Is he Obese?

[gulnihal]

Hi everyone I hope youre all safe and healthy. Im new in this forum and I have a budgie which is 8 years old. Considering his age, I think he's in good condition and he's a happy and talkative boy. But I've discover a wide lump in his belly which is soft and yellow. The first thing that came to my mind is fat. And plus, he just dont want to fly anywhere because he afraid to fall. One month ago I bought him a new big cage so that he can move more. But appearently its not working well. Everyday I give time one tablespoon of seed. The brand of the seed is Versele-Laga. Btw unfourtunetly there is no experienced vet in my country. But I can take him to another vet in another country,  if neccecery. 
Greetings,
Gulnihal

Note* The lump is really wide and located on his left leg I dont know if you can see this on this picture

[tweetiepiesmom]

Maybe Hezz and Marianne Marlow can offer some suggestions. A big cage is wonderful, it just needs to be set up in way that he can easily climb around. @cal has been setting up a cage and play space to make it easier for one of her budgies to get around. If you'd like suggestions, post a picture or two of the cage and people here can help with that.

[gulnihal]

Thanks for your comment. I would highly appreciate that. Here are some pictures of him and his cage:

[tweetiepiesmom]

Right off hand, maybe look at putting a ladder from one perch to another, a boing that he can crawl up to get to other perches, maybe a couple more toys to engage his interest. I would just be guessing if I said anything about his lump so I'll leave that to those who have experience with that in budgies.

[Hezz]

Is he obese? Most likely; what does he weigh? What you are describing sounds like a lipoma - a fatty deposit under the skin, very common in pet budgies who don't get enough exercise and are on a seed-only diet. Does he eat anything else besides seed - fruit or veg?

The lipoma itself is not usually a health issue, except for its ability to reduce the ability to fly, the fact that it can take up space in the bird's body cavity which is already chock-full of essential organs with no spare room to speak of, and the fact that the fatty deposit wouldn't be occurring if your bird's liver was functioning at full health.

Instead of making things easy for him to get around his cage, I would suggest exactly the opposite. He is most likely a perch potato, taking the easy way out. I would position his food and seed away from the perches so that he has to actively go looking for them; I would not put connecting ladders, ropes or perches so that he has to make an effort to move around. If you make it too easy for him, he is only going to get fatter. Also get him out for some gentle exercise. If he is struggling to fly, try getting him to flap on your hand by gently moving your hand up and down, enough so that he has to flap to keep his balance. Once he is okay doing this, try launching him over a bed, so that he can land safely, but get him moving, the more the better although you may need to work up to anything a little strenuous.

Plus try to get him eating something else besides seed - vegetables and seeding grasses are the best. If he will eat other things, give him just a teaspoon of seed and supplement his diet with the grasses and veg.

[tweetiepiesmom]

Great learning for me - thanks.

[ladybird]

Great advise from Hezz 👍🏻

[gulnihal]

thank you so much for your good advice I'm gonna start to change his diet and environment slowly from now on. Then I'll let you know about the results hopefully

[Hezz]

That would be a good thing, and with luck you will have him for a few more years yet.