# Does Mr. Boo look okay to you?



## mfinterrorshark (Jul 21, 2014)

He seems mostly fine. He's generally a lazy bird so sometimes it's hard to tell when he's not feeling good, so here's the details.....

This morning his cere was a deep dark purple instead of the bright blue it normally is mostly towards the bottom of it( I hope the picture reflects that well enough)....I scooped him into my hands and I inspected him a little ...he seemed okay...clean vent, normal looking poops, appears to be eating and whatnot, but I think he could be eating more. No tail bobbing or clicking or anything. He has been talking to me less than he used to, but I assumed this was because he has Dr. Donna to chat with now? I don't know. Little dude holds a big piece of my heart so I wanted a second opinion.

The picture is from this morning....does anything about him seem off to you guys?


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## mfinterrorshark (Jul 21, 2014)

OMG! I made an appointment for him for tomorrow morning and then started googling things and read that it could be testicular cancer?!?!?! If it is that, is that curable or the beginning of the end? I'm SOOOO not ready for this heartbreak!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Take a deep breath and try to calm down. :hug: Mr. Boo looks like he's just fine.

The deep dark purple color means that Mr. Boo is in condition right now.

The cere would turn brown if there were hormonal issues to be concerned about.*


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

One of my birds had a testicular tumor and his cere turned brown, here he is when it was brown. With treatment it turned fairly blue again.


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## ReneBC (Mar 26, 2016)

Hi, I agree with FaeryBee, that Mr. Boo is just in condition.
If it can help ease your mind, Berty, who is also currently coming into condition, was happy to pose for a picture of his cere taking on some purple 



Anyways, will not hurt anyone to have a vet checkup


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## mfinterrorshark (Jul 21, 2014)

please excuse my ignorance here, but what do you mean by "in condition"?

Also Berty is super adorable btw!


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## ReneBC (Mar 26, 2016)

It means, he is letting all female budgies know, I'm ready to make little budgie babies 
If he was a dog, he would be in heat


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## mfinterrorshark (Jul 21, 2014)

Craaaaap. I have a lady budgie too that is probably too young to breed...and I don't particularly want babies either, but still I have been doing all the things to let her know it's a bad time to make them so hopefully she took note. He still seems a little lethargic to me though even for him so he's still going to the vet tomorrow, but thanks for at least making me feel like it's maybe not dire....that's a HUGE relief!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*There are ways to discourage breeding and you can always separate the two budgies into individual cages if necessary.

http://talkbudgies.com/budgie-breeding/327881-heartfelt-plea-forum-members-new-old.html

When We Don't Want Eggs*


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## mfinterrorshark (Jul 21, 2014)

I think I am doing a pretty good job at discouraging breeding? I change the whole cage toy set-up every few days because I always have even before I had two birds just to keep it interesting for the one. I have been making sure the cage is covered for at least 12 hours each night and I removed all the snugglies and anything with nesting fibers from it and switched to smaller food dishes which stopped the lady from emptying them to hang out in them.

*If it comes to it, how long would you recommend they be separated for? *

I know they heartily enjoy each other's companionship and I only have one larger cage and it wouldn't feel fair to leave one in the smaller cage for too long. They DO have all day freedom to leave and play among a variety of play areas I built out of a fort building kit my son outgrew so I wouldn't feel too bad if one of them had to night in the small cage until I could get a second larger one, but I feel like they would ultimately be saddened being separated long term because they have become very good pals. I had intended on having two little bros, but it didn't pan out that way!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*If you are following the procedures for discouraging breeding, chances are that everything will be just fine for them staying together.

IF you notice there is mating activity, then you can make a decision about separating the two at that time. 
Sometimes only a week or so separation is needed.*


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## mfinterrorshark (Jul 21, 2014)

An update for update's sake:

We went to the vet this morning and I'm glad we did. He is sick, a tad too thin, quarantined, cage-bound for the week, and on the baytril. His vet thinks he should be fine with the meds and some extra love and care though so that's reassuring at least. ::fingers crossed::


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

I'm glad that you took Mr. Boo into the vet and that he is on the road to recovery! Keep us posted


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I'm interested to know what illness the veterinary diagnosed. 
Is it respiratory, crop infection or what?

Please keep us updated on how little Mr. Boo is doing!*


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## mfinterrorshark (Jul 21, 2014)

He just said he definitely had an infection. He did a poop smear and said he saw a lot of gram negs. And he only weighed 26 which was down from the 32 he was the time before....which at that time he still said for my budgie was light. I guess my boy has a big frame because he said he would normally think that 32 is a decent weight for a budgie, but after feeling his breast bone felt he could/should be holding more weight than that. He said he could be more specific if they ran other tests, but said it was mostly unnecessary since he wants to see him feeling better before those results would get back in and didn't see the point in charging me for them since he was going to treat him anyway. He wants an update on Tuesday morning and if he's still not feeling well then we'll be going back and getting more specific. His profile on the clinic we go to says he worked T.J. Lafeber so I trust my Boo is in pretty good hands.


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## ReneBC (Mar 26, 2016)

Glad you took him to the vet and got a treatment going 
This is a very good example of why it is always a good idea to see a vet if we as pet owners feel something is not quite right, as no one here is able to diagnose anything just from forum posts.
We just do not know other peoples pets like the owner does! 
We can only comment on what we see/read and have no way of knowing the full facts 

I hope Mr. Boo gets well soon and hope to see lots more of him/you here


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Thanks for the additional information. 

I'm hoping Mr Boo will have a full and speedy recovery.

Best Wishes!*


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## mfinterrorshark (Jul 21, 2014)

Hehehe so someone's starting to get his appetite back, but the medicine has the food sticking to his face lol....double good thing is that he's got the energy to be annoyed by this so I think he's gonna be right as rain in no time. =D


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## ReneBC (Mar 26, 2016)

Great to hear he is improving!


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## mfinterrorshark (Jul 21, 2014)

SO. Boo seems to have more energy and is in a better mood, but since he's been ill and taking the medicine he's been very quiet. He used to talk...like actually talk words and he's barely made any peeps since going to the vet last week. Is it possible there is still something else wrong with him or is he maybe just sad being separated and in sickbay and/or is this a common side effect of taking medicine? I call the vet tomorrow because they asked me to update them on how he's doing so I will definitely ask them when I do, but yeah...yeah...


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

I think it's normal that he'd be quieter while trying to fight off an infection, I would only worry if he remains less vocal after the course of the medicine has finished :thumbsup:


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