# Sick Budgie - need advice !!!



## sj1 (Jan 5, 2011)

I was wondering whether anyone could give me any advice about what to do about a sick budgie- I have got two budgies who live outside in an aviary, who have lived outside for around 18 months so are used to the cold etc. (covered with plastic as it's winter) One of my budgies recently seems to have taken a turn for the worse, he's usually really active but now is just sleeping all the time with his head under his wing.Over, the weekend they had been running short on seed, but I fed them grated carrot which they love, and I could tell he had been eating it because he had carrot juice around his beak. On Sunday I filled up the hoppers with seed and they ate a lot of it, but in the evening he went lethargic and is now (monday morning) how I described earlier (sleeping, feathers puffed up -still on the perch though). He's around five years old and I understand that they live shorter lives outside, but I can't think of any reason why he is sick, other than on saturday it was a very windy day, and if he had a low level illness the wind could have exacerbated the problem - although as the aviary is covered in plastic now it's winter very little wind comes in and they are used to adverse weather conditions, as they lived outside last winter where it got below -10 frequently.
Apart from taking him to the vets which I will do, what should I do? Should I move him inside where its warm?
I don't really want to split him up from his partner as they are very attached and my problem with putting them inside now is that I won't be able to move them back outside until the spring or later as they will presumably be acclimatised to the inside and it would be too cold, and they would have to live in a cage which I'm not keen on. Alternatively, would the stress of moving them around be too much and should I just keep him (and her) in the aviary and monitor him and hope for the best?
Additionally, if the worst were to happen what would be the best cause of action for the remaining bird who is around five- if they had been moved inside should I buy a new friend for her and put them back in the aviary when it warms up or if they weren't moved inside if that was the best cause of action (her and the ill one) should I let her live in the aviary by herself until it warms up and I can get her a friend, or move her back inside and get her a new friend straight away?


----------



## tinamary (Aug 17, 2008)

Its best to take them to the vets but usually when they show signs of illness it means they are really poorly. They hide it well as they are prey species.
I would try and keep it warm and see if there is anything you can see. Is its bum clean? If not u will have to wash it with warm water so the poo does not build up.
you should really isolate it from the other one and keep it warm.
Try ukbudgies.co.uk there are lots of experts on there.


----------



## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

Birds don't stay sick for long, they die quickly. Bring him inside and take him to a specialist avian vet.Uk Avian Vets
If he had lost weight (I'm talking gramms not ounces) from the cold weather and being fed low fat carrot he may not have the energy to put over a full crop.


----------



## sj1 (Jan 5, 2011)

They live outside, so I will bring them in - i'm not keen to separate them because they have such a close bond. In terms of the feeding arrangement they were only without any seed for around a day or a day and a half, supplemented by carrot instead. They usually have lots of seed, millet etc, and it has been a slightly warmer spell recently so I doubt they would have lost weight due to the cold.


----------



## sj1 (Jan 5, 2011)

btw, when you say 'he might not have the energy to put over a full crop' what does that mean?


----------



## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

sj1 said:


> btw, when you say 'he might not have the energy to put over a full crop' what does that mean?


When your bird eats food first goes into it's crop which is just a storage area then it slowly goes into the proventriculus where it is mixed with enzymes and starts to break down. Then it moves into the gizzard which is basically a muscle that grinds the food up. If a bird has lost weight which it could do eating veg rather than a high oill content seed it may not have enough energy left for the gizzard to function properly. If that happens the whole system can get backed up and the food that is staying in the crop instead of passing through can start to ferment and cause sour crop.


----------



## poohdog (May 16, 2010)

Big mistake leaving them without seed for 36 hours in this weather.Birds need all the nutrition they can get to withstand the cold.
Personally I would bring both in and set up a heat lamp next to the cage.And keep them both in until spring arrives.Add some glucose (chemists)to their water for an energy boost.

Some birds can withstand cold temperatures,but they must have a proper diet and draught free roosting perches.Mine all have some background heat at night, and seem happier and more lively because of it.


----------



## sj1 (Jan 5, 2011)

they are inside now - there was still a limited amount of seed left in the hoppers alongside the carrot. I do feel incredibly guilty though as I always do the upmost to care for my animals, however I know he was eating the carrot and he ate a large amount when I gave it to them so I'm not positive its related to that.


----------



## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

To give you some idea of how much difference cold weather makes to nutritional requirements my hawks and falcons in winter will eat 5 times what they will eat in summer and be at a lower weight


----------



## sj1 (Jan 5, 2011)

same with the budgies


----------



## sj1 (Jan 5, 2011)

also the weather was slightly warmer than it has been recently so they wouldn't have been using as much energy to keep warm I presume... from all the signs, watery droppings etc and what the vet has said it appears to be some kind of infection.


----------



## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

This is a crop infection caused by the crop not emptying. Have a read here Birds with crop problems - (crop stasis, crop infection, "sour crop") - Talk Budgies Forums


----------



## sj1 (Jan 5, 2011)

I've brought him and his friend inside and he seems to be getting a lot better, eating and drinking etc, even though he isn't quite back to his old self he seems to be over the worst of it - thanks for the help. By the way, which month/time is best to put them back outside as obviously they have a lot less room inside.


----------



## poohdog (May 16, 2010)

Leave 'em be until there's no risk of frost.Better less space than ill.The bird could quickly revert if put back in the cold,give it some weeks to build up it's defences again.


