Neglected budgie :-(

[hayley2109]

Hi,

I bought a male budgie from an auction two days ago. I didn’t intend to buy one but I couldn’t help myself when I saw him. He really is beautiful (IMO anyway).

He was sold as hand tame. He let me mess with him and sat on my finger when I got him home but he was very quiet and didn’t move about much. Anyway I was a little concerned (I have never owned a budgie) so I took him to the vets...not good news!

His top beak was over grown by over 1cm and was digging in his neck! Apparently he has an overbite so it will always grow too much. He has an injured wing (I thought the pink on his feathers was his colouring but it was blood!!!) The vet said he is also underweight. She thinks he has been very neglected the poor boy!

He’s had his beak trimmed now and he’s started biting me...is this a good sign? He's also had his nails done.

Do you think I can rehabilitate him and help him be a happy, health, hand tame bird? I've bought a book on budgie keeping and kitted him out in a nice cage etc.

Also his eyes look half shut, a bit like the blue bird on the left of this forums banner. He doesn’t have big eyes like other budgies i’ve seen, but im not sure if its because they are covered by his feathers? Is this normal? The vet didn’t seem over concerned?

Sorry about going on!
Thank you

[skysmum]

Poor little chap, he's lucky that you've come along to rescue him. Have you any idea how old he is. Older budgies are harder to tame but with time and Patience you can work wanders. You have to be gentle and gain his confidence, talk to him lots and blink at him, he will blink back it tells him that you aren't a threat. There is some great advice on the Taming page. Good luck with him and please post some pics we'd love to see him.

[Hezz]

Hi Hayley. Sorry your foray into keeping budgies started off on a difficult note, but I am sure the bird will be better off now you are looking after him.

AS Skysmum mentioned, if he is older it will be harder to get him tame but not impossible. Also his previous life may impact on how he responds to you as well. If he has been neglected physically it is quite possible he hasn't had good experiences with humans either, so his mental health could be of concern. I don't mean he is going to be a "psyco budgie", but that it may take longer to gain his trust and reach a stage where he is happy to interact with you.

I see no reason why he can't be happy and healthy, but it will take some or a lot of work on your part for him to be hand-tame.

He will take a few days to adjust to his new home and new people, new cage etc, so that is why he is keeping quite still, not moving around much, not making any noise. Once he starts to feel more comfortable he will start to move around, make some noise.

Did the vet give you any recommendations for his dietary needs? Does he have a cuttlebone? Calcium is a necessary addition for budgies and the cuttlebone provides this. Also a variety of food is good. He may not be used to eating veggies but have a look through this for fresh foods to offer him.
budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=budgiefeeding&action=display&thread=509

He may not take to fresh food if he is used to an all-seed diet but persevere and offer one or two at a time whenever you can. Some budgies take to big chunks, others need small grated bits to get them interested or anything in between. Try it all, to find out what he wants, but if he has never been given veggies you will probably have more success with smaller grated bits sprinkled over his seed. The only trouble with this is that is will have to be discarded with the vegetables after a few hours. Fresh foods shouldn't be left in the cage for more than several hours and never overnight. A little eggfood is good to add a bit of protein to his diet and therefore a bit of body - either your own mashed up hard-boiled egg, or you can buy a dry version that can be either sprinkled over the seed or moistened and made into a pasty/crumble type food. This needs to be treated the same as any other fresh food. Removed after a few hours.

I hope this isn't too much at once, but the sooner his diet is improved and he is healthy again, the sooner you will have a happy chirpy budgie in the house.

PS I should have mentioned too that with his beak so badly overgrown, he probably hasn't been able to eat properly, hence why so skinny. Good luck and let us know how he gets on.

[barrieshutt]

One thing that may come out of this is buyer beware when visiting auctions

[hayley2109]

Hi, thank you for your replies.

The vet suggested I may want to consider putting him to sleep and getting a healthy budgie from a breeder (Barrie makes a good point). I asked at this point if it was in the interest of the budgie and she said 'not at this point'. I think she believes he will always be high maintainance but I don't mind as long as I can get him health again.

Hezz, he wont eat anything other than his millet spray, not even the seed in the pot. Should I be concerned or will he start eventually? The vet said lots of fruit and veg, but again he hasnt touched it yet. I have also bought him some minerals to go in his water.

Will take on all your advice and keep you updated. Thanks again!

[barrieshutt]

Where do you live Hayley /

[hayley2109]

I live in Blackpool. I have called the auction to make the situation known. I dont think they were that interested.

[Hezz]

The poor thing has probably had such a hard time eating for sooooooo long it has forgotten how to do it!!!!! Millet is a favourite for budgies when they are sick - it seems much easier for them to husk and eat, so I suggest keep supplying the millet but keep a pot of regular budgie mix in the cage also. Hopefully as he becomes used to his new beak shape, he will give the other seed a try, but at the moment you just want him eating well, so don't panic about him only eating the millet. With the veges, it is probably a waste of time keeping them up to him at the moment, if he hasn't ever had them before, which you don't know, unfortunately. I would suggest leaving the vegetables until he is eating seed again, and getting back to full health. That is what I see as the priority. There are people on the forum who have birds that need regular beak trimming, and hopefully they will be able to help if he needs regular trimming, and maybe have dietary tips to help keep it under control. Lots of natural chewable material is necessary - natural branch perches, pieces of bark etc to chew up and destroy, these are the things that keep beak growth under control. He may not have had access to any of these, we don't know. So it may be a huge impediment to his life or it could be that the poor bird has never been given a chance. Until you came along and decided to change his life.

I suggest giving him time to adjust to having his beak trimmed, while always having a budgie seed mix available to him, keep up the millet supply, and when he has made that conversion, then start offering vegetables. If you are happy to offer the veges without him yet getting into the seed, it isn't going to hurt - the most your are going to do is waste a few vegetables. You are doing a great thing, keep it up.

PS Not suprised no-one from the auction is showing any interest. An unfortunate fact.

[Rachael Kellett]

Could you post a photo of him so we can take a look? The blue bird in the banner is my Ozzie and he doesn't have squinty eyes usually lol.

There is always a big risk buying birds at auctions, mostly because if anything is wrong you haven't got a leg to stand on as the majority of auctions operate on a sold as seen policy Saying that though I have two budgies I bought from an auction a couple of years ago and I struck lucky with them, they are such sweethearts. If you are willing to stick by your budgie then that is fantastic, I encourage you to do so unless the budgie is suffering which it doesn't sound like he is. You need to get him on a good seed mix and start trying to give him veggies, there is a list of safe veg on the forum somewhere but try him on grated carrot for now, thats usually a hit. It may take him a while to try them but keep trying

I look forward to seeing a photo of the little guy ;D