Budgie and cockatiel with frequent infections.

[DerpsyDaisy]

I have a budgie and cockatiel that get frequent infections, usually yeast. I have been guilty of not keeping the cages clean in the past but I've been trying to do better and they're still getting sick. My girl cockatiel acted like she was going to throw up the other day but nothing ever came out. She seems to be doing well now. My boy budgie has been sleeping a lot and has a bulging crop. Sometimes he sneezes and has some discharge from his nostrils. He will also regurgitate on the rim of his feed dish. The last time they did this I took them to the vet and she kept them a few days and said they had mild yeast infections which had cleared up with acv water and probiotics. If it's something mild can I just do what the vet did and see if they get better? I will ask her when it's day but I was curious to see what you guys say. The only thing I worry about with the acv water is whether they drink enough. The budgie doesn't drink a lot to start with and there's no way I can watch him all day to make sure he drinks. I don't want to make them sick trying to get them better. If I do use probiotics what is a good one? The vet sent me home with dog and cat probiotics which I thought was weird, but she has done really well with my birds. I would take them right to the vet but a $100 bill and 2 hours each way trip gets expensive really quickly. Right now he's jumping around like a typical little bird on crack budgie but I know they do tend to hide illness and he's definitely been sleeping more. Any advice?

 

[Mizzely]

Recurring yeast infections could be from a dirty cage, toys,or perches, diet, or from food and water bowls. If you aren't already, you should be washing the food and water bowls daily. If they are made of plastic, switch to ceramic or stainless steel as they don't hold bacteria like plastic does. I would also disinfect the entire cage, ideally with F10 or another veterinary disinfectant, but otherwise with 10:1 bleach and let dry in the sun before you rinse very well.

What is their diet made up of?

You can try the ACV but I share the same concern about making sure they are drinking enough

 

[DerpsyDaisy]

Roudybush and Zupreem pellets and Volkman seeds is mainly their diet. Haven't been getting veggies like they should. Don't have disinfectant so have been using soap and water to clean and bird poop remover on really poopy spots. Even if I clean their cages thoroughly wouldn't they just be exposed to it again as soon as they're let out of their cage or play with their toys. I hate to throw out all their toys. And I would not even know how to go about disinfecting a whole room. I don't have a steam cleaner and I don't want to use chemicals on anything they will be on. They mainly stay on the couch and on us or cages when they're out. So how do you disinfect a couch is what I guess I'm asking? Georgia doesn't even leave her cage right now because she's healing from an amputation. So she doesn't touch anything outside of her cage which means I must've put something contaminated in there. I feel like everything is contaminated.

 

[Lady Jane]

yeast infections can be hereditary also. I ran into this with a couple of my budgies. Also feeding fresh corn I believe can be one of the causes as the corn kernal is covered by a casing that is quite undigestable, even to humans.

 

[finchly]

it's something mild can I just do what the vet did and see if they get better?

You can, if youre willing to risk it. Because it might not be the same thing as before.

The only thing I worry about with the acv water is whether they drink enough. The budgie doesn't drink a lot to start with and there's no way I can watch him all day to make sure he drinks. I don't want to make them sick trying to get them better.

What ratio are you using for the ACV? It shouldn’t be so strong they don’t want to drink it.

If I do use probiotics what is a good one? The vet sent me home with dog and cat probiotics which I thought was weird, but she has done really well with my birds. I would take them right to the vet but a $100 bill and 2 hours each way trip gets expensive really quickly. Right now he's jumping around like a typical little bird on crack budgie but I know they do tend to hide illness and he's definitely been sleeping more. Any advice?

The one she gave you probably has the same ingredients as the bird one. You can look online and check. Morning Bird is good, also a lot of people here use Benebac (I haven’t so can’t attest to it)

A few things about yeast.
-it’s often secondary to something else
-it can be brought on by sugar, i.e. fruit so don’t give them corn or fruit while you’re trying to get rid of the yeast
-the environment needs to be DRY. If you’re exposing them to moisture somehow, if the a/c is leaking or they live beside a fountain etc., that’s a problem. Yeast loves moisture.
-ACV in the water only cuts down the amount of yeast. It doesn’t cure it.

OK you “don’t have disinfectant.” Sorry but that’s no excuse. You can use a bird specific disinfectant. Use F10. Bleach is cheap, and You can dilute bleach - a study in a dog rescue indicated that 20:1 was still effective at killing germs. That’s not much/not toxic. But you can’t sit back and say you don’t have a cleaner to use, when you’ve already invested so much in your birds and even the vet bill, you know? (Thank you for taking them to the vet)

 

[Lady Jane]

@finchly very good advice. I see Mickey in your signature! So cute with all the birdies

 

[Mizzely]

Bleach also goes inert and essentially turns into salt water after a while.

 

[DerpsyDaisy]

Honestly the cage they were in was getting kind of dirty and we had just moved them to a larger cage that we had taken apart and cleaned thoroughly with soap and water and thought that was enough and we cleaned the perches and whatever toys we could. The toys that couldn't be washed but didn't looked too dirty I put back in the cage which looking back was a bad idea. Is there any way to disinfect wicker, basket or paper toys without destroying them? Thank you for letting me know about the bleach. I'm probably going to get some f10 but if I don't how do I use the bleach? Would I need to soak everything in it or would I spray or sponge it on? My husband usually feeds the birds and I asked and made sure he's cleaning the dishes every day. They don't eat fruit or anything with sugar. They rarely get a little bit of pizza crust or a bit of chip which I know they're not supposed to but I don't give them much. As far as I now they aren't in a moist environment. The air gets pretty dry sometimes actually. I will look into the morning bird. The vet told us to put 1mL acv in 1 cup water. They both seem to be doing better today.

 

[Shezbug]

I clean my wicker things (if they last more than a little minute or if they get pooped on or fed ) by hot water and soap washing, rinsing then soaking in F10 for long enough to actually soak the wicker/ cane right the way through then I allow them to totally dry. The paper stuff I throw out if it is grotty or old. Perches and cages and other items get a quick clean to remove any debris then a real hot wash in soapy water, then a rinse or wipe over with clean hot water then I mist everything with F10 and leave to dry. F10 is so easy to use, lasts for ages, and is one of the few things that you can safely use on all bird things without concern that it may damage bird health, surfaces or surrounding areas like bleach and other cleaners/ disinfectants can and will- well worth the initial investment if I am honest.

You can always post pictures of the toys and ask what others here would do with them- but honestly, if they are not the kind of toy that is easily disinfected then toss them out if you are having issues with yeast or any other type of infection.