• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Nervous budgie can't fly too well

aido

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/28/19
Messages
25
Im very sorry to hear that. She always seems to be cleaning herself. I'll get her checked. Their cage is 40x30x20 cm
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,364
Location
Reino de España
Their cage is 40x30x20 cm
I am hoping this is a typo and you mean inches.....
15¨x12¨x8¨ ?! That is scraping the barrel to be a travel cage :(

Edit:
Sorry, I just saw your message ;
Ill be sure to buy a cage ASAP.
Make that a priority, it will benifit your birds greatly. But keep this little cage as a vet visit cage ;)
 
Last edited:

Lady Jane

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/25/12
Messages
26,569
Location
Maryland
Real Name
Dianne
@Kodigirl210 The cere looks to be normal to me. Thanks for your observation. When a female budgie is in breeding mode the cere gets swollen and crusty brown. Its rather ugly at that time to be honest.
 

Kodigirl210

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
10/13/18
Messages
1,403
Location
Cali
@aido - I believe that as the female spends more time with you and flys without getting pounced on, she will become more confident. As she gets more confident she will be braver and not so spooked all the time. It will probably take a few weeks minimum to get to that point, when you know she’s happy and content you can try to reintroduce them.

When you do, you need to start slow. I would take their cages and set them next to each other. That way the female will feel safe and the male can’t do anything to her. Also, then you don’t have to watch every moment or yell at anyone.

If she shows any signs of being uncomfortable - simply take her back to the other room and then try again in a few days.

Once they both seem settled and are interacting through the cage bars for a few days then maybe take them out and see how they do. I would just be sure to stay with them the whole time and when they have been out for a while put them back in separate cages. Do that for the a few days to make sure they really want to be around each other. As long as they get along okay they should be fine.

@Lady Jane - Yes agreed, it doesn’t look very nice at all. Poor thing. She’s had a rough start but hopefully will have a better end.

:)
 

aido

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/28/19
Messages
25
Hi guys hope you all had a nice weekend :) Today I talked to my friend who is a vet. He told me the flight and feather problems could be due to molting and told me to give her multivitamins in her water 3-4 times a week. He agreed that I should separate them but he said it might be better to keep the cages side by side... BTW I am getting a vision hagen M02 on friday, i hope that is large enough. I leave the cage door open when I am home anyway. I also got a ton of toys and swings and such to spoil them x)
 

Kodigirl210

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
10/13/18
Messages
1,403
Location
Cali
@aido - I would keep the cages side by side once your girl is feeling happier and more sure of herself.

If she can see him still, then she will still be hesitant to interact or eat or anything else since he is the dominant and she will be able to see him watching.

Sounds like you had a good vet visit. Congrats on the new cage :)

 

aido

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/28/19
Messages
25
Ok thanks for your interest :) I made a deal on the Vision M02, but i just read that budgies dont really hang around on the bottom half... Would it be better if I got a L01? thanks
 

aido

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/28/19
Messages
25
Sorry for the double post. I just found a good deal but it is a L11 not L01.. Are L11s suitable for budgies or would it be too wide? thx
 

EnglishBudgMom

Walking the driveway
Joined
11/11/18
Messages
171
Location
SW WA
I have a vision medium cage... the wider version, not the tall version, with small bird bar spacing. We upgraded to a huge A & E flight cage, but I think your little female might like the WIDE medium vision for awhile. It will be easy to cover and keep warm (if necessary) in the smaller cage. She will have to learn how to crawl all they way down to the floor grate to eat, as the plastic bottom means bars don't go all the way down; but she'll figure it out in no time. Our bird was just a baby and figured it out right quick. I have to say, I kind of wish they made a gigantic version of the vision cage base because it would have contained molted feathers better. Especially now that Bubbles actually flits around in the big cage, feathers go EVERYWHERE! We keep the vision cage around for travel, hospital cage, and lets go outside and get some sun cage.
 

aido

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/28/19
Messages
25
Thank you all for your input. I purchased a L01 and it will arrive monday :)
 

aido

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/28/19
Messages
25
Hey guys. I know this is probably the wrong place to ask but I couldnt find which sub to post this to. I wanted to make sure the cage was l01 and not l11. Owner lost the box and wasnt completely sure. Can you guys tell me if its l01 or not?
 

