# I messed up big time, and I fear my bird might not make it.



## parapig23 (Apr 30, 2021)

_NOTE: I know I messed up. I know I wasn't a good bird parent. Please don't tell me what I did wrong, I just want help making my birdie better again_

Hi all,
My budgie Dove is not doing well. She was moved downstairs temporarily because we're trying to fix up the pet room. Unfortunately the only space for her was in a downstairs room. It's pretty dark in there. I tried to remember, to switch her water twice a day and whatnot. She's only been down there for a week. Maybe less.
Her water got pretty low one day because I was majorly stressed and just went to bed super early. It had poop in it and was gross. She didn't get fed that evening, although I fed her double the next morning.
This evening, Dove was on the floor of her cage. I picked her up, and she weighs almost nothing. She can't even stand on my finger without falling off. Right now she is sitting on my desk eating veggies slowly. I don't know why she wasn't eating, because there was food in her dish. Maybe she was depressed. I really don't know.
As I said, she's weighs literally NOTHING. I don't know how to deal with a malnourished bird and I couldn't find anything when I googled it. I'm feeding her veggies but she seems really tired. I'm trying not to let her go to sleep because I'm afraid she might not wake up.
Please help me figure out what to do. She's really tired and I don't know if that's because it's 9 here or if it's because she has no strength left. She's moving into my room temporarily so I don't neglect her again. If anything happens to her because of the mistakes I made, I will never forgive myself. Please help


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## Sweety's mom (4 mo ago)

The poor baby I hope she is ok. I don’t have any advice, I just wanted you to know someone is praying for her and you. I hope you found her just in time and she can recover.


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

The first thing you need to do is keep her warm. Move her to a safe, dimly lit, warm place to the extent of your abilities. While it's best to feed your budgies on a regular schedule, as you know, not feeding her one time would not be enough to make her malnourished. It appears that she must have been ill for some time and hiding it, as budgies naturally hide illnesses in the wild to avoid being picked off by predators. Therefore at this point now her illness is to the point where she can no longer hide it. Make sure she is drinking, you can giver her electrolyte solution as described below: Guardian Angel // Pedialyte // Pedialyte Recipe


The next thing you need to do is get her to a vet right away. There is no way for us or you to know what illness she has and there is no way to treat it at home. Therefore as soon as the vets are open tomorrow you must try to get her to an avian vet or she likely will not make it. Best wishes for little Dove.


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

You know what you did was wrong and you don't want to be told about it, you just want to know how to make Dove better again? *Take her to the vet. *

Once you've done that, ask your parents or yourself if you would be okay locking a family member away in a dark room for a week with not much interaction. If that's the only space for her, then you need to make space elsewhere for her that has natural light. The discomfort should be on _your _shoulders, not Dove's. _You _want to fix up the pet room, so you put Dove somewhere humane and deal with the temporary inconvenience of having to shuffle your personal life around.. Temporarily isn't 1 week. Temporarily is a few days at most. From the way you describe it, this is a room that receives next to no foot traffic, and you somehow seem to forget that you've got a living breathing creature depending on you.

Get her to a vet. Stop treating animals as an afterthought. Dove is a member of your family, treat her the same as you would anyone else. If you wouldn't be comfortable locking a 3 year old in a dark room for a week, then why is it okay to do it to a bird.

Finally, if you're not good at sticking to routines, stop giving Dove portioned amounts of food. Put enough food in her bowl for two days or more. But then you might just get even worse and forget to top it up every two days. Consider if owning a budgie is right for you, if not, give her to a bird sanctuary.

PS: If there's poop getting into her water, then her water bowl is too low. I put my girls' water bowls at their highest perch, so they can't sit above it and poop into it.


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## ShleeTheRat (4 mo ago)

Please for your birds sake, at the very least even just for home care advice until you can get her seen. *Call a vet.* I know it's scary, expensive and stressful but this is the reality of owning pets, especially fragile species like avians. 

