# Growth or feather cyst on my boy?



## Alak (Jul 27, 2016)

So, a few days ago I discovered a weird feather that was growing out on my budgie in a weird way. It was kind of curling out, and looked to be a bit bigger than a regular feather/bloodfeather. He's been lacking a couple tailfeathers for a while now, and his tail has started to "split", in as the distance between his tail feathers got bigger. I'm going to see the store where I bought him for advise on a good Avian Vet, as I dont know of any good ones in Oslo. 

Just wanted to see what you thought of it. I managed to get a few good shots, and yeah, there is a feathery bit sticking out of it, but it's too "fat" to be a normal feather, and I think there is puss/"cheezy stuff" there as well.

His behavior is just as it has used to be, no real problem there. He's really happy, chirping away, and as for now it doesnt seem to bother him. He's always had a problem with biting his own feathers, a stress-symptom he got the first months he was here, so I thought it was something to do with that. But this is clearly something else.

Hope you can take the time to look into this, and I'll get him to the vet as soon as I can. Never moved him, or grabbed him though, so I hope there is a vet that can come to me instead of me having to go to them :/. 

Thanks, and have a great weekend!


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

Welcome to the forums,

From the pictures it does seem that the feather was unable to properly grow due to the cyst-like obstruction. At this point it's not even clear if it's just one frayed feather that is affected or more than one.
The growth also seems to be very close to the preen gland and I'm not even sure if it's the actual preen gland that is causing the issue.

I hope you will be able to find an avian or exotics clinic to take your budgie to.
It's highly unlikely that the vet will make house calls and besides an examination, your budgie may need to be tested and that is best to be done at the clinic.
You can simply transfer your budgie to a small travel cage (you can gently catch him with a towel or place both cages with the open doors facing each other in order to facilitate the move). You can then cover the cage on 3 sides having a heating pad or hot water bottle underneath the cage to provide extra heat if needed (depending on the temperature over there). Then you place the cage on the car and travel to the clinic. During the ride you can reduce your budgie's stress levels by having some music on low volume.

Maybe you can find a vet by checking this link: https://www.facebook.com/Exotic-Avian-Vets-Norway-630285437014545/

I'm wishing your budgie a steady and full recovery.


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## Alak (Jul 27, 2016)

Thank you very much for your reply Aluz! That is all very valuable information.

Good point about the preen gland, it might be that it's a combination of a swollen/infected preen gland and feather cysts. I think it might be more than one feather, and that is why a surgery would be a sad thing to do, if it makes the tail feathers unable to regrow. But my boy Ruben (his name) is not really good at flying anyway, seeing as he keeps on biting his wing feathers. 

I went to the store where I bought him today, and they suggested a vet who is very close to my house, and is one of the best in Oslo. They dont do home visits, but I should be able to start a dialogue with them through mail. So I'll show them all the pictures I've taken so far, and that will help a lot . The store clerc thought the feather needed to be surgically removed. 

When I got home from my trip to the store, Ruben was preening his tail, and he started preening the growth as well. If i hadn't been here, I wouldn't have seen that he pulled a piece of it off. An old blood feather, it seems, or at least a part of it. So now he's starting to clean up the growth.


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

It's really good your budgie has managed to preen the troublesome feather out.
From the photo it really seems the feather was badly formed.
Was this a one time event or does Ruben at times grow irregular feathers?
If it happens more often it would really be best to have him properly diagnosed, because he could have a feather disturbance in need of being addressed.

Be sure to keep a close eye on Ruben because when preening the area, he can rupture the growth and start bleeding.


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## Alak (Jul 27, 2016)

Well, I believe it was only a small part of the main growth I took pictures of in the first post. The main growth is still there, so I'll need to get him diagnosed by the vet, to see if he needs surgery or not. 

And yet again, thank you for the tip about irregular feather growth, I'll keep that in mind as well. He has some shabby looking feathers from time to time, but that might just be because of his biting habit. I'll update this thread as I know more. He's still doing great. Tail is not bobbing, he's had a bath and is chirping along with his buddy.


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

I'm glad Ruben is in good spirits.  We will be waiting for the update after you see the vet, best of luck!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Hi! :welcome: to Talk Budgies

I'm glad you'll be taking Reuben to the vet soon and will be looking forward to your update.

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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hello and :welcome: to the forums! 

I'm so glad that Ruben seems to be doing well! I hope that the vet visit is successful. 

He's a handsome boy, I hope he feels better soon :fingerx:

In the meantime, be sure to read through the links provided, as they will be of great help in ensuring you are up to date on the best of budgie care practices. :thumbsup: 

If you have any questions after reading through everything, be sure to ask as we'd love to help!  

Keep us posted on how he progresses! 

Cheers! :wave:


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## Alak (Jul 27, 2016)

Thank you for all the replies . Just want to give a little update on Ruben.

Finding a vet took longer than I expected, but now we finally found a good avian specialist. It's nice to know who to contact if something happens to my budgies in the future.

We're gonna take Ruben to the vet tomorrow after work, so he'll be checked up then. The vet also agreed that looking at the pictures it looked like a feather cyst. She couldn't tell if the cyst was connected to the preen gland, and that was the main reason for concern. He is still in high spirits. Been eating egg and veggies today, gotten a nice bath and "flew" a few times (he cant really fly, so its more gliding towards the floor, and then asking us for help to get back up to the cage ). 

I'll also post an updated picture I took today. You can see the feather have really grown, and by the looks of it, it might actually be two or even three feathers that are affected. I'm glad we're going to the vet tomorrow, because it doens't look comfortable, and as the feather curls backwards, it messes up his other tailfeathers by being in the way.

I'll post an update after we've been to the vet. And again, thanks for the tips for traveling Aluz. I've bought a transportation cage, and will cover it up like you said .


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## Jo Ann (Sep 3, 2011)

*Growth*

I am so glad you are taking your budgie soon to see the avian vet. From what I can see the cyst will need to be cleaned out asap as they can become chronic
and future cysts become an increasing problem. Please keep us informed.
Blessings, J A


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

I'm glad to hear that you'll be taking him to the vet; I hope that Ruben will continue to do well 

Keep us posted! :clap:


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## Alak (Jul 27, 2016)

I'm sad to say that it was worse than we thought. It was an active tumor, and our vets reccomendation was that we let him go. 

It turned out that he had a few other problems, including a clicky breathing noise, a skin problem causing him to shed "dusty" skin flakes (this might've been the cause for the feather biting). We got credits for doing everything else right though, he was a healthy bird on every other aspect. Not thin or fat, and he got all the right foods and vitamins that he needed. Which is good to know for our other bird who is three years old.

I'm really, really sad to say that we let him go yesterday. Hopefully he's in a better place now.


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## JoTaMi (Jan 25, 2017)

Good wind, little Ruben


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Alak, I'm so sorry to hear that your little Ruben has passed on to the Rainbow Bridge. His suffering is now ended and he is free of pain or discomfort. 

If you'd like, you can post a memorial to your darling boy in the "In Memory" section of the forums. For now, I'll close this thread. :hug:

Fly high and rest well, Ruben.


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