Attachments

Lady Jane

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/25/12
Messages
26,569
Location
Maryland
Real Name
Dianne
Sorry I do not believe any of the Vision cages are safely constructed and designed for any bird.

Flimsy
Difficult to clean
Will easily pop of tabs that hold it together
Designed to attracted humans, not birds
 

EnglishBudgMom

Walking the driveway
Joined
11/11/18
Messages
171
Location
SW WA
I can't see the entire cage from the angle of your picture. Sorry! Compare it to a picture you Google maybe? I also did not have the same experience with the Vision cages as Lady Jane :) (no offense meant at all). Our medium "wide" cage is great, nothing ever popped apart, the top lifts off for cleaning, parts are easily replaceable via Hagen/Vision if anything breaks. Maybe they were built flimsier when they first came out? It's just a totally different style cage. I have to say, compared to our huge flight cage, the Vision cages DO keep the seed/feathers "in" better. We upgraded because it was too small is all.
 

Lady Jane

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/25/12
Messages
26,569
Location
Maryland
Real Name
Dianne
Hopefully the vision cages have improved.
 

Fergus Mom

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
11/23/17
Messages
5,099
Location
Texas
Real Name
Elly
This one at Chewy is described as an L1.
https://www.chewy.com/vision-ii-mod..._OMgUraaAZ88_fdfe66pgJOVRUgp263AaAlRoEALw_wcB

Does it match the dimensions of the cage you purchased @aido ? I didn't convert it to cm, but figured you could convert it to inches hopefully!
Your budgies are both beautiful, and I agree with folks here, remove the female from the cage with the male, and allow the cages to sit near each other, but if he is hopping on her when they are out for flying time, I would do their flying time separately. This way, she will grow more confident, as @Kodigirl210 mentioned. I hope she is just molting rather than has any damage, or condition! I just love her, she is gorgeous.
 

rockybird

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Joined
10/11/11
Messages
3,843
I would not purchase a vision cage. I would look into an HQ or AE flight cage. Can you return the one you have? These are flighted animals and really need space. I know you let them out a lot, which is excellent, but it might help your female build up her flight muscles in a larger cage where she feels safe. She cannot do it in any of the cages you posted. Also, if she is in a larger cage with the male, she may not feel so crowded. I have a double flight cage for three parakeets and they seem very happy. But I personally dont think that is even large enough and I’m considering a larger flight cage, or making this into a double double flight cage (adding another double flight cage by removing the back panels). I hate how narrow it is.

As a side note, my little yellow parakeet was purchased from craigslist. He was kept in a very tiny cage with only a plastic perch. He was very skittish, fearful and clumsy when first put into the flight cage. He is now a confident happy little guy and is very co-ordinated.

Anyway, I’m glad you are so concerned about your parakeets’ well being. I wish more owners were like you!

Here is a pic of my set up:
60D03CAC-D74A-4867-93FA-961AA202C3EC.jpeg 342FB85B-0B06-4C31-B12A-030DFDC6CB73.jpeg
 
Last edited:

aido

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/28/19
Messages
25
Hello guys and sorry for not being able to give updates. Its been around 3 weeks separated and many things have changed. My relationship with the male had skyrocketed and he is extremely comfortable with me and flies up to me to play all the time. Though the female initially was even more nervous, after i decided to switch her to the private room and bigger cage she seems to be improving. She still shakes nearly all the time but we are making progress i believe. She jumps off the cage in an attempt to fly now and then but she has 0 lift and just falls while hovering so she just hits the ground. I am giving her multivitamins every 3 days but while i was expecting her to grow feathers yesterday i saw that she had lost many small round feathers on the bottom of the cage again.. her appetite seems fine and she is playing quite a lot in her cage and her poop seems fine. I have not been able to get her to flying lessons yet as she is not yet too comfortable on my hand. (I went to holiday for 4 days and while i had a friend look after them its like she forgot all our training so we had to start over lol) i believe when i start the flight training all will improve. Btw even though there are 2 doors between where the bird cages are located, they sometimes squeak at eachother and there is nothing i can do. One day the male even broke out of the hagen cage somehow and i found him in the females room :D
 

