Cage advice for disabled budgie

[suz]

I posted a few weeks ago about a new budgie, Amber, who we bought but immediately got ill. He was very wobbly and kept falling off perches and our other budgie was picking on him. I'm happy to say that against the odds he has survived and his chest infection has cleared up. The vet today described him as "fiesty" which I was so happy to hear as he was so placid when he was poorly! However he still has a dodgy leg and poor balance. The vets view is that this is now unlikely to improve much more and so we now need to create an environment for him as a disabled bird,whilst minimising the risk of further injury. Please help!!!
We can't put him back in with the other one so will need to buy a new cage. He can fly but has very poor balance so falls very easily. He climbs the cage but again falls off perches a lot. The vet advised us to start off with very low perches wrapped in vet tape and to try and move them upwards over time if he copes OK. My biggest concern is what size and shape of cage is best for him. Would a normal sized cage just give him too much of a chance to injure himself? I'd be grateful for any advice.

[Deleted]

Hi suz, I'm so glad to hear your bud survived. My Siri is unable to fly & came to us unable to perch - he kept falling off. Following advice in various threads on here & trial & error I did the following to help Siri:

I bought a long, low cage and placed the perches that came with it down low, then I put natural branches across each corner & ladders up to them, I also tied a small perch to the bottom of the door so he didn't have to cling to the bars. I put padding on the floor of the cage to cushion his falls (I used an old raincoat & hand-towels in a pillowcase, making ridges & hollows to help Siri right himself if he fell on his back). Avoid clutter in the cage to give your bud plenty of space to flap & move around.

He has improved a lot though will never fly (he sort of flap-jumps & can now slow his descent). I found using willow perches helped him to grip (he's missing a number of toes), I also use apple & pear tree branches of various widths. It also encourages him to tear them to bits - a busy beak means a happy bird

With your budgie able to fly cover windows, provide a perch or two for him to land on outside his cage (something like a very simple budgie tree) at low & medium height & padding around where he's likely to fall.

Siri has been with me for about 3 months now & has improved immensely - his balance is really good & he is also feisty, bossing my other two around. I hope your bud improves with time.

[birdguhl]

Great to hear that Amber has made such a good recovery!

I've had budgies prone to falling too and I have used a thick layer of bubblewrap under paper at the bottom of the cage. The paper should not be so taut that it prevents it having a bit of 'give' in it so if/when your budgie falls he is getting a nice soft landing. Also try to arrange perches so that he has a clear fall rather than hitting anything on the way down. Be careful of having anything pointed that he could catch himself on. Make sure he can climb up easily too.

More recently I have had an older free range budgie who has been falling quite a bit, so I have put cushions on the floor near the cages, and bubblewrap or other wrapping stuff on surfaces which can cushion falls, and protect him from corners. I have got an arrangement whereby he can climb up from the floor. He is not flying at all now but before that I had to make sure that there was nothing in the room that he couldn't climb out of if he fell in, like deep plastic boxes.

I bet he will adapt really well. We will look forward to hearing how he progresses. Can you post a pic of him?

[Hezz]

Definitely look for a cage that has plenty of length and width but not height. Something along these lines:
petsdomain.com.au/collections/bird-cages-aviaries/products/exercise-bird-cage
There is a larger version of this type of flight cage which is the one I would recommend for a young and otherwise active budgie.

All good advice above, particularly padding the bottom of the cage to save from injury due to falls and keeping the centre of the cage clear in case he does fall, but knowing a young budgie, he will fall towards the "interesting" space just because he can, if he is going to fall. Besides ladders, I would add one or two platform perches so that he can rest off his feet if he needs to - have a little lie down.

If Amber is anything like my disabled hen, he will more likely climb around the bars of the cage than use the ladders, but you never do know. You can also get bendy perches that have a rubberised coating that are quite textured and give good grip. You can run these from one level to another so that he can shuffle along and reach premium spots without having to change perches. I've not used them and I don't know if the birds would be likely to nibble on them, and if they did, what sort of damage they might be able to do to it.

If you are at all handy or have a handy-human handy you could ask, or make yourself, a platform perch into which you can place his food and/or water bowls if that might help at all.

[Shirls]

I have a couple of layers of fleece under the newspaper for my non flying birdie.

[suz]

Thanks so much everyone. This is all really helpful and it's good to know that you've all been able to give happy lives to your special needs budgies!

[suz]

Hi all. His new cage has arrived today. I've put a baby changing mat on the floor for extra padding with newspapers on top of that. He's spent most of his time on the floor since I put him in so I've given him extra food and water bowls in case he doesn't find the fitted dishes. I lifted him up on to a platform perch to see if he liked it. 5 minutes later he was back on the floor but I didn't see whether that was intentional or not on his part! I can't work out how to attach photos to show how I've set it up.

[tweetiepiesmom]

This is how I do it from my computer. I think it should work similarly from a cell phone but I've never tried it.
1. Go to postimages.org
2. Click on box that says “Choose images”
3. Your desktop will come up and go to the place on your computer where you have the picture stored.
4. Click that and then click “open”. It will go back to the postimages website.
5. On the lower portion of your screen, you’ll see several url listings in grey boxes.
6. If you want a large size, full size image to post, go to the one labeled “Hotlink for forums”. High light everything in the grey box and copy it (Ctrl c). Go to your message on the forum and paste it (Ctrl v).
7. If you want a small size, go to the one labeled “Thumbnail for forums”. High light everything in the grey box and copy it. Go to your message on the forum and paste it.
Note: you do not need to sign up for an account to use postimages!

[Hezz]

Photos:
budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/thread/17937/uploading-photos-2