My budgie Skyler has weird symptoms

[skylerbird]

Hello, I just joined this forum in hopes that someone can give me guidance about my budgie, Skyler.  

For background, I adopted him from a shelter in September of last year, and while it was recommended that I take him to a vet shortly afterwards, he was very skittish and not tame at all, so we didn't think we could take him to a vet. 

Now, almost a year later, he is very bonded with me, but I cannot handle him all that well, and I haven't been able to really train him either.

Two days ago, there was some burning plastic in the kitchen, while he was with me in the living room.  There are no doors between the kitchen and the living room, with the dining room in between the living room and kitchen.  We quickly aired out the house, and he seemed to be fine.  A few hours later, he pooped out something really dark brown, and it was super liquidy.  Then he has some really sticky droppings that got stuck to his vent and he was having difficulty cleaning himself.  I was able to clean him, and afterwards he seemed to be just fine. 

The next day, I noticed that he was having difficulty standing on his right foot, unable to put much weight on it.  In fear that that the air was still toxic and that was causing it, I brought him in his cage outside for some fresh air, but it was very hot out, in the 90s, so I only had him out for 10 minutes. 

Now he's staying in the basement and isn't too happy about it.  After several hours, he seemed to be able to put a little more weight on his foot, and as of today, he is doing better.  But his digestion since yesterday has been super slow, and what comes out is a very greenish color, and it takes a lot of encouraging to get him to eat and drink.  He's been refusing to eat his pellets, but he is happy to eat seeds and millet.  Despite all this he is super cheerful and still sings and plays, and right now is even chilling on my shoulder as I write this.

I want to take him to a vet, and I finally found an Avian vet that can take him, the problem is that it is almost 100 degrees outside and I don't know how I can get him there safely.  Does anyone have any idea on what can be done if I can't take him to a vet, and what could possibly be wrong with him?  Thank you so much, any guidance would be appreciated.

[tweetiepiesmom]

It seems likely that the toxic fumes may have caused his illness or brought out a condition that he already had. Toxic fumes will usually kill a bird within 2-24 hours so maybe you got him out of it quickly enough. I don't know where you live but many vets will give a bird oxygen treatment if the vet knows/suspects exposure to toxic fumes so it is important to get to the vet quickly when that happens. Toxic gases do linger for awhile and could be absorbed into soft surfaces like upholstered furniture. The best place for him now is the basement. We do seem to have a heat wave in many places these days. Do you not have access to an air conditioned car to take him to the vet? How about using a rideshare service like Uber or Lyft? Just make sure the car air conditioner is not blowing directly on him. Cover the cage on three sides during the trip to the vet.

Could he have injured his foot when you weren't watching him? Maybe he just hit it on something or he has a minor sprain. Sorry I can't offer you more definite ideas about what may be wrong. Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) seems to be good for a variety of ills until you can get to the vet. Many people here use Bragg's organic ACV, about 3 drops in 100ml of water.

Hopefully more experienced people will be on to offer more suggestions.

[skylerbird]

Aug 12, 2021 20:39:52 GMT tweetiepiesmom said:

It seems likely that the toxic fumes may have caused his illness or brought out a condition that he already had. Toxic fumes will usually kill a bird within 2-24 hours so maybe you got him out of it quickly enough. I don't know where you live but many vets will give a bird oxygen treatment if the vet knows/suspects exposure to toxic fumes so it is important to get to the vet quickly when that happens. Toxic gases do linger for awhile and could be absorbed into soft surfaces like upholstered furniture. The best place for him now is the basement. We do seem to have a heat wave in many places these days. Do you not have access to an air conditioned car to take him to the vet? How about using a rideshare service like Uber or Lyft? Just make sure the car air conditioner is not blowing directly on him. Cover the cage on three sides during the trip to the vet.

Could he have injured his foot when you weren't watching him? Maybe he just hit it on something or he has a minor sprain. Sorry I can't offer you more definite ideas about what may be wrong. Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) seems to be good for a variety of ills until you can get to the vet. Many people here use Bragg's organic ACV, about 3 drops in 100ml of water.

Hopefully more experienced people will be on to offer more suggestions.

Hi, thank you so much for your response.  It's been over 24 hours now since the potential plastic exposure, and thank goodness he is still with us.   Many of our cars don't have working air conditioning, but luckily we were able to get Skyler and his very big cage (I couldn't get him into his travel cage as he's petrified of the thing) into our smaller car that does have a working AC, and all the way to the avian vet today.  They said it didn't seem that he had been affected by the plastic fumes, and after an x-ray, the vet told us he doesn't have any growths on his organs that could potentially be hurting him internally, or any broken bones. We got some pain medicine for him and already he seems to be a little more chipper, and is enjoying some seeds in his food dish on his own.  I can only hope that he is on the road to recovery now!

[Hezz]

Good to know that he hasn’t been adversely affected, it sounds as though the vet has been very thorough. It is possible that the panic of the toxins in the air and moving him around may have caused his own panic and he has hurt his foot. Birds’ feet do get hurt during the normal knocks of life. Sometimes they completely recover, but other times they can end up with permanent defects which they are good at coming to terms with. Glad he is doing okay.