So basically, i've been feeding my little flint a seed mix as his main food with a mix of vegetables fresh in his cage daily. i have tried a couple times to mix pellets in with his seed but he refuses to eat them.
Well for the past 4-5 days i'd say roughly, hes refusing outright to eat anything in his seed mix. he wont touch any pellets of course, and hes not eating certain vegetables.
practically the only thing he'll eat is millet or spinach. he eats it regularly, doesnt seem to be acting sick at all (nor from what i can tell, acting healthy)
if i was to say anything in the past week was different i've noticed hes a little more protective of his toys. and seems to have a slightly increased urge for my attention (sits on my shoulder whilst i'm on the PC for 30~ minutes at a time as opposed to the usual 10 minutes he does)
he has no lethargy, hes playing with his toys and trying to bond with me, hes acting completely normal aside from refusing to eat the seed mix he usually eats mostly. i should also mention i have recently again tried mixing pellets in with his mix so i dont know if thats a factor or not.
Could his seed mix be stale? any suggestions on what i can do to try get him eating normally again? it's making me worry a little.
Lastly if it helps at all, he's roughly 18 months old now.
Yes seed mix can get stale, some faster than others depending on what the mix contains and how you store it, when you purchase a seed mix be sure to check the expiration date on the package to make sure it is not outdated or something that has been sitting on a self in a store or warehouse too long to be fresh. When you say he will only eat millet are you referring to spray millet? Try sprinkling a bit of the millet over the regular seed mix and see if that makes any difference.
Yes seed mix can get stale, some faster than others depending on what the mix contains and how you store it, when you purchase a seed mix be sure to check the expiration date on the package to make sure it is not outdated or something that has been sitting on a self in a store or warehouse too long to be fresh. When you say he will only eat millet are you referring to spray millet? Try sprinkling a bit of the millet over the regular seed mix and see if that makes any difference.
Funny enough i tried that and he went out of his way to pick the millet out from the rest of the stuff. And yes i did mean spray millet my bad for not being specific. the food pack says its in date still but to be fair i think sitting open "folded over" in my cupboard isn't the best storage conditions. i'll order some new food bags and see if it changes his tone. As i said hes eating spray millet and spinach just fine. he still refuses to eat the mix. he refuses to eat any pellets (not that he did before).
When my June was first introduced to pellets, he would have nothing to do with them. That is, until I sprinkled some on his mirror which I let him play with at times. Once I did that he ran around and around on top of it chasing them and eating them. June sends chirps!
So a few days later, hes' still only eating maybe 1/4th of what he usually does. hes not touching anything except his millet pretty much. hes still acting completely normal. His poop is normal (albiet smaller). He has no signs of lethargy or puffing up.
He has no laboured breathing that im noticing.
He's still social, active, seems more concerned with playing with his toys than he does eating. concerned me enough that tomorrow at 10am i got a visit to my avian vet to get a physical. My only thing i can say is somewhat abnormal is every time after he eats he does this weird "chewing" thing for about 5 minutes. Hes been doing that for 1.5-2 months now and every time ive looked it up, most people said it was a behavioural thing. hopefully the vet can get to the bottom of this tomorrow!
Taking him to the vet is the best thing to do, make sure you mention any little thing that you have noticed that is a variation from normal even if it seems insignificant. It would be good to start weighing him with a gram scale since his eating habits have changed so you can see if he is losing weight. Now that you mention that he is doing a weird chewing thing, maybe he is eating only the millet because it is the easiest most comfortable thing for him to eat if there is something wrong in the mouth or throat, please keep us posted after you see the vet.
Little update for everyone, flint is at the vets currently, they gave him an xray as they said his cere was looking a bit off-colour. seems he has some swelling / abnormalities around his testicles. they said it could be him possibly becoming sexually active, which personally i thought happened much earlier in a birds life (he is currently around 18 months old). when they gave him this implant thing to be safe incase its a growth, they said he bled alot more than he should of, which made them double check the xray and find he has a slightly enlarged liver. theyre going to give him some stuff to treat that. and he should be home by tomorrow most likely. will keep updates when they come.
Wow, poor little guy, good thing you took him in. What is the implant they did, is it a hormonal implant of some kind?
Yes from my understanding its some kind of hormonal implant. they put it under his skin, and when doing so it "bled more than it should have" which is now why they also found his liver is slightly enlarged. they said theyre gonna give him stuff over the night that should help fix it up. and best case he comes home tomorrow. the worst of it is over now that he has had the anesthetic. hopefully now this apparently liver problem will be sorted out too and he can come home safely tomorrow
Budgie refusing to eat certain foods suddenly?
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