One thing is bothering me a little... this bird is Dove, correct? The one that was laying eggs a couple months ago around September? If so.. I'm very sorry to hear how bad her situation has gotten under your care. If I had to guess she must have kept laying eggs and depleted her energy stores or became egg bound and felt so unwell she didn't want to eat anymore. *Only a vet can help her now.* Please do the right thing, it's no use beating yourself up over what you have done but you have the ability to right your wrongs, learn and become a better pet parent. *It can start right now by getting your girl to a vet immediately.*

Hoping beyond hope that your bird makes it. 🙏


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## parapig23 (Apr 30, 2021)

Thank you all for the help. Dove is doing much better today, she's been flying around all morning and is eating and drinking well. The avian vets in my area open this afternoon (bc its a holiday week), and I have an appointment booked with them as soon as they open. Again, thank you so much for the help.
@ShleeTheRat 
Yes, this is Dove. She hasn't laid any eggs since September, I have been extra careful to check about that. I hope that's not the issue, but only the vet visit will tell,
@ChickWas
That's not how it was. I only forgot to feed her *one *evening. I just checked her bowl, and it seems that she spilled water into her seed dish. The seeds were soggy, I guess that's why she wouldn't eat them. The seeds that I put on top were soggy as well. Again, that was my fault for feeding her in a rush and not checking to see that the seeds that I just put in wouldn't be ruined, but I didn't forget to feed her more than once. 
I don't treat my animals as an afterthought, they're members of my family. My other pets are all happy and healthy under my care, and I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but I really dislike being attacked and accused of not caring about my animals. My animals are just as important to me as members of my family, and I treat them that way. I've spent hundreds of dollars on vet visits for my assorted pets, and my guinea pigs have been living with me for years, and they've never had any health issues because of insufficient care. Thank you for the help, but please don't attack me again. I already said that I just want help with Dove, I don't want to be attacked, falsely accused, insulted, and told that I allegedly can't care for my animals, am neglectful, and a terrible pet owner. 


Thank you all for the help.


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## JillBee (8 mo ago)

Well it sounds as if a crisis has been averted, glad you’ve got a vet appt as well. It’s good that you realize your mistake and are willing to learn and grow from it! As a result, you will become a better pet parent!!! My father in law always says, “If you’re green, you are growing, if you’re ripe, you’re rotten!” Happy your lil Dove is on the mend💗


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## ShleeTheRat (4 mo ago)

I'm glad to hear you got an appointment! You did a great job making the first steps to correcting your mistakes. I am rooting for you and your birdie to live a better life together. Please keep us updated, I know you'll be in my thoughts at least.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

I am glad she is doing better however you stated "Dove was on the floor of her cage. I picked her up, and she weighs almost nothing. She can't even stand on my finger without falling off." I find it a bit odd that a bird that seemed so weak last night is now flying around, I think you should keep her quiet for a day or two. Do you have a gram scale, if not I suggest you get one so you can track her weight to make sure she does not lose weight.


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## Spanky (3 mo ago)

sugar water. drop a couple drips in her mouth.
or honey


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

You need to figure out a new bowl arrangement for your food and water. It shouldn't even be a possibility for Dove to splash water into her seed bowl. Put the bowls far apart from each other, with the water bowl at the highest perch to prevent it being pooped in. Food bowls should be put in such a way that they can't be pooped in either.

I also don't know if I read this right, but you don't empty out the bowl and clean it before putting in a new portion of seed for Dove? Bowls become a breeding ground for bacteria, you should be cleaning it out every time you change the food or water (especially so for the water bowl). Putting new seed on top of old seed is like the oldest "don't do this" sticky on this forum. I'm pretty sure putting new seed on top of soggy wet seed is even higher on that list of "what not to do".


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## parapig23 (Apr 30, 2021)

@Cody
Yeah, I find that really weird too. I do have a gram scale, I didn't weigh her last night because I didn't want to disrupt her eating, but I plan to weigh her everyday instead of my usual once a week, so I can keep track of if she loses weight.

@ChickWas
I didn't realize she was able to do that, I moved the bowls as soon as I found out.
And you most definitely didn't read that right, because that's not what I said. I've read all the stickies multiple times, and I do clean out her bowl before each meal. Stop acting like I'm one of those people who did no research before and having their birds, and doesn't know what to do. As I *already *said, I was stressed that day and just forgot to do it. I know it was wrong, I was just in a rush. I understand that I shouldn't have skipped doing it that one time, but everyone makes mistakes. Attacking somebody because of a mistake they made is not the way to go, especially on a forum that is made to *help* budgie owners.
And I also find it kind of strange that after I asked you not to be rude to me, you continue to be rude. I literally have *no *patience with trolls, so I ask you again, *please stop being rude and attacking me. *Thank you.

