Injured budgie's wing - sleepy afterwards

[thefeyra]

Hi guys,

So a couple days ago I accidentally stepped on my budgie's wing 😢😢😢 I know, I know, I'm already blaming myself for not being careful enough and I'm doing my utmost to take care of her and make up for it. On that day, I booked her in for emergency vet care not at my usual avian vet because they didn't have any doctors in.

The emergency vet checked her over and nothing is broken. She lost quite a number of feathers and there are already pinfeathers covering the bald area. She was prescribed 0.10ml of Meloxicam for 3 days pain relief which I've been giving her.

My question is this: my budgie has been really sleepy and fluffed up and inactive (which is good as it lets her heal). I'm thinking that the tiredness could be the strain of regrowing feathers and she might be fluffy cos of the feather loss.

But should I still bring her to my usual avian specialist just in case? It's expensive, but if these are alarming signs, I will.

She's at a healthy weight and since the accident, I've been handfeeding her at least once a day just so she'll have the energy to heal. Her vent is clean and she's extensively preening (not any more or less than usual).

Again, should I bring her to my usual avian specialist?

[loueezee]

One of our 8 budgies has a lung infection. Took her to vet yesterday on bank hol - extortionate rates but hey, at least they are there. Lemon is very fluffed up and inactive too - maybe it’s the effect of the antibiotics?

[mona]

My budgie has a foot issue too (not sure about the cause yet - injury ,nerve issue, ortho issue or vit deficiency etc)

He had stopped eating drinking preening and had a little swelling in his feet - fluffed up, sleeping. He was in terrible shape last week and he looked in too much pain. He is prescribed Meloxicam too, after his meal (never empty stomach).

He is doing better over time. He still sleeps half of the day. I make sure to check if he is eating seeds at least 3 times a day and has access to his favorite seeds/millets, green leafy veggies, lettuce & veggie stem for water, soaked seeds/beans etc. I just give him everything - whatever he feels like eating.. he's really picky & unpredictable.. but as far as he is eating something. If he doesn't eat on his own, I move his food bowl in my hand and nudge him to eat. If he doesn't drink water, I dip the veggie stems he likes, in water and give that to him. Sometimes, he just doesn't move but eats/drinks if I offer him. Checking his poop too to check how much he is eating & drinking. He was terrible last week, but seems to slowly improve - chirping a bit, preening and started eating on his own. He has seeds just next to his perch. When he is too fluffed up, I turn on a heat lamp to keep him warm.. let him sleep and keep it quiet.

I have added a clean soft thick towel beneath the cage liner... just in case if he slips and falls down.. there is nothing sharp in the cage.. in case of slip and accident.. He slept a lot due to pain and weakness.. Make sure to take special effort to start her eat as much as she can, also taking care to let her rest. I'm also keeping everything super clean in his cage - change the underlying towel once in 2 days, clean perches, change water multiple days during the day & remove greens and soaked seeds/beans within 2 hours (based on the weather at my place). When already weak, I don't want him to catch anything else right now. I also keep taking photos of his feet to create a collage and compare the changes myself to be clear about his situation - esp swelling.

You would be able to observe her behavior better than all of us and the need to take to your vet, if she isn't eating well or drinking.

[Marianne Marlow]

If you're able to take her to an avian vet then yes I would. Just to be on the safe side. "ordinary vets" do not have that much knowledge about bird anatomy.

[Hezz]

While it may take some time for the wing to heal - there may be internal damage, not just a few missing feathers - if you are able to access an avian vet, then it is worth the effort. They should have more of an idea whether the wing is okay, or going to be okay and whether your bird is showing worrying signs or acting quite typically for the amount of trauma suffered.

[thefeyra]

loueezee: yeah, this morning I held off on giving her the Meloxicam just to see and she was livelier. Now that I've dosed her, she's definitely more lethargic.

mona: thanks for the tips! She's being a little stubborn about wanting to perch on her playgym which I've placed on the floor instead of atop her cage. I've put a few towel layers to cushion her, just in case. I'll also take photos of her wing everyday to compare. She's been holding her injured wing out just slightly, so I think I'm going to try and book an appointment with my usual avian vet. I've been insistent on getting her to eat, so hopefully she'll recover soon!

@marianne Marlow & Hezz: yeah, I'm going to bring her to my usual vet asap. She seems a bit better today, adamantly refusing to stay in her cage like her old self and eating a little more by herself, but she's holding the injured wing out a little. I don't like that. So I'm going to get a second opinion.

Thanks for the input, everyone!

[Marianne Marlow]

Please let us know how it goes at the vet and good luck.

[thefeyra]

Thanks guys! 😄 I already booked an appointment, but the earliest I could get was for next Thursday 😅

In any case, she's almost back to her usual, lively and endearing personality! The first 4 days were kind of heartbreaking - she didn't move much from her perch and her vocalisations were so much softer and more hesitant.

Now she's pretty active, ready to chew anything and everything, demanding this and that, though in a softer chirp than before. But still, it amazes me at how emotionally resilient(?) she is, especially for such a little one.

She flaps her wings to exercise them, but I'm wondering if it still hurts her because she doesn't fold up the injured wing as well, and it vibrates quite a bit which is indicative of discomfort. She's also refusing to bathe, where previously she was eager to bathe every single day. And she does get a little more tired than before, but then she's undergoing her first molt too.

I'm just hoping there's no permanent damage to her wing, what with the long followup timing. But it can't be helped with this pandemic and social distancing. Sigh.

[mona]

Glad to hear that she is feeling better. All the best for upcoming vet visit..

[Hezz]

Thank you for the update. It does sound as though she is recovering and hopefully she does so completely.

[thefeyra]

Welp, turns out she has a wing fracture, but they couldn't do much about it except give her more painkillers and anti-inflammatories. They could do a wing wrap, but she wouldn't heal faster, so I've just gotta keep an eye on her and try to prevent her from flapping her wings too much (and of course when I collected her from the vet she started flapping them more than ever 😅)

She'll have a followup appointment a week later.

Thanks, guys! 😄

[mona]

Maybe restraining her to a smaller cage where she can't flap her injured wing, could help.. if the vet thinks so too..

Hope she heals well..

[Hezz]

A small cage that is “too small” may well work. I know of a similar situation in which an injured wild bird - broken wing that didn’t heal - needed to be confined to a small cage, too small for the bird to be able to stretch its wings as it continually tried to in an aviary and kept knocking and reinjuring the wing.