HELP! Feather problem + scaly face + weird destructive behaviours!!

[Budgie the budgie]

Hi all, thanks for taking the time to read this

There's something(s) wrong with my budgie. I'd REALLY APPRECIATE some help, please. I'm inexperienced at this whole thing, and I will take my budgie to an avian vet this week, but I'd like to advice on what might be the problem first. Thanks so much in advance.

Symptoms in order of importance:

1) There are unidentified white things growing out and above the regular feathers around the neck area (as per attached pic)

2) She can't stop rubbing her face onto hard surfaces - This started when I suspected she had scaly face because she was exposed to another budgie which had the disease for a few months prior to separation, so I put liquid parrafin onto her cere and legs. She accidently ingested some and ever since then she's been compulsively grinding her face (cere and beak) on hard objects like her perch, the metal cage and even potentially sharp edges! Very concerned about her safety.

3) Her beak appears to have some light cracks. So far it doesnt seem to be painful, but combined with 2) and the fact that shes always biting the cage, her beak might crack more.

4) She sneezes sometimes.

5) She never bathes

5) She doesnt eat fruits or even those treats purchased from the pet stores. She doesn't eat anything except seeds.


I'm very concerned about the first 3 problems. Any help or comments would be great at this point, please help. Thanks so much


-Jacqui

[Rob_B]

Hi jacqui,
First of all if you think there is something wrong then there is no harm in taking her to the vets for a check up. The white things that are growing just look like pin feathers to me and they are nothing to worry about. Rubbing against hard things and the liquid parafin thing i aint sure about at all!!! Someone else will be able to advise on that! My chalky always rubs her beak onto her perch so i think thats normal. Also budgies do sneeze so i dont think thats anything to worry about. And lastly why dont you try spraying her with a light mist of water from a clean spray bottle as that is what we do with chalky cos she never bathes. As i sais tho there is no harm in taking her to the vets for a checkup tho just to put your mind at rest.

Sarah

[Budgiekin]

Your budgie sounds like she is moulting (losing old feathers and replacing them with new ones). I agree with Rob about the pin feathers. Those white things you see look like new feathers that are growing in....because those new feathers have keratin sheaths around them, they look sort of like pins which is why they are called pin feathers.

As far as the rubbing on hard surfaces, your little sweety is likely just scratching and trying to break down the keratin sheaths that are surrounding the new feathers...new feathers growing in can cause your budgie to scratch, so again, I wouldn't worry about that behaviour either.

The light "cracks" on a budgie's beak are also normal. Essentially you can think of it like skin peeling....beaks are basically made up of "skin" and will peel to reveal fresh new skin. It would be different if her beak was actually cracking or had a broken tip.

If your budgie had scaley face, you would see crusty growths in and around her beak and cere, often with a honeycomb-like appearance. That doesn't appear to be the case here so I wouldn't worry...although in the 2nd picture, your budgie seems to have a pretty crusty cere. However, you must remember too that girlie budgies have much crustier looking ceres than boy budgies....so what may look like scaley face or mites, may in fact just be normal cere crusting. If you are at all concerned, I would bring her to an avian vet...do not try to treat this with those meds you get in the pet stores, especially if you are not sure if she even has scaley face or mites.

As far as the sneezing goes, that is also normal, provided it is not all the time and is not accompanied by a discharge coming from her nares (nostrils). Budgies do that sneezing behaviour to clear out their nostrils.

The fact that your budgie doesn't bathe isn't unusual. Not all budgies like bathing....many absolutely adore it! You could try spraying her with a light mist (from above and not directly at her with a clean spray bottle - one that has NEVER had any chemical in it). This may encourage her to preen her feathers, and she may actually even enjoy that rather than getting soaking wet in a bath tub.

In terms of her diet, do you provide her veggies daily? If not, that would be a good place to start. You could try clipping some cooked (but cooled) broccoli in her cage. Have you considered offering pellets in addition to her seeds? Pellets are a more nutritionally dense food that is good to provide your budgies. You can crush the pellets and sprinkle them on top of her seeds so that hopefully she ingests some of it. You could also try providing her veggies or pellets in a mirrored cup (or just place a mirror behind the cup with the veggies or pellets)....that way she may see "another budgie" checking out those new foods which may entice her to try them herself.

I hope this information helps. From what I can tell, your sweety sounds healthy and she is just going through a normal moult. I would start to get concerned if she had runny or odd coloured droppings, was lethargic/fatigued, not eating as much as usual, sitting fluffed up in her cage all the time, has blood or other discharge coming from her nares or vent area, stumbles frequently on her perches etc....Any of those signs would necessitate a visit to an avian vet for an exam.

Good luck and let us know how she is doing!! :p

[Budgie the budgie]

Thanks so much Sarah and Budgiekin!

I'll take her to the vet this week nonetheless because she does seem a tad lethargic at times. And I'll seek advice on wing clipping so I can let her out of the cage too.

Thanks all

[Joey]

Your budgie looks fine!:)

[abel]

She looks fine in the pictures.

[Lace]

I totally agree with what Budgie kin says. I beleive she is fine, just going threw some normal processes ^^ you really should try to get her to eat more then seed though, it can be unhealty to just eat seeds. It may be hard to get her to convert to eating other things, but trust me, it will be worth it. I suggest that since she is rubbing against things, try to keep sharp things away from her to prevent her from hurting her self, that may lesson your worry. ^^

[karma]

Great job Budgiekin...lots of great information there.

[ETAHoffman]

Your budgie looks fine to me. The little pin feathers should drop off or "open" and you'll not see any more till next moult.

Don't worry about the bird not taking a bath. Budgies, like the larger Australian parrots, frequently avoid bathing and it is no big thing. If you'll notice, your bird probably frequently ruffles his/her feathers and then they return to their normal state. When the bird "ruffles" it releases a very fine powder that lightly coats the feathers. (If you keep a lot of budgies, you'll notice a fine coating of this powder on everything nearby. Sometimes a real pain to keep dusted!)

It doesn't look like the bird has scaly face. If you ever do have a break-out of it, using SCALEX is quite easy and harmless if used correctly. And, believe me, it works. I always have some on hand in my aviary and, fortunately, have only had to treat one or two birds for the problem. The trick is using it properly.

[redgirl]

Thanks everyone, I found some information that I also wanted to know :)

[Amy]

An old thread yet again. :rolleyes:

[BirdieBabi]

Yeah we have to refrain from posting so old posts. It really annoys me when it pops up on the new posts section

[Amy]

Well, we all make mistakes. :)

[redgirl]

I like looking at the old threads though lol:o

[BirdieBabi]

I know so do I but it's my biggest pet peeve to have that in th new post section

[redgirl]

Maybe Dave will be best deleting old threads then hey, its worth mentioning it to him.