Lady Jane

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/25/12
Messages
26,569
Location
Maryland
Real Name
Dianne
You can get a nice tall ladder and run it from the floor to the door of the cage. This is what I did and budgies quickly learned how to climb up. Thanks for updates, we so appreciate this.
 

aido

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/28/19
Messages
25
Hello guys. I apologize for not giving updates for a long time and reviving this dead thread, but many has happened and I might need you guys’ guidance again :)

So, I built a ladder and a play park etc to promote activity, though it didnt help much. Over 2 months ago I decided to take my female to the best Avian vet in my city, all the way at the other end of the city. They weighed her and found her to be 32g (underweight). The vet also said that her chest bone was prominent. And that she had a mild fever. She did 2 poop tests and found my girl was a carrier of gastric yeast infection(but she wasnt infected or sick by it). Also she said that there were many bacteria in her stool as well. Then, they made her enter an x-ray where we found out that she had rickets on one leg. Probably due to insufficient sunlight/vitD while she was a chick. But the most important thing we found was, her accessory air sacs were completely full!! The doc said that she had Aspergillosis and that the fungi had clogged her air sacs, and made granulomas too. And that was why she would not get any lift during flight! I was devastated that she had so much wrong with her, but it also filled my heart with hope. For the first time I knew what was wrong, and that it was quite possibly treatable. Firstly, we aimed to slowly cut her off seeds and start her on a pellet based diet. We also started her on 4 medications:
Fluctanazole- antifungal 1 month
Melox- antibiyotic 3 weeks
Enro- non-steroid antiinf. 2 weeks
Omegamix- some kind of immunebooster. 2-3 months

The down side was- all this medicine I had to give through syringe. Meaning 3-5 times a day I had to pick her up in my hand and traumatize her.

Anyway, I separated the budgies and started giving her the meds. In 2-3 weeks she started to seem brighter and more active. She would attempt to fly, but just crash into the ground. 1 month after beginning the treatment, i called the vet and explained how my little girl was. She was more active, curious, seemed to have better feather condition now. But still, no hope to fly. So the doctor told me to use the antifungal 2 more weeks. I did. No change. So i took her for an examination to the vet. She examined her and said even though she was at the same weight, the muscles on her body had built up, and the prominence of her chest had disappeared. She was happy with how her general appearance improved. I told her that the bird was having balance issues too. (Losing balance while scratching head on perch or while puffing up, or when i was trying to teach her to fly she would not be able to fly straight but rather sharp left or right.) The doctor examined her further and said vitd/calcium deficiency can cause it. So, we started calcium treatment, with the omegamix (1 month). Also i moved her to my parents house which takes a lot of sunlight. 2 weeks have passed and her balance seems better.

So we have taken some steps in treating her but Im conflicted in many points.

Even though she seems healthier, she is as nervous if not worse as ever. For over 2 months everyday i pick her up in my hand every day multiple times and give her medicine through a syringe. She hates it and has become even more skittish. I can not even approach the cage without her shaking :(

She still cant fly. The vet said 45days treatment fluktanazole and then we will just follow her up. I read many medical articles that state there are many other treatments for aspergillosis and that some of the strains are fluktanazole resistant. Perhaps i should ask the vet for another medication? Or maybe instead of oral, a drug to be given by nebulization ? Or maybe some kind of lavage they can do to flush the fungi out? I read its certainly treatable and I dont want to give up after just one medicine. Also she has a stronger system now. After getting so far, i would really want her to see it through

Or, should I just leave it? She has been through alot. Maybe I should just leave her be. Give her time, she might improve? I dont think aspergillosis can heal without medicine but im not sure. I have kept her separate from my other budgie for so long. But they dont get along as he picks on her. I believe if she could fly then she would have the confidence and they would get along.

Thank you for letting me get this off my chest. Any input is appreciated. These are my first budgies and I’m pretty inexperienced
 
Top