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Budgie died now the others are acting sick

5K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  StarlingWings 
#1 ·
Hello,

Background:

I got three budgies in June 2016.One of my budgies passed away this morning. Last Tuesday night I noticed his attitude was some what sickly, kind of lethargic. The next morning he was fluffed up not moving and perched and I was able to touch him, which is something I hadn't been able to do. So I took him to see an avian vet that morning, she said the breathing was fine and didnt see any parasites in the fecal swipe. She couldn't really find anything wrong, she gave me some antibiotics and something to help him not throw up. When i got home I put him in a separate cage with food, water and millet and then covered the cage and had a ceramic heater near by to keep the temperature up.I used a syringe to give him the medicine twice a day along with force feeding him with the syringeHe was too weak to eat I first used baby food then I added some water to high potency pellets and let it soak, heated it up a little and fed him. By Friday he was eating a lot on his own and a little more active ,even eating his millet. I was hopeful he was going to be okay. That friday night, I woke up at midnight to check on him and he was still puffed up as usual. When I checked on him at 5am he had died. Since Wednesday I have maybe had 10 hours of sleep from constantly being worried and checking on him. Im pretty depressed and sad; wondering where I went wrong.

Current Situation:
Today, I noticed my other two birds have become not as active, sneezing quite a bit, seems like they have a itchy cere,poop looks sickly and arn't eating as much. Currently, they don't appear as bad as the other one, but I know how fast that can change and it upsets me. I decided to put a small ceramic heater near the cage to raise the heat a bit and I also gave them both some of the antibiotics I received from the vet. I made an appointment to take them into see the vet Monday. If you have an suggestions I would appreciate it.

Thank you,
 
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#2 ·
I'm so sorry you lost your budgie and the other two are acting sickly.

Since all three were/are sickly, something that's common to all three is wrong. Could be food and water or environment.

Is their food fresh? What do you normally feed them and have you fed them something new recently? Some foods are toxic to budgies. Do you change their water at least daily?

Have they been exposed to any toxins recently, such as candles or overheated Teflon (non-stick) pans? Any gas leaks? Have you seen them chew on anything metal?

Can you post a picture of the birds and their cage setup so we can look for clues?

It's hard to speculate what's causing the ailments when we don't know how they're being cared for.

If your budgie died recently and you've preserved its body, you could pay for a necropsy (animal autopsy) to determine cause of death.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for replying. I'll take pictures tomorrow morning. I change their food about every other day(I have some high potency pellets i've tried to switch them to but one of the birds wont eat it) I change the water every morning. I feed them corn on the cob about once a week,every other week, since its the only veggie they seem to eat. I clean the cage weekly. I live in a townhouse and the room they are in is located upstairs in the room furthest away from the kitchen. Here is the cage they are housed in: https://www.amazon.com/Parakeet-Cockatiel-Lovebird-Removable-Black/dp/B00C332AOG/ref=sr_1_14?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1485063243&sr=1-14&keywords=bird+cage
 
#5 ·
Since the high potency pellets (Harrison's?) contain corn, I wouldn't feed them corn on the cob, too. Although Harrison's pellets contain organic corn, most store-bought corn is GMO corn, which some studies have proven to cause serious health problems.

I wonder if the pellets have made the birds sick? Quite frankly, I'd offer them a good brand of parakeet seed along with the pellets.

Budgies need a source of Vitamin A everyday. Please continue to offer carrots and/or dark leafy green vegetables. My avian vet offers several nutrition handouts here: BIRD Clinic Handouts - Bird Vet. One of them is a Vitamin A sources handout.

I'm not saying the food you have been offering them caused their illnesses. But it wouldn't hurt to make adjustments in the event they're not responding well to their current diet.

Can you post a photo of your birds in their cage?

I hope they recover soon.
 
#4 ·
It is important you have your budgies diagnosed by a professional and given the correct treatment plan so I'm glad to hear you have an appointment for tomorrow.

In the meantime, keep the budgies warm and give them Guardian Angel or Pedialyte.

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-bud...uardian-angel-pedialyte-pedialyte-recipe.html

To help with respiratory issues, you can put your budgie's cage in the bathroom when you run hot water through the shower so the cage is in the hot steamy air -- that will help open the airways.

Another option is to tent the cage with a sheet and place a pot or kettle of boiling water under the sheet where your budgie is unable to touch it and allow the steam to accumulate that way. If you have pure eucalyptus oil, you can put one tiny drop into the water as that will also help to clear the airways so the budgie is better able to breathe.

