Aug 9, 2019 18:17:37 GMT
ken77
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 4
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Post by ken77 on Aug 9, 2019 18:55:09 GMT
Hi, thanks for letting me join. It's really to ask for some advice about my mum's budgie, (that's him in the photo,the day i found him in Gourock). She's had him for about 3 or 4 years, (since i found him), and up until about a year ago he was noisy, talkative, sociable, and active, flying around the house. He then started to become weak at flying, this deteriorated quite slowly but wasn't really a problem as he was still able to fly onto your hand and talk away. The big change came later. He started moulting quite a lot, became a bit withdrawn, and a few months later on, he is very quiet, can hardly fly at all, nervous, and most noticeable of all, he is very scruffy, with lots of white down feathers sticking out of him. We took him to the vet and they gave him a check up, and couldn't really come to any conclusion. They said there was a possibility it could be mites, (he's never been in contact with other birds since we found him). But they gave him a tincture on the back of his neck, it didn't make any difference as far as i can see. It traumatized him quite badly getting taken to the vet and he seems more withdrawn than ever. In a way he seems quite contented, he still eats ok, but he is a shadow of his former self. Can anyone help please? Thanks,Kenny.
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Post by suesbird on Aug 9, 2019 20:02:57 GMT
Is he having a bad moult because the do go very quiet and scruffy. Mine go very quiet, don't each much and tend to sleep a lot, then they tend to come out of it. If you could take a photo of him now what he looks like, then some of the others who come on later with more experience can help.
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Post by helenmat on Aug 9, 2019 22:22:15 GMT
You could try getting him a tonic seed which may help a bit. Does he just eat seed or will he eat greens?
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Post by Hezz on Aug 10, 2019 1:13:53 GMT
In all honesty, it could simply be old age. You don't know how old he was when you found him ... lucky for him that you did! ... and this sounds like it has been a gradual decline in his activity and boisterousness. I doubt it would have been mites, either, and the treatment hasn't made a scrap of difference. Does he have trouble getting around his cage; does he seem to have trouble preening himself?
We have a number of members whose budgies have lost the ability to fly over time, for seemingly no apparent reason. All you can do then is make sure you take steps to limit the possibility of injury, particularly if he continues to try to fly when he can't do so. Make sure he is on the best diet possible, to keep his feather-health, and overall health tip-top. Does he get to go out into the sun at all? (Vit D is important to birds as well as humans.)
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Post by jellybean on Aug 10, 2019 7:30:00 GMT
Hi Kenny, well done for catching this little guy and giving him a loving home.
I hope he picks up. What's his name?
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Aug 9, 2019 18:17:37 GMT
ken77
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 4
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Post by ken77 on Aug 11, 2019 7:39:18 GMT
Hi, thank you for all the replies, yes,i suppose it could be just that he moults badly, it's just that it has been going on for a long time. It could be also , as you say, just old age, although when we found him, his nose hadn't turned blue yet, and we thought that meant he was fairly young. We have given him tonics to be added to food or water too, not sure if they've helped and he eats apples, but don't think he'll touch anything green, although it's something i'll definitely try, i'm sure my mum said he won't touch greens, as the vet suggested that too. He does seem to struggle a bit with mobility, but he's got a ladder to climb down to the floor.He probably would've got out into the sun this Summer but my mums building is surrounded in scaffolding at the moment , and she can't really use her patio, but i'll try and find a way of getting him some sunshine. Thanks again for the kind advice, hopefully it could be that it's just natural, and he feels ok, i'll put a photo on later of his plumage to illustrate the down feathers sticking out. Embarassingly his name is Joey incidentally, not very imaginitive i know! Thanks again, Kenny.
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Oct 6, 2011 7:41:27 GMT
Marianne Marlow
Administrator
George, Daisy, Iris, Billy, Peter, Chipper, Dinku, Barney, Ayla and Rocky
Posts: 28,758
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Post by Marianne Marlow on Aug 11, 2019 9:02:46 GMT
Do you have a recent photo of Joey?
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Post by Hezz on Aug 11, 2019 9:15:32 GMT
His cere (the bit where his nostrils are) is not always a sign of his age. The simple fact that you found him outside, without a home, means that he had been doing it tough, for how long we can only begin to imagine - might be one day, might have been months - so if he wasn't in the best of condition, his cere wouldn't have necessarily have been blue.
Try to push the veg in to him. Most budgies like corn - it's sweet, that's why - but other favourites are carrot, snow peas, broccoli and some of the herbs such as basil and dill. Other things, like seeding grass, dandelion, and thistles are good for them as well.
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Post by samwiseg on Aug 11, 2019 10:05:23 GMT
Another thing to consider is Joey might actually be female due to the cere colour. As previously said, a photo would be good so we can possibly help further
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Aug 9, 2019 18:17:37 GMT
ken77
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 4
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Post by ken77 on Aug 11, 2019 13:07:05 GMT
These are a couple of pics i took this morning. He is actually looking a lot better than the last time i seen him, so i think the scruffiness varies in it's severity. I did think he looked quite old close up round about the eyes especially. I will definitely try an array of greens, and corn on him. Thanks.
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Post by suesbird on Aug 11, 2019 17:39:25 GMT
He may be scruffy but he is lovely.
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Post by Jane on Aug 11, 2019 18:27:05 GMT
He may be scruffy but he is lovely. I agree Sue, he’s very cute, like a fluffy duckling 🐥
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Post by ladybird on Aug 11, 2019 19:16:13 GMT
He looks really unusual, not scruffy but just adorable......
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Post by Hezz on Aug 12, 2019 0:53:54 GMT
I agree, he is adorable. I have seen this fluffiness in feathers from other people but can't remember if there was ever any remedy for it. If they haven't been like this all the time you have had him, and only recently, I would really try to increase the amount of veggies in his diet. Also introduce some hard-boiled egg or eggfood to his diet. He may be needing some extra protein from the extended moult - new feathers take a lot of protein to produce. Some buds won't eat egg but will eat the commercial dried eggfood, the good thing with it being that you don't have to remove it after a short time, it can be left in the cage all the time if you wanted.
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Oct 6, 2011 7:41:27 GMT
Marianne Marlow
Administrator
George, Daisy, Iris, Billy, Peter, Chipper, Dinku, Barney, Ayla and Rocky
Posts: 28,758
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Post by Marianne Marlow on Aug 12, 2019 7:58:48 GMT
He's most unusual, can he fly? I can't make out his feathers.
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