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Concering, or just molting?

Ithiel

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Usually, Vinny's (F budgie) molts come with some kind weird symptom, most often their voice gets quiet or crackly and they talk a lot less, but otherwise, there are no behavior or energy changes and things return to normal once the molt is over. This is only their 3rd molt with me, so I am still quite unsure about what is really "normal" when it comes to what I should expect during molts. I am good to bring them to a vet if necessary, but I don't want to give medication if there isn't anything actually wrong.
I am unsure if I should be concerned though. There were changes that I expected, such as losing a bit of weight, spending more time in the cage, and sleeping more, but I am also a bit of a paranoid parent and can't tell if Vinny's symptoms or behavior changes are actually concerning, or I am just being overly worried.
For simplicity's sake, here is a bullet list of the things I've noticed:
  • Weight loss: Went from their usual 38g (healthy weight/before molt) to 33g when I weighed them before their breakfast this morning.
  • Less interest in food, but still eating and taking treats. Will eat pellets that I offer by hand.
  • Significantly less energy, spending the majority of their time in the cage resting (awake, but just perching and not really doing anything) or sleeping. Lost most interest in toys and spends most time perching.
  • I noticed them mouth-breathing a little bit yesterday, though not gasping for air. (Could have been because I vacuumed so dust got kicked around, or possibly because it looked like their crop was very full from just having eaten.) I haven't seen them do this today yet - going to keep an eye out for it though.
  • Talking/singing less, voice is quieter, being less social, more bitey - though these are all expected and not concerning to me.
  • No changes in droppings, no regurgitating, no nose or eye discharge, no tail bob when breathing, still happy beak-grinding
It is mostly the weight loss and the significantly lower energy that is concerning to me. I know weight loss is normal with molts, but I am unsure when it goes from 'expected' to 'concerning' with the amount of weight that is lost.
 

Mizzely

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Have they ever been to the vet during a molt just to be sure nothing is going on?

I've never noticed a huge dip in energy, eating, weight loss, or voice when my birds are molting, but I have never had budgies. One thing to consider is that birds are really good at hiding illnesses, but that takes energy. So if your bird is molting and sick, potentially molting could be diverting energy away from hiding an illness and making it more evident. That is not to say she IS sick, but if they haven't been to the vet recently and is due for a checkup anyways, it might be a good excuse to ensure everything is okay.

My vet is concerned if my bird loses 10% of more of his weight, but he's also bigger (about 200g). I am not sure what the exact threshold for worry for a smaller bird is, but 5 grams would be 13% weight loss.
 

Ithiel

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Have they ever been to the vet during a molt just to be sure nothing is going on?

I've never noticed a huge dip in energy, eating, weight loss, or voice when my birds are molting, but I have never had budgies. One thing to consider is that birds are really good at hiding illnesses, but that takes energy. So if your bird is molting and sick, potentially molting could be diverting energy away from hiding an illness and making it more evident. That is not to say she IS sick, but if they haven't been to the vet recently and is due for a checkup anyways, it might be a good excuse to ensure everything is okay.

My vet is concerned if my bird loses 10% of more of his weight, but he's also bigger (about 200g). I am not sure what the exact threshold for worry for a smaller bird is, but 5 grams would be 13% weight loss.
Yea, I brought Vinny to the vet the first molt I had them because of the whole issue of their voice getting quieter. The vet said nothing seemed wrong, but did give me an antibiotic and an anti-inflamitory+painkiller to give. It seemed to help and Vinny perked up within a day of starting the meds. But they have had a molt since then, had the same symptom of "losing" their voice/their voice getting quieter, but otherwise had no changes in their behavior or energy, and once the molt was over their voice returned to normal. I really am not sure what to make of it, considering the medication seemed to help. I don't think it was an infection considering it has happened every time during a molt, so it might be inflammation related?

I might be wrong, but I remember reading in a few places that some weight loss and less energy are not necessarily abnormal for budgies during a molt. But I don't disagree with it might be worth a vet visit anyway, even if it is just a checkup. I am definitely going to give a few calls to some local vets and see if any have an avian vet on staff to get a better answer than "Seems alright, but if you're seeing these symptoms I'll prescribe some meds anyway." Our current clinic does have a vet that sees birds, but I don't think they are an avian specialized vet.
 

Mizzely

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So it could be just normal molting, or during molting is the only time their body is taxed enough to show symptoms. Some illnesses do require much longer treatments than just a single course of antibiotics. I would also hesitate to medicate without a definite reason, however. Gram stain and crop swab would be my bare minimum for testing.
 

Shezbug

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I have never seen weight loss, lethargy or any changes that are mentioned here, new pins and scratching is all I have ever witnessed when my budgie is molting, same for all my past budgies.

Id personally want to see an Avian Vet if my budgie was showing such weight loss.

@Ripshod
 

Ithiel

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I have been calling some avian and exotic vets, though none seem to have availability sooner than 2-3 weeks.
I did get Vinny on the scale again, which read 37g currently, though I assume food that was eaten throughout the day would impact that? I'll weigh again in the morning and see if their weight is low again. (It does make me question if my scale is showing inaccurate numbers, considering how drastic of a jump that is between the morning and night.)
They seem to have eaten more today, about 1.5 teaspoons of pellets + veggie chop throughout the day, whereas they usually get 1 teaspoon and veg. Still spent most of their time in the cage resting though.
 

Shezbug

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Your weights should be done at the same time of the day each time and that should preferably be in the morning after they poop and before they eat breakfast.
 

Ithiel

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Your weights should be done at the same time of the day each time and that should preferably be in the morning after they poop and before they eat breakfast.
Yea, that is when I weigh them. In the morning before breakfast, and they poop right after waking up. I typically don't weigh at night.
 

Shezbug

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Yea, that is when I weigh them. In the morning before breakfast, and they poop right after waking up. I typically don't weigh at night.
Sorry, I got the impression from your post and the comment about the difference in morning and night weights that you were weighing at random times.
 

Ithiel

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We did manage to get a vet appointment yesterday, and he could tell just from looking that Vinny wasn't feeling well. He did suggest getting a Gram stain, but it was a little more expensive than I was expecting in the moment, so I am going to see if our usual vet can do it as well. Otherwise, the vet didn't want to do any tests right now at the risk of further stressing out an already-sick bird. We did get a broad-spectrum antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory again. He seems to have perked up a little from last night's dose, but is still pretty tired. The vet suggested that it may be a chronic issue because the symptoms have happened in the past, which wouldn't surprise me at all. Vinny was rehomed to me from someone who was your stereotypical bad budgie owner, and he probably is a pet store bird so I can only imagine that health problems may pop up.
 

Mizzely

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If this doesn't clear it up, I would personally want a culture to see what treatment is going to be most effective. Unfortunately not all illnesses will react to an antibiotic. For example, a fungal infection will not be eliminated by antibiotics. Some bacteria are antibiotic resistant, too.
 
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