new with a sick bird

[silverowl]

Hi

I have a 7 yr old Budgie. He's my talker. He hasn't been himself.

I brought him to my vet... (not Avian, but he has Parrots, so he knows about
birds, and has helped me with my other birds, before) I thought I would lose my
bird, getting back from the vet. He stressed out so much. When I got home,
he was hanging on the cage, and breathing very heavy.
The vet didn't find any tumors, or respiratory problems. This is a problem, I have never seen. I've been through the other things with some of my birds.. all at different times and years !!

My vet did tell me, it might be diabetes.. and maybe take blood from him. But, I did not do that, as yet. I'm wondering, if it's the seed? I never had problems before with seed..but, I want to rule things out, and there is always a first
time for anything !!

I have a light near the cage. But he doesn't actually go near it. He seems to be fine without it. And he can get away from the heat.. it's only a 60 watt bulb. I couldn't find a lamp that would allow 100 watts. But it does give off heat.. just not so much.

He preens, eats, and drinks, but doesn't chirp or talk. He tends to be puffed up, (not all the time) and sleeps a lot. This has been going on for about 2 weeks now.

I haven't given him any vitamins. and not sure if I should start.

Hope you can give me some advice.

Thanking you in advance.

Silverowl
Long Island, NY

[Amy]

Aww poor... whats his name?

7 is quite a good age and you should provide a mineral/vitamin block or cuttlebone to make him strong and healthy.

Oh I all most forgot, Welcome to Talk Budgies! I hope you enjoy yourself here!

Long Island NY? I've been on holiday there!
I live in Hampshire in England.

I hope some of the other members can help you with your sick budgie.

[Bea]

I would keep up what you're doing, making sure he's warm and comfortable. If i were you i would take him back to the vets for tests, that's the only sure way to diagnose budgies.

[Dave]

Hey silverowl! Welcome to the site :) .

[Budgiekin]

First of all, welcome to the forum! It's great to have another member!

I can't agree more with Bea. Not only do you want to make your budgie comfortable by keeping him warm, you will want to take him back to the vet, preferably an avian specialist, for tests (e.g. blood count and blood chemistry, fecal smear/gram stain. . .). A blood test is probably the single most important test that can be run on a bird. It can help identify if your bird has a bacterial infection (which can be treated with antibiotics). Diabetes in budgies is quite rare.

I wouldn't worry too much about the panting, unless it is all the time. It is most likely that your budgie was stressed as a result of his trip to the vet. Once they get home and have a chance to settle down, they should return to their normal breathing pattern.

Here are some questions for you to think about. (I am sure you have already considered many of them). However, maybe thinking about these questions will help other budgie owners in a similar situation:

Is your house cold? What temperature do you have it at? Do you have adequate humidity in the house? How is the air quality? Are there any drafts? Have you considered using a ceramic heat-emitter (it doesn't emit any light; just heat) to keep him warm?
Are his poops normal looking? Is the poop just one blob with no distinctive white center surrounded by a greenish or brownish ring? Are there seeds or blood in the droppings? Are there very many droppings?
Does he eat less than usual?
Are seeds his only source of food? Does your budgie have an overgrown beak? Birds on an all-seed diet with restricted exercise are prime candidates for hepatic lipidosis (i.e. fatty liver disease). It may be possibile that the seeds are lacking in iodine which could mean your budgie may have a thyroid problem.
Did your budgie get much exercise over his lifetime up until recently?
Has anything changed in your budgie's life lately? Death of a mate? Moving to a new house? New cage?If you are considering making changes to your budgie's diet at this time, I would say don't. The worst time to try to change your budgie's diet is when he is ill. This isn't to say however that you shouldn't now offer a mineral block or cuttle bone. I am just referring to the idea of changing his seed or trying to convert him to pellets. Making changes now could precipitate a further health crisis.

If your budgie is clearly showing signs of illness, which apparently he is, he is likely quite sick since they will do their darndest to hide their illnesses.

If you can think of anything else that he is doing (or not doing) that isn't his normal behaviour, be sure to share that with us too. It might give us some more clues about what the problem could be.

Be sure to keep us up to date with your budgie. I think I can speak for everyone by saying that we hope he recovers from whatever is ailing him.

[Mistyoriline]

Hi and happy late..... Welcome:)