Edit: Also, you say that "temporarily is just a few days and you should've put her in a humane space until the room is done"
Um, it's not like this is an unused closet. I went in there everyday and played with her, the issue is with her food, not her interaction. The entire reason I even mentioned the room is because I thought she might've been stressed that she had to be moved. 
Also, you say that she should've only been moved for a few days. Well, if you know how to paint an entire room, rip up a carpet wall to wall carpet, rip up the plywood under the carpet and retile the entire room as well as caring for 8 pets, all in a few days, do tell. I would love to hear.


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

I'm not sure how my previous post was an attack or rude but okay 🤷‍♂️


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

We are here to help Dove, so let's please not assume things about other members and work only with the information provided. All members should be well informed on the stickies and budgie articles. However, this post describes a single situation which the OP has already clarified was a one-time mistake. 

When you have an update on Dove, after her vet appointment, please let us know.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*How is little Dove doing now?
Hopefully she is improving? Is she eating well?

Best wishes for Dove to have a full and speedy recovery *
💜💜


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## parapig23 (Apr 30, 2021)

Sorry that it took me so long to update this, I've been busy caring for my assorted pets and getting ready for thanksgiving.

We took Dove to the vet on Saturday, and they checked her over. The vet weighed her and she weighed 28 grams, which is exactly what she weighed at her last visit (just a checkup), about a year ago. He said that most likely the reason she stopped eating was due to stress from being moved so suddenly. The droppings that were in her travel cage from the trip to the vet were a little watery, but he said that was expected because of the stress of going to the vet.

I called about 5 other avian vets in my area, just to see if I could get a second opinion (I just thought it was a little weird that she would have stopped eating just because of the stress of moving, although she did start eating and acting normally again when she was moved back into the pet room), but believe it or not, every single other avian vet within 30 miles was either not taking new clients, only had an appointment 2 months away, or all their avian specialists were sick. 

Dove is acting perfectly normal again, although she does seem a little sleepier than usual (it looks to me like she might be going through a molt though, so that may be the cause of the tiredness). What do you guys think?
Also, I've been quarantining her from Diva (my other budgie) just because if Dove is sick, I don't want the illness to spread to Diva too. Should I put them back together again? (they were in different cages when they were moved, so Dove definitely didn't stop eating because Diva wouldn't let her)

Again, I thank all of you so much for the help.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*If Dove is eating and acting normally at this point in time try giving her a bit of egg food or quinoa. 
If she's beginning or in a molt, that will help with the feather growth.

Had you been caging Dove and Diva separately prior to the move or only when the move took place.
Is there an issue of either not allowing the other to eat when they are together?*


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## parapig23 (Apr 30, 2021)

FaeryBee said:


> If Dove is eating and acting normally at this point in time try giving her a bit of egg food or quinoa.
> If she's beginning or in a molt, that will help with the feather growth.
> 
> Had you been caging Dove and Diva separately prior to the move or only when the move took place.
> Is there an issue of either not allowing the other to eat when they are together?


I will do that, thank you.

I had been caging them separately, because I had an issue with them fighting. They were usually great in the cage together, but one time whilst flying together, Dove became territorial of a chair that she likes to land on, and they fought. Even after I removed the chair, they fought in that area. Dove got a minor bite on her foot. It wasn't bleeding and it didn't get infected or anything, it healed after a few days, but I was too nervous to let them be in the same cage unsupervised. If one is out for free flight and the other is not, they will go and preen each other through the cage bars, and they were talking to each other all day long, so we decided to try them together for free flight (in a different room then the other one, they don't get free flight in there anymore). They did fine together and had lots of fun playing with each other, but I'm nervous that if they're together unsupervised (like in the cage) a fight will break out and one of them will get seriously injured, thus why they're still in different cages.
I've never had that issue before (when they lived together) and they usually share food with each other, I just wanted to clarify that it definitely wasn't that.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*If you are concerned they may fight if they are in a cage together then definitely keep them caged separately and allow them to be together only when supervised. *


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## Chuck54 (5 mo ago)

Poor little bird. I hope she gets better and has a nice life interacting with her family and is never ever neglected in sickness and in health. No excuses ever from her keeper. Never.


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