Two Meds in One Syringe?

[BirdLady]

My budgie Pilé will need to be getting two medications for several months and struggles so much during the process that even getting one syringe in his mouth is a challenge: he refuses to open his beak, when he does so it’s for a split of a second with his tongue jerking around wildly. We have to handle him for a long time to get both syringes in and it leaves him super stressed after. I am considering putting both meds in the same syringe to shorten the struggle and stress. They both end up in his beak in quick succession anyway, so what’s the difference?

[Ira]

The main difference is in the measuring of the doses. Some medication sits in the spout of the syringe so this needs to be accounted for when drawing up two medications to avoid an overdose.

Budgie doses are a little too small to squirt into a container to mix and draw up, so my recommendation would be to draw up the first medication so that you have the correct volume in the body of the syringe with air in the spout.
Then wipe the outside of the syringe clean and repeat with the second medication.
Get the air bubble that's in the syringe up to the plunger end, as this will allow you to push all of the medicine out of the spout to avoid underdosing.

An alternative method would be to remove the plunger and draw up with two separate syringes, squirting the contents into the one being used to administer, but if your syringes are the tiny ones like mine that would be more hassle.

[BirdLady]

Thank you, I will try this. I do wonder if medicating small birds long-term, when it causes them a great deal of stress, does more harm than good. My budgie is supposed to be on this medication for the rest of his life, three months on, three months off…

[Ira]

It's a tricky thing.
I have one on lifelong medication too but he just accepts it now because he knows once he takes it I'll put him back on a perch.

But ideally I'd like to teach him to just come to take it himself, but I don't know what I can put in the syringe that would taste good and be a good incentive for him.

[BirdLady]

That’s encouraging. How long did it take your budgie to adapt? A part of the stress is definitely linked to my inept handling. I am still learning how to properly restrain him, which requires holding him longer, repositioning and so on. It just takes too long and his resistance builds up… Natural apple juice or a drop of freshly squeezed orange juice might appeal for training. I have read that giving a treat after the bird interacts with the syringe in any way also encourages them to poke around it. The vet told me this should ideally be done before the bird ever needs medication so the syringe appears as a neutral object.

[Ira]

Yes, that's my trouble now. He associates the syringe with bad times. Whereas my hen gets curious every time I'm drawing up so I reward her for coming to look.

I'm going to start with the approach of giving them some millet, moving the syringe closer until they pause, and moving it away again when they carry on eating.

I can't fully remember. I've had to handle Yuki a fair amount ever since we got him, so he was somewhat used to it, and he has a habit of cornering himself so he's easy to catch.
My partner finds them harder to handle so takes longer.
I had one who used to bite really hard and panic when we first got him, and I just used to catch him twice a day and immediately pop him back on a perch. Not the best way of doing it by any means, but he wasn't keen on taking treats from me at the time. And then everyone needed a week of medicine anyway, so it was just as well.

It's difficult to know what to suggest. You could try Hezz's approach of teaching your budgie to step into your hand and letting you close your hand around them.
Or do a quick catch and release followed by a treat.

I have one that I had to medicate recently and honestly it was a wrestling match every time. I had to wrap him. And it must have taken at least two minutes.


Thank you for the suggestions. I'll try the juice. I might try kale juice for something less sweet too. I did try emergency formula but it's a bit thick if you make it properly.