. With the poop problem too, I think of a bacterial infection, or, a respiratory infection. Not eating is a red flag! Do you notice heavy breathing, or rasping. With it being winter there, it is difficult to keep them warm, but yet not overheat them. Are you still using the UV light? Perhaps the room is very dry, due to winter. I would suggest running a warm humidifier like we use for babies in her room,/garage, and place it a distance from the cage, to put some moisture in the air. I would also check with one of the vets to see if using the UV light is OK for her, and also tell them all that you shared here. I also would feed seeds only. You recall reading my many posts here on the forum. I just feel budgies should not eat pellets. Thery are dry foods, and cause dry poops, and from what I researched over the years budgies can present with various health issues, including neurological when eating them. If it were me, I would not feed pellets, but just seeds, as the vet suggested. Without the veggies, eating pellets without them, will make the poops even more dry. And the veggies do help her to be hydrated. She may need a vet visit, and maybe meds!

[marroqui]

I am also concerned as well. I really do not want to infect everyone if there is something contagious. Which is why she is in the garage. She does have the doves and pigeons there too, and to be honest I dont like the doves being too near, however they have always lived outside even in their previous homes so I feel their immunity would be more higher than the indoor birds. I also think the not eating is a red flag. Today is the same thing. She is still alive. But apparently not eating much again. She just wants to sleep. And the poop still gets stuck in her bottom feathers sometimes. My partner thought its because she sometimes just sits too much so it doesnt come out all the way. But even when she is outside sometimes she poops and it gets stuck on the feathers. She still makes normal poop that drops normal too. And her poop is normal colour. I dont know what is going on. I wonder if she had a mite problem beforehand and the damage was internal as well.

She still gets the uv light because apparently it generates warmth for her too. But not directly onto her, she has a blanket wrapped around her cage. She is not breathing heavily or rasping. I am thinking pellets may not be so good either in this case. It is already in the food, so hopefully the other seed mixes arrive this week so she can have that seed mix instead. Are humidifiers safe around birds? I thought I had read somewhere that they aren't good? Or I might be mistaking it with those machines made by the Vicks vaporub brand (I think they are called vaporisers?). I know those aren't good to use around birds and I dont own anything like that.

I've told my partner maybe he would consider a vet but he is undecided. He is worried they will prescribe medicine that may end up not being good for her. And because she has had two doses of mite spray roughly 3 and a half weeks ago just before he brought her here. He doesnt really trust anyone here anymore unless it is for something mild or common.

It is definitely harder to keep everyone warm during winter, I sometimes find it hard to still say that winter is my favourite season. It still is but I feel worried about my birdies and hoping that they are warm especially at night. So far we have been using the oil filled heaters both in the house and in the garage and they do work and keep the areas warm. I hope with their blankets everyone stays warm during the night when the heaters are turned off.

[boomer girl]

I hope she is going to be OK Laila and feels better soon. You are doing everything that I would do if it was my bird and sometimes it takes time for them to finally come around. Poor little girl had a rough life before she found her way too your partner. It truly is sad the vets in your area dont have a way to look at the birds poos because it might be something they could see and easily treat. It is always the first thing they check when we take Tikki to the vets and they did the same with Boomer years ago. I would personally hang wet leaf lettuce in her cage to try to get her to drink a little more water and maybe it would loosen her poos a little bit and hopefully help with them sticking to her rear. But that is just me and I would do it for Boomer when he was not well because he would not drink when his stomach hurt.

[marroqui]

Thanks Deanna. I think she had a rough life too. I wish we knew her history. Since my last post apparently she has been eating like normal again. She still gets poop stuck on the feathers near her bottom from time to time though. But she also makes normal poop that drops normally as it should. And all times its normal colour. I would say smaller than the lovebirds poop but I am thinking that is cos she is a smaller bird too.

My partner asked the lady we get our bulk seeds and French millet from about the budgie. This lady is a registered wildlife carer who had bred birds for years and cared for them for years too so sometimes she does have good knowledge. He mostly wanted to check if she knew anyone that knows how to trim a birds beak properly. And she just said probably one of the local vets. We did ring one of the vets, and they said yes they can trim beaks there. The first vet we ever visited and whom we have brought ashu and Nico to previously as well who treated them properly so if need be I think my partner will go there if the budgie needs another trim. I only know that the shop trimmed her beak because it was too long before they gave the budgie to my partner. He thinks probably the place she came from didnt provide the proper perches for birds to rub their beaks on.

She is still in the garage. I am the one who mostly insists on it staying this way for now as I am really paranoid about my indoor birds especially the lovebirds. They are so small and fragile and I do not want them exposed to anything, they are my healthy babies. Even though in the past some of the birds that came didnt get quarantined or had very short quarantines, all of them appeared healthy. And they are because its been ages and everyone is healthy. But the budgie from day one did not appear healthy so I have insisted that until we get a complete clear bill of health that she remain there. She has the ringneck dove, diamond doves and pigeons as neighbours. And they are more quieter to allow for rest as well.

Being paranoid as I am I have been googling what could be causing the budgie to be good one day and then not eating the next. I did research on avian gastric yeast. Deanna, your precious Boomer had this. I think about what u wrote above about sometimes when his stomach hurt he would not drink. I do wonder if the budgie has a sore stomach from time to time. May I ask do you know how he got the AGY? I read that it is spread via contaminated poop or using the same bowls as a bird who has it. But boomer was an only bird. Unless it can just develop after old age? I will tell my partner to get her to drink more water and hopefully this helps the sticking poop problem. He sometimes gives her head scratches and she really loves it too.

Sorry I forgot to mention what the millet lady said: she said we can feed silverbeet to her. She also said not to worry about the poop being stuck sometimes because it can be from sitting in one spot too long, the same thing my partner thought. That concerns me because our indoor ones sometimes sit and can still poop normally. But he mentioned the budgie sits on a particular toy that doesnt allow for the room to let poop out or something. The lady also said it wouldn't be beak and feather disease either (because I was thinking about this disease when I heard the budgie's beak had to be trimmed". She said while there are always warnings about these things that it is very very rare that this would occur locally.

I know dr google is the worst place to be reading about symptoms etc, but now I am getting paranoid that the budgie may have something like yeast or similar. Maybe she doesnt though. I just dont know. Maybe these are the steps to her changing diet and recovery from possible previous mites and the mite spray? If my partner brings her to the vet for a beak trim then I will see if that vet can examine her properly. He's the one who's not certified but studied birds and can treat common bird problems. I will see if they can do poop examinations too or be able to send it to a lab or something. Surely if he can do bird autopsies then they can do this too.

All I know is that: her beak was too long and was trimmed at the shop. She had two doses of mite spray. The first day she would regurgitate a lot. She has not done that since. She had crust on one of her eyes. She doesnt have the crust anymore. She has always been eating a lot and gained a little bit of weight. Suddenly one day this week she didnt eat much or at all during the day, only that night she pinched a bit. The next day she started to eat again and has been eating normal since then. Her poop gets stuck on her bottom feathers sometimes. But they are normal colour and she still makes normal poop that drops like normal. Partner has processed silverbeet in a blender and fed it to her and she ate some of it this week. Same thing with corn. She mostly rests all day. Apparently she grinds her beak sometimes too.