URGENT : Very sick budgie

[zo]

I noticed yesterday that my Splash (male budgie, 5 years old) was spending a lot of time ruffled up and generally looking miserable, then I noticed a large amount of very watery droppings on the floor of the cage.

He is very inactive, spending large amounts of time fluffed up and quiet or sleeping, but he's still eating and drinking, in fact he positively devours the millet sprays I give them. To keep an eye on the diarrhea, I'm cleaning the cage out every day, and probably giving them more millet than is necessary in an effort to make sure he keeps eating. I feed them trill generally, and not much fruit or veg as they tend to ignore them (or shred them, in the case of the lettuce they DO get.) so the watery faeces couldn't have been caused by this. He couldn't have eaten anything abnormal, and while my room is generally quite cool, it's not excessively cold (since I noticed he was ill, I've made an effort to keep the room warm).

He's kept in a large cage with another bird (should I separate them? If it's an infection would she have already got it?). There aren't any avian vets in my area, so I'd prefer to sort this on my own than stress them by taking them on a very long journey. My mum is a vet nurse, but her surgery know very little about birds. One thing she does think, is that giving them Baytril would do more harm than good if it turned out not to be bacterial.

He's slightly finger tame, but is not regularly let out or handled, so any medicine would preferably be administered by water.

Earlier today he was chirping and preening, but he's deteriorated since then. It's making me so worried, I'm so scared he will die. Any advice on what I could do to help, short of taking him to a vet?

Here's a picture of his droppings if that helps. As you can see, they are extremely watery. Please help!!

[annieones]

My budgie was all fluffed out, she was quiet and sleep a lot. She didn't have diahoreah and was having difficulty swallowing. I did take her to vet, and was told bacteria and yeast infection . Where do you stay?

[zo]

He's not having difficulty swallowing, which is why I thought not a yeast infection. I stay in Perth and Kinross, close to Kinross. So really my only option is the Vet School in Edinburgh, if even that.

[annieones]

that's where i took Thala. There is another vet in Falkirk, ,but we are very limited here!!

[zo]

That we are. And Falkirk, or even the Vet school is a long long journey for a sick birdy I think my mum is going to get me some Baytril tomorrow and see if that helps.

[annieones]

I know that's what i felt about taking Thala to edin, it was still a 80mile round trip! Although have a look at my photo "just back from the vet" - she coped very well, but he has no balance and kept falling off the perch and i had to hold him for most of the journey!!!! lol

[Bird Junky]

Hi For now just keep him warm for now.
An all seed diet is very short on the Vitamin
& minerals a budgie needs to keep fit & healthy.
Check out the feeding posts on this site. Budgies
are like kids they can get picky with their food.
By all means separate your birds & work out
a good mix diet not forgetting the Iodine block
& cuttle bone......B.J.

[Hezz]

Zo, you need to move Splash into a small cage of his own and keep him warm. If you have a heat lamp, great and put this over his cage but at one end so he can regulate how warm he is. Cover the cage on all sides except the front so you can keep an eye on him, but this will help contain the heat. If the other bird is noisy and calling to him, put him somewhere quiet and calm, allow him to rest. If you don't have a heat lamp, an ordinary reading lamp will provide some warmth, and an old fashioned hot water bottle on the floor of the small cage covered with a cloth is good for emergency heating. Plenty of millet is good at this stage, and provide him with water too of course. Although the water can be replaced with cold weak black tea, or camomile tea is good too. Do you have any Guardian Angel you can give him? Yes, watch the other bird for signs that it too is becoming unwell.

Budgies have a very high (compared to us) body temperature and lose heat rapidly when they become ill. This is why we must ensure we keep them warm when ill, so their little bodies can use the energy they have fighting whatever is making them sick, rather than keeping themselves warm.

Hope this helps in some small way, and let us know how he is getting on. Good luck.

[Nani]

Aww I am so sorry your little buddy is having quite a tough time right now.
Hezz has given you great advice, follow it asap.

Wishing you and Splash luck and good vibes.

[barrieshutt]

Often before we spot the bird is unwell the problem has got a good hold....................heat , isolation and guardian angel must be given in the first instance...................Find a vet who is qualified in avains and get a diagnosis , with out this we are only guessing

[zo]

Thank you for all the advice. I've got to go to school again today, but I've left it to my mum to get her hands on some Guardian Angel if she can (no, I don't have it on hand). She'll get the isolation cage ready and move him if he becomes too unwell (would separating them not cause Splash a lot of stress?), failing this I'll move him when I get back from school since I'm the only one that's handled him in the past. I'm inclined to leave the cages side-by-side to avoid stressing them too much, they've never been separated before. Would this be a wise move?

Drift is still looking bright and healthy, thankfully. And thank you for all of the advice, we are now seriously considering the trip to the vet, despite the stress it would involve for them.

[Nani]

If it's within your power to visit a vet-then don't hesitate.

Yes. Isolate. Separate.

Your other bird may seem healthy, but if it continues to be beside your sick bird, then it too will eventually get sick. Animals are masters of faking being healthy, what may seem a healthy bird to you now, may really be just masquerading.
In the wild, a sick bird is an exposed bird, and therefore a bird that will be met with backlash from the flock and will be eyed by predators.

[annieones]

What is guardian angel? How is splash today?

[zo]

Thanks for asking Annie. He's no better than yesterday, but no worse either (no news is good news I hope?) apart from the feathers around his vent getting a little more mucky. He's in a small cage now, covered over with towels and I've set a desk lamp at one end which is giving off some heat. Just transferred him and stuck a millet spray in. He seems quite agitated at the change of surroundings, shooting here-there and everywhere, which I suppose is to be expected, but I can't decide if that means he's feeling a little better or not. My mum's ordered Guardian Angel for him, which for annie's benefit is a probiotic supplement for sick birds. It basically bolsters their immune system and helps them fight off infections.

[zo]

He still seems very agitated, and has now stopped eating, even millet. The lamp is keeping the cage marginally warmer but not much. Any ideas on how to help any of this? Baytril will appear tomorrow and Guardian Angel should hopefully follow.

Still indecisive about the vet, since I just recently heard some very bad press about the Falkirk one and my mum remains convinced that they couldn't do much more than prescribe baytril (since the symptoms seem to be that of a bacterial infection I think?) and that the only thing they would do would be to take a swab, which she can do herself. That and the obvious draw-backs of a long journey.