Itchy raw neck

[g0g0]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and fairly new to budgies, I'm just about at my first budgiversary! I have 3 budgies: Gogo, my girl adopted and about 5-6 years old Clarence and Galahad both coming up to their first birthdays.

I'm here today as I'm worried about Clarence. I noticed last night his neck is really raw and bloody in places. It's bank holiday and there is no avain vet available today. I had noticed he was a bit sleepier than normal the last week, and there have been quite a lot of watery poops from all three, which I attributed to too much cucumber, but his been budgieing about fairly normally.

I've given all three a thorough shower this morning, which they absolutely loved, and I'm going to scrub down the cage today in case of mites. What else can I do until I can get him to the vet?

He's eating, making a racket, playing with his toys, squabbling and dancing, so although I'm worried I don't think he's critical. The other budgies don't seem affected, although I think their poops ate watery too.

Thanks 😊

[Loz]

Welcome to the Forum!

Someone will be along with more comprehensive advice but I can say, if you suspect mites (and maybe if you don't!), I would buy some Ivermectin asap.
You should be able to get the treatment that you apply to the back of the budgies' neck in any pet store.
My preferred option is to purchase S76 treatment (available via Amazon), which is administered via drinking water. There's a method involved,you need to follow the instructions carefully.
Finally I would purchase some F10 disinfectant (Amazon do this) to properly ensure that mites or other parasites are eliminated.

Clarence's issue may not be mites of course. Other forum members will be able to help here.

Edit: I would check the cage and any other environment Clarence has access to for any sharp or jagged features he might be rubbing up against.

[ladybird]

Photos of your budgies and cage set up would be very helpful too……

[g0g0]

Thanks for your reply!

I'm worried it might be mites, but would expect the others to have something similar?
I'm struggling to get a picture of Clarence, I picked him up to look at his neck yesterday and I am not popular today. He's generally a healthy bird but he does have splay legs. It really doesn't seem to affect his quality of life, he likes to sleep on perches where he can rest on his belly. It does make him a bit clumsy and he falls off perches and has crash landings from time to time. He also has a penchant for being under and in things and is an expert in finding crannies to get stuck in.

I always wash their vegetables but maybe he managed to come in contact with an irritant on something I missed?

I avoid all perfumes, air fresheners and scented candles in the budgies room.

They have a cage big enough for 4, but they're hardly in it! I work from home so they are out and about most of the time. They have toys and climbing frames all over the room. They all get along well, most of the time! I really believe they're very happy. They're certainly very busy and very noisy!

I'll get him to the vet ASAP, I'm worried about applying something that might make him worse!

[Hezz]

I wouldn’t go putting any mite preventative on the skin if his skin is already raw looking. And you are right - if one bird has mites most likely they all have but may not be noticeable as yet. All will need to be treated if this does turn out to be mites.

First thing to do is separate Clarence from the others. It is possible that one of the others is pecking at him, or even over-preening him. Also stop the greens until the poops are back to normal. Get him a vet appointment for as soon as possible and in the meantime some decent photos would be good. Best if one person holds him and parts his feathers while a second takes the photos.

If it seems that the skin is itchy, if you see him scratching at the area, or rubbing it, aloe Vera juice from a fresh leaf, broken open and applied to the skin can give some relief and is perfectly safe if ingested.

[g0g0]

Thanks everyone who replied, I've had a mad busy few days!

I got Clarence seen on Tuesday morning. The vet scared me silly by saying he was having trouble breathing! I'd not noticed anything like that, just his very sore neck and a touch extra sleepiness. The vet gave him a thorough check and said he had a large wound on his neck with several broken feathers, he said he believed the wound was infected. He took out the broken feathers and cleaned the wound and I'm now giving twice daily antibiotics and pain relief as well as cleaning the wound with a solution.

Clarence seems much the same, rowdy and adventurous if a bit sleepy. I'm worried sick as I don't know how I didn't see a wound or any symptoms before? There had been no blood on his feathers or anything. I can't think how it happened, I've checked all of the play spots and the whole cage and there's nothing sharp. I guess he must have got on the wrong side of another budgies who gave him a hard peck. Gogo can get a bit grumpy with the boys. But I've never witnessed any bad fights, just minor occasional squabbles.

I feel wretched holding Clarence to treat him, he fights and panics and I feel evil! Will he ever trust me again? He's always been stand offish but will eat from my hand and sit near me when I chat with him.

Also, the feathers around his mouth are a bit sticky from the antibiotics. The vet said he'll spit some of it out, and it's blooming hard getting something into such a tiny moving target. Is it normal for them to have a bit of sticky around the mouth?

[Loz]

When I had to feed Mr Hibs liquid food, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, his face feathers got really messy. He wouldn't let me clean him properly either so he ended up with a couple of odd, sticky-out feathers until they grew out. I have pics of him like that.

[g0g0]

Oh good, I was worried I was doing it wrong. The vet trained me up but it tricky medicating these tiny beaks.

Dod your budgie forgive you eventually?

[Loz]

Mr Hibs did indeed forgive me. He's a very good chap.

[Hezz]

Poor Clarence. Wounds can hide under the feathers and not be obvious at all or only from a certain angle - a very good reason for getting our birds used to being handled so that they can be given a weekly health check without any undue stress placed on the bird. Sticky feathers around the beak is to be expected; budgies are renown for PPC (poor patient compliance).

[g0g0]

Well he'll be used to being handled by the end of treatment! I've always spent time with them so they're used to my presence, but I hate the idea of forcing them to do anything. Clarence was looking set to be quite a tame budgie, but being too adventurous and weird meant I had to pick him up to look for injuries quite a lot in the first few months. I think that's why he went the other way and stopped trusting me.

I'm taking the other two to the vets next week for a health check. He said that chlamydia is common in birds so it might be worth giving the three of them treatment for it. Poor little mites!

The other two seem healthy, particularly Gally, but Gogo is not as young as she used to be and she's looking a bit tubby.

[criswell]

Poor Clarence. It makes me feel bad when I have to give my birds medication too and they all end up with sticky faces too. My boys all forgave me for giving them medicine. None of them were very tame so it was a bit of struggle so we were all relieved when the treatment ended.

[g0g0]

Im glad I'm not the only one with budgie medication issues! For such a tiny mite he has a heap of fight in him! I feel so guilty!

Clarence has had a good day today, I'm tentatively hoping he's on the mend. He was a bit sluggish this morning but has spent the rest of the day full of beans. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