budgies Health & Q & A

[barrieshutt]

When we are at work we pay a sickness contribution weekly to our own health service,we are not ill sothe principle of prevention being better than the cure is a sound one, well I think so.

In ancient china you paid the doctor only when you were well, if you became ill the payments stopped.

In spite of our best efforts accidents happens and illness can strike at anytime and it is always a good thing to be able to recognise an ailment for what it is.

We do worry about all sorts of odd things that appear to be wrong with our budgie/s but often you are only seeing normal behavior in your bird/s.

REMEMBER-un-informed self medication often leads to an early death.

I hope after this thread is complete you can recognise disease and illness in your birds and it will have served it's purpose.

ANY QUESTIONS ASKED WILL BE ANSWERED

[BudgiesBuddy]

Looking forward to it Barrie

[barrieshutt]

Millions of show cages are scattered about the UK and due to a new specification the old models can be picked up for under £10.

These make ideal hospital or isolation cages and if you have a good d i y spouse about the house these are easily converted to incorporate a little heat bulb in the bottom corner,enclosed in a little metal gauze to prevent the bird burning.

This is often all the bird needs for a couple of days and it should then pull round.





Do you know a budgerigar sleeps on one leg, sleeping on two legs with a head under the wing is the first sign somethings wrong.

[barrieshutt]

Dec 15, 2011 13:06:53 GMT BudgiesBuddy said:

Looking forward to it Barrie

Thank you BB

[barrieshutt]

Fit for Life ; I now go to the fit for life gym twice a week and one day a week for the over 50s ( I get funny looks as i only look 40 ;D). The reason is i want to build up my imunity, and of course we must do this for our birds.



KEEP YOUR BUDGIE FIT FOR LIFE -We all know that the budgerigar originated in australia where he was known to the aborigines as BETCHERRYGAH meaning good eating.

They were introduced into the uk in 1840 by the naturalist gould who called them long tailed undulating grass parakeets.

In the wild state the small thin green budgies lived in flocks millions strong.They migrated within the continent following the seasons foods,the food they found in the semi-tropical shrubland of australia was very varied and so different from todays diet,the main intake was seedling grasses, plants and supplemented by some varieties of tree leaves,small twigs and even insects and beetles. The budgie was well able to keep himself supplied with a healthy balanced diet,now he can only take what we give him.

A breeder would possibly buy canary and millet seeds and mix his own choice that he considers best, this is not as nutritious as in the wild so it needs a good deal of supplements, the birds need something extra, pet owners buy a ready mixed seed with a built in supplement but the birds still need more.

In addition to the basic seed diet-even when supplemented - a budgie requires grit,to aid the digestive process and get the maximum benifits out of the hard seed kernels.cuttle fish bone to supply extra calcium for promoting bone and feather growth,an iodine block to grind his beak and absorb several mineral salts contained in the block and of course fresh water daily, i would reccommend this is boiled and cooled before supplying it to the bird.

www.brendaholdenart.com.au/

Thanks Brenda -

[MattJ]

Can a budgie eat too much oyster shell grit? If a lot is being eaten is calcivet still needed?
Or put another way, how much oyster shell should be eaten in a day/week?

Background, my cage has two front mounted feeders and I've been putting the oyster shell in one side of one feeder, probably about a teaspoon at a time but that seems to mostly go in a day or two. Fed on trill, cuttlefish is mostly ignored.

Cheers Barrie

[Marianne Marlow]

Can you tell us the signs of calcium deficiency?

[barrieshutt]

Dec 15, 2011 14:04:17 GMT MattJ said:

Can a budgie eat too much oyster shell grit? If a lot is being eaten is calcivet still needed?
Or put another way, how much oyster shell should be eaten in a day/week?

Background, my cage has two front mounted feeders and I've been putting the oyster shell in one side of one feeder, probably about a teaspoon at a time but that seems to mostly go in a day or two. Fed on trill, cuttlefish is mostly ignored.

Cheers Barrie

Matt a bird that is not well will eat excessive oyster shell grit , i think your problem is the birds are looking for the correct sixe pieces and discarding the bits they don't want.............................often we never fill up our grit pot because we think theres plenty in it , often this is the remnants left that they will ot eat, supply clean grit every two weeks

[Marianne Marlow]

Every two weeks?

No wonder I am always running out of stuff I change it every day!

[barrieshutt]

Dec 15, 2011 15:53:57 GMT Marianne Marlow said:

Can you tell us the signs of calcium deficiency?

