Crop Infection

[Jen84]

Hello Everyone,

My poor Petrie suddenly became very ill on Tuesday (feathers all fluffed up, did not want to play with his cage mate Oliver, did not want anything to do with being outside the cage and would not sing). Wednesday afternoon I could not take it anymore and I rushed him to the vet. The vet gave me medicine for a bacterial infection. She said its most likely a crop infection.

1) I am still confused on how he could have got this infection, does anyone know? I understand that there are many causes.

2) A friend told me not to put sand on the bottom of his cage, that budgies do not need to eat sand to help them digest food. Is this true? Do I need to put bird sand on the bottom of my cage?

3) How can I prevent this very expensive vet bill from occurring again. I want to try and prevent another bacterial infection / crop infection from happening to Petrie and Oliver.

Thanks everyone! Any information or advice is greatly appreciated!:budgie::budgie:

[ronsig]

My Tweety once had a crop infection. The vet said there was nothing I could do.

I would start a 2 water dish system. You take one water dish out, clean it and let it air dry overnight. Most germs will not die that way. In the meantime you use the other dish.

Budgies do not need sand. But it is not the cause for infection. Sometimes sick budgies eat sand to make them feel better. But that is not good. But they do need calcium...:)

You could try to find "Bird Bene Bac" and give it to your bird after the antibiotics are done. It works like yoghurt in people, restoring the good germs.

I hope it was a one time only thing ...:)

Sigrid

[Jen84]

Thanks for the advice about the bird sand. I just spoke to my vet and she too said sand is not necessary. That is good to know bc I have always used bird sand and I have used sand for every budgie I have owned.

I will definitely try the Bird Bene Bac! Ill have to see if I can find some :)

The vet said there was nothing you could do about the crop infection? How did you get rid of the infection? What did you do?

[ronsig]

Thanks for the advice about the bird sand. I just spoke to my vet and she too said sand is not necessary. That is good to know bc I have always used bird sand and I have used sand for every budgie I have owned.

I will definitely try the Bird Bene Bac! Ill have to see if I can find some :)

The vet said there was nothing you could do about the crop infection? How did you get rid of the infection? What did you do?

No, I meant to say "there is nothing you can do to prevent a crop infection". My bird got antibiotics to treat the infection.
Yes, in the "olden days" we had sand at the bottom of the cage. Things change, just like in human medicine.:p
You can find Bird Bene Bac in some pet stores or online.

Sigrid

[Kate C]

Crop infections are more common in young birds being hand raised, usually by giving food too cool. This causes the crop to slow down and the food in it to sour. Also can be caused by overfeeding or underfeeding the baby and the crop slows. The crop slowing can also be caused in extremely hot weather or any stress for that matter can cause a slow crop. I have this problem at the moment. I had 2 baby princess parrots in the nest that I was going to bring in for handraising after Wednesday this week. Monday we had an extremely hot day, it had been very hot for at least 4 days, but Monday it was over 42C or over 100F. The parents were doing a wonderful job with the babies so that was not a problem but both babies dehydrated, the elder baby died and I immediately pulled the younger one, along with the 2 baby Rainbow Lorikeets that are about the same age. The Princess chick's crop is very slow so at the moment I am feeding a very runny mix of Paw Paw (Papaya), strained baby apple, bi-carb soda, a small amount of hand raising formula and water, making sure the mix is at least 40C for feeding. The crop is working but very slowly. Dehydration is one of the biggest killers with our babies and they will die of that long before they die of starvation. I am also adding a small amount of Spirulina at one feed a day. Spirulina causes the food to be used better (they get more nutrient out of the food) and also can aid in digestion. I am just hoping I can save this little one.

In older birds it is often caused by soft food or fruit and vegetables being left too long in the cage and the food souring. With a young bird being hand raised if you notice the crop slowing a pinch of Bi-Carb Soda (Baking Soda) in the food, this brings the crop back to alkaline from acid or if caught before the crop sours keeps it at alkaline and can prevent sour crop.