----------



## sj1 (Jan 5, 2011)

very long time afterwards- but the budgie completely recovered and has been living back outside in the aviary with his friend since May, I was so surprised when he survived I have never seen an animal so ill recover, thank you for the advice. For anyone in a similar situation I would advise bringing the bird inside and bringing in its partner with it otherwise they will pine, in order to heat him back up I put him in the lounge which has a wood burning stove and heated the room with it all day for about three days, and tried to feed him with seed and water from my hands and from going from deaths door where he kept falling off his perch and wouldn't make any sounds within a couple of weeks he was back to his old crazy self and is now happily back outside where he belongs


----------



## tinamary (Aug 17, 2008)

sj1 said:


> very long time afterwards- but the budgie completely recovered and has been living back outside in the aviary with his friend since May, I was so surprised when he survived I have never seen an animal so ill recover, thank you for the advice. For anyone in a similar situation I would advise bringing the bird inside and bringing in its partner with it otherwise they will pine, in order to heat him back up I put him in the lounge which has a wood burning stove and heated the room with it all day for about three days, and tried to feed him with seed and water from my hands and from going from deaths door where he kept falling off his perch and wouldn't make any sounds within a couple of weeks he was back to his old crazy self and is now happily back outside where he belongs


Thats fantastic. You are lucky to still have it as usually they go down hill really fast.
Do you have any heating in your aviary? Does it have a shed that they can go into or are they out in the open all the time?


----------



## sj1 (Jan 5, 2011)

There is no heating inside the aviary, but they have a sort of mini shed that they can go into when they are cold, it is sort of a large wooden box, but despite our best efforts they never use it, so in the winter we put a solid roof on the aviary and cover the sides in see through plastic sheeting to protect them from the wind and they are always fine. I think half the reason why he got ill last time was because a hook on the door came loose in the night and blew open meaning they were exposed to a lot of wind, which I know isnt good for them. In my experience the budgies have no problem acclimatising to cold, the first winter they were out in it was -17C one night and it was the most snow we had in years! we got the aviary from the happy hutch company but they don't appear to sell it anymore.


----------



## Marcelian (Sep 15, 2011)

Hi all,
very nice and amazing animated things,
just take good care of these all !!!!


----------



## usfine (Sep 20, 2011)

Keep in mind the following considerations:

1, contact with birds, chicks synthesis with antibacterial soap before you wash your hands;

2, each time using a syringe and other utensils should be cleaned and put into sterilized after disinfection cabinet;

3, a container filled with water and food to each cleaning and disinfection;

4, do not become a bird into the nursery, do not want to put into a fledgling bird aviary;

5, the best way to prevent disease management, testing and vaccination. Do not think that the use of toxic chemicals to kill all the dirty environment of the bacteria.


----------



## PiercePiemr (5 mo ago)

sj1 said:


> I was wondering whether anyone could give me any advice about what to do about a sick budgie- I have got two budgies who live outside in an aviary, who have lived outside for around 18 months so are used to the cold etc. (covered with plastic as it's winter) One of my budgies recently seems to have taken a turn for the worse, he's usually really active but now is just sleeping all the time with his head under his wing.Over, the weekend they had been running short on seed, but I fed them grated carrot which they love, and I could tell he had been eating it because he had carrot juice around his beak. On Sunday I filled up the hoppers with seed and they ate a lot of it, but in the evening he went lethargic and is now (monday morning) how I described earlier (sleeping, feathers puffed up -still on the perch though). He's around five years old and I understand that they live shorter lives outside, but I can't think of any reason why he is sick, other than on saturday it was a very windy day, and if he had a low level illness the wind could have exacerbated the problem - although as the aviary is covered in plastic now it's winter very little wind comes in and they are used to adverse weather conditions budgies treatment check, as they lived outside last winter where it got below -10 frequently.
> Apart from taking him to the vets which I will do, what should I do? Should I move him inside where its warm?
> I don't really want to split him up from his partner as they are very attached and my problem with putting them inside now is that I won't be able to move them back outside until the spring or later as they will presumably be acclimatised to the inside and it would be too cold, and they would have to live in a cage which I'm not keen on. Alternatively, would the stress of moving them around be too much and should I just keep him (and her) in the aviary and monitor him and hope for the best?
> Additionally, if the worst were to happen what would be the best cause of action for the remaining bird who is around five- if they had been moved inside should I buy a new friend for her and put them back in the aviary when it warms up or if they weren't moved inside if that was the best cause of action (her and the ill one) should I let her live in the aviary by herself until it warms up and I can get her a friend, or move her back inside and get her a new friend straight away?


Hi guys... thank you for all your advice re my now rip Budgie aldervireld...
I’ve homed some budgies that we’re in a outside aviary and the one I lost was one of these. I have a ino I believe hen and I’ve noticed (now they are a bit tamer to me I can get close & some will come to hand) that I think she has mites. Maybe scaly beak and it’s spread to her eye? Her beak was more crusty when we got her and cuttlebone and decent toys she seems to of got some of it off but she still doesn’t look right. I think she has had a bad wing clip coz she can’t get more than 3ft if the floor. She manages with the ladder provided and uses the bars. But she is fluffed up a lot and I don’t think she’s 100%. I bought some scaly beak treatment and gave her the drops yesterday. Needless to say she was not happy and the noise was awful bless her. She does seem happy enough... she will sort of quack at me when I talk to her and opens her beak.
I don’t know if she’s just a scruffy Budgie that’s had a bit of a hard time previously in the Aviary or is poorly. I’ve posted some pictures one without a flash. I just want to get my flock happy and healthy and would really appreciate any advice.


----------

