# Budgie locked feet joints



## Zero_479 (9 mo ago)

Hello,
So I adopted a female budgie with chicks. The nest was always cared for and it was cleaned almost every day until the female budgie suddenly decided to clean the nest herself and ever since then, I never had to worry about chick droppings inside the nest. There is one thing I did care of, which is to check everyday that bird poop isn't stuck on the chicks feet because it can cause splayed legs, which I was advised on some of my previous posts.
All 5 chicks are growing beautifully and are very active. The issue is that the oldest in age now has locked feet joints. His fingers are physically locked at a 90° angle (I'll post a picture of this later as I forgot to take them).
Now I want to point out that I used to check on the chicks individually by taking them out if the nest each week. The oldest chick 4.5 weeks old now. He was always the strongest one as well as the active one. He used to walk perfectly fine in my hand and his feet had strength as he would cling to my fingers as a perch. But lately I noticed him having less energy. And when I took him out, he couldn't grab onto my fingers, I tried to uncurl his feet and noticed they were locked. The left feet is severely locked whereas the right foot still moves but has very less strength.
What went wrong? I don't think that it's calcium deficiency as I have a calcium block with 24/7 access, and the parents are always nibbling at it's. They mainly eat a seed mix, lots of spinach, lots of cilantro and mint leaves every 2 or 3 days.
How are the rest of the chicks fine? And why did it only occur recently to just one bird? 
If I remember correctly, I am positive that around the 3rd week mark, his feet were normal and had normal strength, he could grab and cling to my fingers perfectly fine. He used to roam around the nest but now he doesn't. So clearly something happened along the way. Maybe he has some health issue? 
Also, I do not have any avian vet near me. I do know a vet for exotic animals but he said he had no idea and cannot give accurate diagnosis. I actually don't have any avian vet anywhere in my country, only vets for bigger animals like mammals.
I should mention this again, I will post pictures later on that accurately show what I meant by his left fingers locking at a 90° angle.
I also don't play with them. I only take the chicks out of the nest to make sure they're healty and have no weakness once a week, I didn't need to do this every day as the mother cleans the nest herself.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*The individuals on this forum are not trained professionals and they cannot diagnose your budgie's problem nor give you an answer as to "why" this has happened. 

You need to contact an on-line Avian Veterinarian for assistance with this matter.
Either that, or get back in touch with the Exotic Pet Veterinarian and ask him/her to contact Avian Veterinarians for their help and opinion.*

*Ask an avian vet - get bird care answers ASAP*
*Appointments, consultations, phone, skype, iChat, e-mail - Budgie Health*
*Just Answer Veterinarian for Birds*

*From the pictures posted, I believe your chick is a female. Were the photos taken with a flash?
If so, that makes a difference as it washes out the color of the cere.

Good luck and please let us know how things progress.*


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## Zero_479 (9 mo ago)

Hi, 
I got a private reply with information on where to get online help. Your links help too so thank you for that. The images are not taken with a flash. Is it possible to know the gender of a 5 week old bird? The bird in the picture is 5 weeks old. And from what I know, the color is not supposed to change until it ages quite a bit. So are you sure it's a female? I'd like to name her if that's the case. This one's quite active and will bite if I bother her too much by touching, but is comfortable in hands otherwise.
I am going through the process of avian veterinary advice and will update whatever information I end up with.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*It is quite possible to tell the gender of budgies from a very young age.
Yes, your budgie is a female.

I'm glad you will be getting veterinary advice with regard to her feet and am hoping for the best for her!*


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## Zero_479 (9 mo ago)

Update on budgies feet:
Ok so as per some guidelines given to me, I used the tape method. I later on search online for more information as I was a bit confused. Anyways I put on the tape as shown below.









One complete loop around each leg. She was hesitant at first and wanted to bite the tape off. But got used to it soon. I didn't bother her for two days but she soon started to grab onto the cage and hang. I saw some hope. Then after three days took the tape off as I was seeing some red marks from the edges of the tape. 
Results after the tape method. The leg which was completely splayed got fully fixed. The leg with the locked joint (left) became fully paralyzed after one day of taking off the tape. I didn't put the tape back on as she could sit on a perch comfortably and could walk with limping. Today, the left leg or the paralyzed one is working normally, her sensation has returned and she can hop around. There is still some weakness but she's fine. She can fly pretty good and cam land almost perfect every time even on complex surfaces.
Will be seperating her from her parents as both bully her. The male is a clearwing with normal green and yellow color, and the female is a Lutino. But the kid is blue based for some reason. Maybe she's a rare one cuz both her parents are yellow based. But the bullying is getting out of hand so I have no choice but to seperate her.

Took this today:









She's 6 weeks old now. Right now she's in a small temporary cage. Going to buy a permanent bigger cage today or tomorrow. 

Hope she does not have any underlying health conditions that may have caused splayed legs and paralysis.


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## Zero_479 (9 mo ago)

One question, can I know what kind of color she has? I cannot figure it out. Is she Pied? Is this gene dominant? She has the genes of both a clearwing and a Lutino. So what kind of genes does she have now?


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*If you ever use tape on a budgie again, PLEASE use surgical tape. She's looking great and is a VERY pretty little one. 
Thank you for separating her from her parents. We don't want this darling baby to be bullied at all.
I'm closing this thread now.

Please post her picture and your question regarding her mutation in your new thread in the "Mutations and Gender" section of the forum.
Also, please tell us her name in that post!*


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