Urgent Possible Handicapped Budgie

[Bud&Bob]

Hi guys so I’ve had buddy and bobby for a year now we got one shortly after the other and they got on fine they were like best friends then suddenly bobby turned on bud. Shortly after this buddy became ill and so we separated them and bud seemed to perk up but then went downhill again so we took him to the vets and they were baffled as he appears to be healthy and is eating and drinking however they are not specialists in birds and the nearest one is 60-70 miles away which I feel is a bit far to take him as he doesn’t like being in a car. Also the vet grabbed him a bit harshly and he’s been wondering around the bottom of the cage since he’s been do you think the vet may have damaged his le? Any advice/knowledge would be much appreciated
Thanks in advice
Em x

 

[Jas]

Did the vet do any tests on the bird? Gram stains, crop swabs, blood tests even check his weight and heart rate.

He could be really stressed birds don't cope well with it. Is he limping? He could Be really weak.

Birds hide their illnesses and will eat and drink even if they are fatally ill, they are prey animals nd don't want to be picked off.

Book an appointment with another vet. In the meantime a hospital cage would be a cgood idea, keep the birdie warm an make sure the hve access to food and water.

 

[Lady Jane]

Many members drive long distances to see an avian vet with their bird. They are becoming fewer and fewer now days. What does you bird do when riding in a car? If its nausea there are holistic ways of handling this.

 

[Bud&Bob]

Thank you jas, I live in a really remote area so unfortunately don’t have many options when it comes to vets, I don’t think he did any tests unfortunately I was unavailable and so my mum had to take him and she said that he grabbed him and just looked at him really. As I said above the nearest avarian vet is around 60 miles and I don’t know how he’ll be on a journey that long as he was not great in the 5 minute drive to the local vets. I feel completely helpless he’s still flying around his cage like normal during the day apart from one of his eyes is closed sometimes but at night he goes strange and it’s like he can’t balance on his perches and he just wonders around the bottom of the cage until I cover him and all the lights are turned off. I’ve ordered some flat perches to see if they help and in the meantime have moved his perches and food and water lower down. This also happened to one of my friends birds recently, unfortunately her other bird had knocked him of the perch and because of the way he landed he unfortunately passed away. We think this is what started it as my other budgie was bullying him until we separated them

 

[Bud&Bob]

He gets very scared and his heart rate increases rapidly and he flaps about while squeaking whenever he is in the car in both cage and box although in the cage he was better particularly when he could see what is going on (he’s very nosy)

 

[Lady Jane]

You can train him to be more calm by putting him in the travel cage to just get used to it. Put some food, water and toys inside. Don't take him in the car yet. Do this for about a week. Then take him into the care in the carrier and start the engine but do not go anywhere. Eventually you can ride for short distances to let him get a feel for it. Budgies are fragile little birds and when exposed to new things just take baby steps. How does this sound to you?

I put my budgies travel cage on a table beside their big cage and they ended up playing on top if it for a while.

 

[Bud&Bob]

Thank you so much for the help I’ll try that, he’s starting to look a bit better now so fingers crossed he’ll be back to his happy self soon

 

[icecream]

All my birds become quite quiet and relatively calm when they are covered. Is he different? Even if he is covered in thicker and dark blanket?

 

[Bud&Bob]

Now he’s peeking up you can see it’s a leg injury so my other bird may have damaged it when he pushed him off. Any idea why he turned on him would be helpful x