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Post by salvadorbudgie on Jul 10, 2020 23:53:06 GMT
Hi,
My budgie Salvadora is 3 years old, usually very active and playful, loves to eat and eats both many *safe* kinds of seeds and veggies that she likes.
In the past 3 days she became a bit less active, still flying around the room but sleeping a lot and not eating so much.
She is drinking pretty normal.
She has loose droppings, kind of watery but not entirely, its not smelly at all like an infection might be (she hasn't been eating properly and only drinking, therefore I think its runny because of that and that she isn't sick).
She had dry feet so we also put a bit coconut oil on her feet.
Today, well, just now, we noticed that she was kind of biting her leg, like the inner thigh on both sides and right afterwards a little blood was showing on her beak and thigh.
I immediately grabbed her so she would stop doing it and also so I could examine why.
It seems like there is a dry, crust skin on the same spot exactly on both inner thighs. I'm familiar with mites so I immediately checked her beak, cere, eyes, back of neck for anything that resembles anything but everything was fine, its just the inner thighs that have a very sort of small scab looking skin, it's like skin that's coming off and still healing.
I just put a little more coconut oil on that wound and on the other thigh, she's now sleeping since it's 3am.
Not exactly sure what it could be, but I don't think it's mites or an injury. Could dry skin cause that?
I can't go to a vet where I am at, there are no avian specialist anywhere near me, the drive will be about 4-5 hours and it's so expensive they could charge me over 300 USD just for a visit.
How do i prevent her from biting herself? She will continue to do this after she wakes up tomorrow, one of the thighs looks like it's been chewed.
I don't know what to do.
Please help me!
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May 7, 2020 23:43:49 GMT
destinycall
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 65
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Post by destinycall on Jul 11, 2020 0:15:15 GMT
Are you able to post a picture of the legs and the scabby skim? It might help identify what is wrong.
What kind of perches are available to your bird? How long are her nails? Has anything else changed lately? Does either leg look swollen or red? You mentioned blood - can you see an open sore? How long have you been applying the coconut oil?
Birds will sometime bite themselves in response to pain or irritation. Mites could cause the biting or a foot injury or joint problem or allergy or skin infection. There are several possibilities.
It is concerning that her appetite and droppings have been affected. That is usually an early indication that something is really wrong and it could require professional help.
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Post by salvadorbudgie on Jul 11, 2020 1:07:33 GMT
Are you able to post a picture of the legs and the scabby skim? It might help identify what is wrong. What kind of perches are available to your bird? How long are her nails? Has anything else changed lately? Does either leg look swollen or red? You mentioned blood - can you see an open sore? How long have you been applying the coconut oil? Birds will sometime bite themselves in response to pain or irritation. Mites could cause the biting or a foot injury or joint problem or allergy or skin infection. There are several possibilities. It is concerning that her appetite and droppings have been affected. That is usually an early indication that something is really wrong and it could require professional help. Thank you so much for replying. I'm still awake, trying to help her feel better (she is trying to sleep). Here's a video I took, its bloody because she peeled a part of it with her beak, I will also share a picture of that part so maybe someone could recognize if it's a scaly mite particle. I put coconut oil for only two days straight before bed, and now again since it was bleeding a bit. After using the flashlight over her thigh, it looks like these yellow particles are more visible. Not sure if it's just a part of her skin. Our other budgie, Skip, lives with her in the cage and has no issues whatsoever and this has been going on for about 4 days. streamable.com/53lu2wThe perches are from a eucalyptus tree and this is how its been for 3 years, every time we replace them we make sure to clean them with warm water and vinegar. |
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Post by salvadorbudgie on Jul 11, 2020 1:16:12 GMT
Are you able to post a picture of the legs and the scabby skim? It might help identify what is wrong. What kind of perches are available to your bird? How long are her nails? Has anything else changed lately? Does either leg look swollen or red? You mentioned blood - can you see an open sore? How long have you been applying the coconut oil? Birds will sometime bite themselves in response to pain or irritation. Mites could cause the biting or a foot injury or joint problem or allergy or skin infection. There are several possibilities. It is concerning that her appetite and droppings have been affected. That is usually an early indication that something is really wrong and it could require professional help. Here's a picture of that particle I was talking about: ibb.co/5j7Mkyq (shs peeled it and it just looks like skin crust to me, but I dont know for sure) |
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Post by Hezz on Jul 11, 2020 1:27:10 GMT
Aww, that looks nasty, and not something that I've ever come across before.  Is it the same on both legs, or worse on one compared to the other? Have you noticed her holding her leg up or favouring it in any way? My initial thought was that she may have been having nerve issues but I fear that this is something that has been happening for longer than the four days that you mention, unless there is something acute that is happening with her to have caused this amount of damage in that short time. You really do need to get her to an avian vet or at least see if you can't consult over the phone with one, showing them that video. In the meantime there are a couple of things I would be trying to hopefully help her: have you ever fitted an animal with an Elizabethan collar or head cone? This video might help, obviously for a larger bird, but the processes are the same ... This is so that the bird can't pick at the affected areas. For relief, you could try smearing the raw areas with Savlon. It has mild soothing properties and is safe if your bud does manage to get to it. As she is probably in some pain as well, add some powdered cayenne pepper such as you buy from your supermarket and add a couple of pinches of this to her water. You can make this as strong as you like as long as she will drink it, and don't worry about the heat - birds don't have heat receptors in their mouths, on their tongue like we do. I would certainly try to find a vet willing to help you with a video call, messenger etc. She certainly isn't having a good time at the moment. |
