How to help budgie with respiratory illness?

[willowandpillow]

 Yesterday, I noticed that my sweet budgie, Willow, had been sleeping all day and was breathing heavily. We took him to our avian vet right away, and he's now on meds that will hopefully get him back to his usual self soon.

 In the meantime, is there anything I can do to help him feel more comfortable? I'm giving him his regular food (pellets, veggies, and seeds) and some millet, as well, to make sure he won't be losing any weight. I also have a humidifier going and am keeping a cover over most of the cage to make sure he has a dark place to sleep. In addition, I've put a K&H heater by one of his perches so that he can warm himself up.

 I'm unsure if this information will help at all, but after looking into it we think that the cause may have been the use of our self-cleaning oven. We used the feature shortly before he fell sick - and, of course, will never use it again when he's in the house now that we know how bad it is for birds.

[jellybean]

I'm sure someone will be on with help and advice soon.
I hope with the meds Willow feels better soon.

Welcome to the forum.

[Hezz]

As your bird is under the care of a vet, there isn't much else you can do besides what you are doing. The only other thing that may help, although you do have a humidifier going, is a hot steamy bathroom for 15-20 minutes. This can help open their airways to allow them to breathe more easily.

[yellowfacedviolet]

When did the self-cleaning oven incident occur in relation to his first symptoms? It is true that self-cleaning ovens are a peril for birds but most budgies will react pretty quickly to that sort of toxin, rather like canaries in the proverbial coal mine.

[helenmat]

I hope your bird recovers quickly. Where is your oven in relation to your bird? I ask because I tragically lost two birds from an overheated oven liner made of Teflon. My birds died within 5 mins of the liner being overheated so it was very quick indeed. My husband left the grill on by accident. They literally fell from the air as they flew.

[willowandpillow]

Thank you all for your kind words and advice. I'm also very sorry for your loss, helenmat.


The oven, which is a sort of twisted hallway away from my room, was used about 3-4 days ago. My door was closed and had a blanket under it, and the two rooms also have separate air conditioning. Around this time, he had a large brown stain above his cere, but I'm unsure if it was related to the oven, or his molt. There were some red-brown spots appearing on toys and the like, too, which made me worried that he was vomiting or bleeding. They've since stopped, though.

Surprisingly, our younger bird isn't having any trouble with her breathing. I'm keeping them in separate cages just in case it turns out to be some sort of contagious illness.


Willow is still breathing harshly and sleeping a lot, but he's fighting a lot more when I towel him to give him his medicine. I'm hoping that this is a sign that he's on the road to recovery!

[Hezz]

Fingers crossed that the meds are doing their job, and he is on the road to recovery. A little fight is always a good sign.

[samwiseg]

I've gotta say it sounds like you are doing everything you can!

Keeping everything crossed for a speddy recovery x

[Marianne Marlow]

How is Willow doing, any updates?

[willowandpillow]

Sorry for the late response!

Willow is back to his normal, happy self! (though he's a little mad at us right now for giving him medicine hehe) Thank you all for your help.

[yellowfacedviolet]

Very glad to hear this.

[Marianne Marlow]

That is great news. Well done to you and Willow

[Hezz]

Wonderful news, for sure.

[jellybean]

Great news. So glad the medicine helped.