I think my bird is sick. Please help!

[Katie]

Hello,

I'm hoping someone can help me. I have a female budgie that I've been keeping for two years and I think she may be sick. She seems to have diarrhea. Her feces are greenish in colour and appear to be looser than usual. The feathers around her vent are slightly dirty as well. But aside from these symptoms, she is still eating, drinking, preening, moving and perching like she normally does. This is the second day she's been like this though.

She does have a bad habit of pooping in her water dish at night. For this reason, my sister cleans her dish every morning as soon as she wakes up. Yesterday when I noticed she had diarrhea, I scrubbed down her cage and everything in it to be safe. I've read that their feces can make them feel worse if they're ill. I cleaned the bottom of her cage again this morning as well.

If anyone could tell me what may be wrong with her or what I could do to help her, I would appreciate it greatly.

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the long post!
(If anyone would like some pictures, I can post some.)

~Katie

[Hezz]

Katie, a photo of the sick bird is always helpful. Also, if she poops in her water bowl, why not move it to a place she can't? Or if that isn't possible, change her bowl for a drinker that cannot be contaminated. Why run the risk?

Is your bird active? Does she come out for a fly around? Is she sleeping a lot? Has she been pigging out on greens the last day or two? Anything new food-wise been given to her? In the meantime, you can change her drinking water for cooled weak black tea - this tends to settle upset stomachs somewhat. Or chamomile tea - this is soothing for them internally as well.

[barrieshutt]

fouled water will in time kill a budgie , she may need a course of baytril

[ruthpaton]

It would be better to get her checked out by a vet soon - an avian one if possible. There is a list of those on a sticky on this site so maybe worth checking if one of them is anywhere near you. A vet will likely give you Baytril which Barrie has suggested she may need. I agree with the others too, it's important to find a way to prevent her pooping in her water. I hope she will be much better soon! Do post a photo and keep us updated.

[Katie]

Thanks, I really appreciate the replies.

When we first brought Misty home, there was a drinker in her cage. But we got worried because she wasn't drinking from it at all. As soon as we switched it for a bowl she began drinking immediately (I guess she's not the smartest bird?). When I was at the pet store on Monday I saw a better water dish that's like hers, but it has a cover over it. Maybe she would drink from something like that. I didn't want to change her cage too much while she was sick though. I thought it might upset her.

We haven't fed her anything new lately. My mom doesn't like to feed her "people food", so we really only feed her budgie treats and budgie food. Would it be bad to let her have the tea if she's never had anything like that before?

Yesterday she was playing a lot and she wasn't sleeping any more than usual. I have to go to work today though, so I'll have to ask my mom to watch her for me. From what I can tell, she looks a little more like she did on Monday today. Her feces look better (I'll post a photo), but she looks a little sluggish.

Attachments:

[Katie]

I posted a picture of her vent above. Here's a picture of her latest excrement. It looks more solid than yesterday, but it's still an odd colour. Sorry about the image quality. I didn't have a good camera with me.

I know nobody knows me on this forum yet, so I really appreciate your help. Thanks.

~Katie

Attachments:

[Hezz]

The tea will help her. And birds aren't silly - if you show her where the water (or tea) is, she will know where to go for it. Vegetables and small amounts of fruits are good for budgies too. Especially if she doesn't get any seeding grasses or trees to munch on. But not now, while she is sick - stick to seed and millet until this has been resolved.