# Budgie lost flight feathers and cere changing colour



## ChaisPas (Nov 10, 2021)

Hi everyone,

Two days ago one of my budgies had a massive fright and after flapping through her cage for 30 seconds or so, she had lost most of the flight feathers on one wing. ( Thankfully no blood and when she tried to fly this morning she lost the last two ). As she's just settled down for the day, I noticed that her cere has turned white on one side too. She has just finished a molting period. I'd like to ask if I should be worried, but honestly I am. Could the feather loss and colour change be coincidental, or would it be best to contact a vet?


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Hi, Welcome to Talk Budgies!

The purpose of this forum is to promote the BEST PRACTICES in the care of budgies for their optimal Health and Well-Being*
*Locating an Avian Veterinarian*

*The cere change is coincidental to the feather loss.
She is simply coming out of condition. When she is in condition the cere is brown and crusty.
Her wing looks as though it may have been hurt. 
Is she still holding it out away from her body?
What scared her so badly? 
Is this something you can prevent in the future?
How large is the cage?

It appears you have sandpaper on the dowel perch. You need to remove all sandpaper immediately. Allowing your budgie to perch on it can quickly lead to bumblefoot.

Additionally, I recommend you remove the wooden dowel perches in the cage and replace them with natural wooden perches of varying diameters to help prevent pressure sores.
Pressure Sores
The information in this link will give examples of better options for perches:
Essentials for a Great Cage

If she is holding the wing differently than normal, you need to take her to an Avian Vet. Use the link above in the beginning of this post to locate one.
Avian Vets have special training to determine the cause of symptoms resulting from illness or trauma.
This is important as "regular" vets will often overlook symptoms that are quickly obvious to an Avian Vet.
When you rely on anyone who has not had training in Avian diagnosis and care, you may be delaying effective treatment.
This can prolong suffering that may be avoidable.
The bird will often require a more intense, prolonged treatment with a poorer chance of full recovery than it would have if you seek prompt professional diagnosis and treatment at the first sign of illness.
If there are no Avian Vets near you, please find an Exotic Pet Veterinarian with experience in dealing with small birds.



As you have a mixed gender pair housed together, you need to do everything necessary to prevent breeding.*
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## ChaisPas (Nov 10, 2021)

Hello FaeryBee,

Thank you for your detailed response! I think I will call my vet tomorrow to make certain that Madame is okay. She was startled by something I dropped and I think she fell off her perch and got disoriented as it was dark. I took this picture after I let her out of the cage in the morning, after climbing back in she held her wing like this for some 15 mins and I have not seen her do it since. She has been flapping her wing seemingly normal while getting about the room today. When I bought it, I checked to see if the cage is large enough for two, but I am looking for a "volière" now because this incident has me stressed. They mostly sit on top of it the during the daytime. 

With regards to the perches, thank you for the reminder . I've been looking for all natural perches, but so far have only managed to find the stairs you can see in the first photos. The sandpaper is larger than the perch, so they cannot sit on it (they will fall off of it), but it has kept them from gnawing on the cage, could it still cause a problem? Most measures for discouraging mating are in place, except for the cage, but they sleep in their "own" spots.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Yes, the sandpaper can still cause a problem. Are they gnawing on the wood of the perches? If so, that is a GOOD thing and you should allow them to do so.
The very minimum size cage recommended for two budgies is 76 cm Long x 46 cm Wide x 46 cm high. Ensure the bar spacing is no more than 1.27 cm.
Bigger is better when it comes to a cage and Length is more important than Height as budgies fly laterally.

Do you cover their cage at night? Budgies thrive on routine and should have set bedtimes and getting-up times.
It's best to always have a nightlight on in the room with your budgies at night to help prevent night frights.
I'm glad she seems to be doing fine now. The lost flight feathers won't come back until her next molt.

Best wishes!*


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## ChaisPas (Nov 10, 2021)

I never thought about width being more important, that is a very helpful tip, thank you! I'll see if I can interest them in gnawing on the wooden toy they have in stead of the sandpaper. They gnaw on the perches, but also on the iron bars of the cages. 

They get into their cage at a set time and I cover it at night, and keep the side open so they get some light from outside. We currently have daylight from 8am until 5pm, so their normal 7am-7pm routine has shortened a bit as they get into the cage around 4pm. 

Madame is having a nice chirp at the moment, I'll see if there's an avian vet available to make sure she is fine. Thank you for al the tips, they are quite helpfull!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*It’s important that you remove the sandpaper from the cage for your birds’ well-being. 
Please let us know how Madam is doing after her vet appointment. *


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