My last case was only a month ago when i noticed a hen laying over the perch unable to grip very well as the strength in her legs was almost non existent, a shop of strong calcium supplement direct into her crop twice a day for three days cured her

Calcium deficiency ; hens will lay rough or soft shelled eggs , birds will show a weakness and lethargy. Bending and fractures of the legs and wings can occur and it is not uncommon to notice an S-shaped deformity to the keel. Loss of movement in the legs as birds draw calcium reserves from their bones is common.

[barrieshutt]

Now we have the basic diet what should we not give them, tit bits from the table are forbidden, what is good for them is fruit now and again-apple pear or orange-and of course a little greenfood daily.a little lettuce is okay because of its GENTLE laxative effect, cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, celery, grated carrots, garlic and corn on the cob in lesser quantities.

Remember ; A days food for a budgie is approx the size of its head.

Any uneaten greens or soft food must be removed each night, it will cause harm if it becomes stale.

A pet budgie leads a very sedentary life compared with a wild bird-or even one in an avairy-and the lack of excercise from which they suffer can lead to our equivalant of middle age spread which may cause trouble with the digestion.
The proper aid to efficient digestion apart from proper food and excercise is grit.

When we eat food we swallow it straight into our stomachs where very powerful liquids work on it until it is reduced to a condition where the stomach walls can absorb the nutriments and pass on the waste into the intestines-and of course our bodies are conditioned by this process, anything hard we cook first.

our budgies are fed on hard dried seed without any previous softening process,the seeds are first de-husked in the beak and then hard kernels are swallowed into the crop, digestive juices not as strong as ours and a muscular motion grind the seed kernels into a paste,this is where the grit is valuable with a portion of grit in the crop the grinding process is accelerated before the food goes on its way. Always encourage a young bird to eat grit,put some on the cage floor and in a pot,once they develop the habit of eating grit it will continue forever.

THEY WILL ONLY EAT WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM-don't believe it todays budgie is a product of over a century of domestication and they have forgotten the call of the wild and the need to survive the wild elements.

The responsibility of his welfare depends on you,get it right AND you will reap the rewards tenfold,i do.
So that's the first requirements for positive health- a natural diet with no frills and table tit bits.

NEXT COMES EXERCISE-






OR IN SUNNIES CASE SLEEP.

[Marianne Marlow]

Dec 15, 2011 21:11:09 GMT barrieshutt said:

Dec 15, 2011 15:53:57 GMT Marianne Marlow said:

Can you tell us the signs of calcium deficiency?

My last case was only a month ago when i noticed a hen laying over the perch unable to grip very well as the strength in her legs was almost non existent, a shop of strong calcium supplement direct into her crop twice a day for three days cured her

Calcium deficiency ; hens will lay rough or soft shelled eggs , birds will show a weakness and lethargy. Bending and fractures of the legs and wings can occur and it is not uncommon to notice an S-shaped deformity to the keel. Loss of movement in the legs as birds draw calcium reserves from their bones is common.

Glad your hen survived

I have ordered Calcivet for my Blueboy which should be here tomorrow.

I cannot crop feed but I can feed him with a syringe - how much calcivet should I give him in the first instance, I want to make sure he gets well as soon as possible.

[barrieshutt]

Dec 15, 2011 21:11:04 GMT Marianne Marlow said:

Every two weeks?

No wonder I am always running out of stuff I change it every day!

nice one Marianne ;D

[Marianne Marlow]

Mine aren't sedentary. They zoom around my front room like loonies from 7.30am to 9pm. Or in todays case they are still out..They will be put to bed soon though

[barrieshutt]

Dec 15, 2011 21:14:01 GMT Marianne Marlow said:

Dec 15, 2011 21:11:09 GMT barrieshutt said:

My last case was only a month ago when i noticed a hen laying over the perch unable to grip very well as the strength in her legs was almost non existent, a shop of strong calcium supplement direct into her crop twice a day for three days cured her

Calcium deficiency ; hens will lay rough or soft shelled eggs , birds will show a weakness and lethargy. Bending and fractures of the legs and wings can occur and it is not uncommon to notice an S-shaped deformity to the keel. Loss of movement in the legs as birds draw calcium reserves from their bones is common.

Glad your hen survived

I have ordered Calcivet for my Blueboy which should be here tomorrow.

I cannot crop feed but I can feed him with a syringe - how much calcivet should I give him in the first instance, I want to make sure he gets well as soon as possible.

CALCIVET IF OVERDOSED IS DANGEROUS MARIANNE , add one teaspoon of calcivet to 0.500 ml of water, surplus can be kept in the fridge , supply this to all your birds for one week in every month. For blue boy hand syringe him twice a day for a week.