Budgie noise while breathing

[nidko]

I have a 1 year old budgie, white, male. He was acting normal and I hand-tamed him myself including teaching him some simple tricks. About 10 days ago he started making a constant squeaking noise while breathing and if not that then just a clicking noise. The tail bob can be seen largely.



His behavior has also changed, previously I would give him my hand and say "step up" and he would immediately step up. Now he bites my hand aggressively and It is not a big deal since I can handle the biting. It is only constant around the cage but when I take him out he is normal apart from the breathing.



We have searched the city and all veterinarians we could find and none of them specialize in Avian pets and would just tell us to "Get a new bird" which I really do not want to do since I have invested so much time bonding with my budgie to just let him go. Any help you can provide would be useful.



More description: There has been no nose discharge, no liquid poop but the noise has become unbearable at night. Covering the cage doesn't help he will still continue as said in the first sentences of the form.

[samwiseg]

Hi and welcome nidko

Sorry to hear your little guy is having breathing issues, this could be various things from air sac mites to iodine defiiciency or a sinus infection. However air sac mites doesnt usually happen unless he is in an aviary outside or with other birds.

So really you would need a vet to diagnose this and provide an antibiotic if it is an infection.

Is there any sort of "swelling" under his chin at all, as this could be a sign of a goitre which happens through lack of iodine. Sadly this is quite a common thing so you can purchase some iodine tinture to put into his water to aid with this.

Does he have an iodine pek, and more importantly does he use it?

I must point out that we are not avian vets but try to assist with as much information that can be supplied

[nidko]

As far as I can tell there is no swelling apart from sneezing a couple of times a day. By sneezing I mean sneezing repeatedly for a minute. The best I could describe the sound he is making is like an alarm. 

[Hezz]

That's not good. It is possibly a respiratory infection but again, you will need a vet's diagnosis and antibiotics prescribed to get rid of it.

Something that might help him is to put him into a hot steaming bathroom with the hot water running in the shower, leaving this running for a good 15 minutes - doors and windows closed, of course. The heat and humidity can help open up the airways. It can help but is not a solution.

[nidko]

I have taken a bowl of water and put it next to the cage then covered the cage and the bowl to create mist in the cage. Surprisingly, the noise has lowered down dramatically so I will continue to do it a couple of more times then stop. If the noise continues I will try and get help from the nearest avian vet I can, even if it means paying online for help since our city, as I said, doesn't have any.

[Hezz]

Just be careful that you don't overheat him. It is unlikely but it can happen. When I do this, I set the timer on my phone to go off every 5-6 minutes so that I check in regularly. I also add a drop of eucalyptus oil to the water.