Avian Vets have special training to determine the cause of symptoms resulting from illness or trauma.
This is important as "regular" vets will often overlook symptoms that are quickly obvious to an Avian Vet.
When you rely on anyone who has not had training in Avian diagnosis and care, you may be delaying effective treatment.
This can prolong suffering that may be avoidable.
The bird will often require a more intense, prolonged treatment with a poorer chance of full recovery than it would have if you seek prompt professional diagnosis and treatment at the first sign of illness.

Distinction between an Avian Vet and a Vet that "Will See Birds"

Having your budgie examined by an Avian Vet allows you to develop a good relationship with the vet in case your bird needs care for an injury or illness in the future. Additionally, it is always helpful for the vet to have a baseline for your bird to refer to should it need future treatment.

Here are some options in your area:

Wise Choice Animal Hospital: Shreveport, LA: Veterinary Clinic

Brookings Animal Hospital, Veterinary Services

Lake Charles:
Dr. Jay Carter
113 W Clarence, Lake Charles, LA 70601 - Tel. (337) 439-2321
Metairie:

Dr. Gregory Rich- West Esplanade Veterinary Clinic and Bird Hospital
3640 West Esplanade, Metairie, LA 70002 - Tel. (504) 455-6386
New Orleans:

Dr. Gregory Rich, D.V.M. - Avian Vet
W. Espanade, New Orleans, LA - Tel. (504) 455-6386
Oakdale:

Sara Myers DVM - Avian & Exotic Veterinary - Oakdale Animal Clinic.
2628 Hwy 165 south Oakdale La 71463. Phone # 318-335-3814
Website: Oakdale Animal Clinic
Shreveport:

Virginia Brookings, D.V.M., Avian Certified - Brookings Animal Hospital
4919 N Market Street, Shreveport, LA 71107 - Tel. (318) 425-4860
 
#7 ·
Hi there,

Your girls are beautiful :love:

Outwardly, they look to be in good shape, which is positive. However, it does sound that they may have the same thing that the other budgie did, which should be diagnosed right away.

You've been given some great links and resources for avian vets above; be sure to update us once they've seen the vet! Even if it turns out they are fine, it's important to have them checked for illness when the cause of a budgie death in the flock is unknown.

Also, be sure to trim all the rope fringes/tassels in the cage off to only 1/2 an inch! It's important to so in order for your budgies not to get caught or tangled in the strings or to ingest any fabric, both of which can be fatal.

I hope your girls feel better soon! Keep us posted.
 
#10 ·
Thanks everyone for all the support and great information! I went to the appointment I made at Wise Choice Animal Hospital today. Unfortunately, the facility and service was horrible. I didn't get the feeling they cared about my budgies well being. So I decided to leave and make an appointment on Wednesday morning with Brookings Animal Hospital,they are the only other avian vet in my immediate area.
 
#12 ·
Update on my budgies:

I just got back from the vet and she said they both have a good weight, and doesn't seem like they have any respiratory illness. She said the blue one,Alice, is doing better than the green one,Luna, who may have some liver issues(which is causing the discoloration of his cere and darkening of his beak) due to poor diet. She recommended adding some vitamins to their water and broccoli or carrots in their diet. She also said that they are both males, which surprised me. So I picked up some vitamins and better seed/food on the way home. I guess I need to decide on more masculine names for them since they are boys.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I'm glad to hear the Brookings Animal Hospital met your needs with regard to your budgies' health and that neither of your budgies are suffering from a respiratory infection at this time. :thumbsup:

However, I disagree with the vet with regard to both of your birds' gender.
Unfortunately, even vets, when inexperienced with budgies are often unable to accurately determine gender.

Your blue budgie is unquestionably a female.
You can take a look at the links below so you will better understand how gender is determined.
The tannish/white cere confirms she is a female. :laughing2:

By the same token, your green budgie is also female.
Her cere is turning brown because she is in the process of coming into breeding condition at this time.

http://talkbudgies.com/showthread.php?t=66009

http://talkbudgies.com/showthread.php?t=71734

http://talkbudgies.com/showthread.php?t=50487

http://talkbudgies.com/showthread.php?t=84708

http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/339714-how-old-your-budgie.html

It is always best to utilize a varied healthy diet (look at the links I provided in my previous post in your thread).

You can also add ACV to their water which adds as a natural pro-biotic.

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-holistic-natural-remedies/103936-apple-cider-vinegar.html

I'm moving your thread over to the "Follow-up" section of the forum at this time.

Best wishes!
 
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