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Post by salvadorbudgie on Jul 11, 2020 1:43:26 GMT
Aww, that looks nasty, and not something that I've ever come across before. Is it the same on both legs, or worse on one compared to the other? Have you noticed her holding her leg up or favouring it in any way? My initial thought was that she may have been having nerve issues but I fear that this is something that has been happening for longer than the four days that you mention, unless there is something acute that is happening with her to have caused this amount of damage in that short time. You really do need to get her to an avian vet or at least see if you can't consult over the phone with one, showing them that video. In the meantime there are a couple of things I would be trying to hopefully help her: have you ever fitted an animal with an Elizabethan collar or head cone? This video might help, obviously for a larger bird, but the processes are the same ... This is so that the bird can't pick at the affected areas. For relief, you could try smearing the raw areas with Savlon. It has mild soothing properties and is safe if your bud does manage to get to it. As she is probably in some pain as well, add some powdered cayenne pepper such as you buy from your supermarket and add a couple of pinches of this to her water. You can make this as strong as you like as long as she will drink it, and don't worry about the heat - birds don't have heat receptors in their mouths, on their tongue like we do. I would certainly try to find a vet willing to help you with a video call, messenger etc. She certainly isn't having a good time at the moment. Thank you so much! She isn't in terrible pain, or even at all I think. She is acting like everything is okay, just a bit less active, in addition to a bit less eating and drinking. The thing I need to take care of is that issue with her thighs. I made a collar made out of cloth for her, put it on her, she turned on her back while trying to remove it, she literally went crazy trying to get rid of it and I couldn't watch her like that so I took it off. I will try to call a vet on Sunday, I also just started an online chat with a vet. |
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Post by Hezz on Jul 12, 2020 1:45:51 GMT
No way would she like the collar, but she might just have to put up with it, depends on what the vet says, I guess. I am glad that you are having a conversation with a vet and hopefully they will have some remedies for you. It has to be sore or itchy for her to keep doing such damage, I feel, but she won't want to be letting on that she is not fully healthy as a natural defence to being preyed upon. Please keep us informed as to what the vet thinks might be the problem and what to do to solve her issues. I feel so sorry for the poor little darling.
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Post by salvadorbudgie on Jul 17, 2020 9:50:45 GMT
No way would she like the collar, but she might just have to put up with it, depends on what the vet says, I guess. I am glad that you are having a conversation with a vet and hopefully they will have some remedies for you. It has to be sore or itchy for her to keep doing such damage, I feel, but she won't want to be letting on that she is not fully healthy as a natural defence to being preyed upon. Please keep us informed as to what the vet thinks might be the problem and what to do to solve her issues. I feel so sorry for the poor little darling. After a vet visit he prescribed some antibiotics which have only been given 3 times so far. At 6 am today we were about to give her another dose and she became loose, all of her limps and head just dropped out of nowhere. The vet said this is an infection therefore the antibiotics. From 6am it's currently 12:46pm here and she's still dying, she is on that stage of almost being dead for more than 6 hours. I don't know how that's possible, but here you go. I don't think she is in any pain as it doesn't look like it at all, she's just sitting with her eyes closed on her stomach, sometimes grabs a tiny bit of a drink but that's all. Next dose of antibiotics is in the evening. The vet is 3-4 hours away and he is not even an avian specialist, barely dealt with Australian budgies. There's no one else who can help my poor baby in this country. Skip tried to feed her a bit, he is her mate. There's nothing more I can say in the meantime. Anyone ever heard of a duying budgie for 6 hours? She doesn't want to let go, that's how happy her life is. |
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Post by Hezz on Jul 17, 2020 10:30:07 GMT
Whatever it is that is causing her to bite her legs is going to be causing her pain. This has now been going on for several days with no respite. Birds do not show that they are in pain because then they are prime for being picked off by a predator.
I am so sorry that your little hen is in this situation, but please get some pain relief into her. All you can do at this stage is to keep her as comfortable and calm as possible to make her last moments as peaceful as possible.
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Post by birdguhl on Jul 17, 2020 10:34:51 GMT
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Post by salvadorbudgie on Jul 17, 2020 19:26:11 GMT
Whatever it is that is causing her to bite her legs is going to be causing her pain. This has now been going on for several days with no respite. Birds do not show that they are in pain because then they are prime for being picked off by a predator. I am so sorry that your little hen is in this situation, but please get some pain relief into her. All you can do at this stage is to keep her as comfortable and calm as possible to make her last moments as peaceful as possible. Salvadora passed away after long 8 hours of comfort, hopefully, in a warm cage with paper towels to comfort her. She didn't want to let go, but she couldn't keep on anymore. Thank you guys for your help. She will be forever remembered. If you want to see what she looked like (as it's only a video of her thigh here) you can enter my YouTube channel Salvador Budgie, which is obviously named after her. |
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Post by jellybean on Jul 17, 2020 19:37:23 GMT
I'm so sorry. Fly high little one.
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Post by ffiscool on Jul 17, 2020 20:16:25 GMT
RIP Salvadora. Fly high
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Post by Hezz on Jul 18, 2020 1:08:53 GMT
I am sorry.  RIP Salvadora. |
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Post by blue48 on Jul 18, 2020 7:04:51 GMT
RIP Salvadora. I'm glad the last few hours were peaceful. Sending hugs x
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Is it the same on both legs, or worse on one compared to the other? Have you noticed her holding her leg up or favouring it in any way? My initial thought was that she may have been having nerve issues but I fear that this is something that has been happening for longer than the four days that you mention, unless there is something acute that is happening with her to have caused this amount of damage in that short time. 
RIP Salvadora.
