Keep your fingers crossed for me!

[Miss_sj]

This morning I noticed my female budgie (1 yr old) had a dirty bottom. Besides this, she seemed fine and has been eating normally, flying and playing. I used a wet cloth to gently wipe the mess off and it hasn't returned.
I phoned our avian vet- its a bit tricky with
Covid19 but the AV wants me to bring her in so I've got an appointment first thing tomorrow. Hopefully everything is fine!
Obviously I know that you guys can't give medical advice, just asking more for reassurance in the meantime before our appointment. Is this likely to be minor as the dirty bottom didn't come back?
Charlie is a seed monster so I don't know if this is the cause. I changed brands recently because my normal store is closed because of the virus. She does have lots of veggies and some fruit (although she destroys it, a lot ends up on the floor). Pellets are a hard no for both of my little munchkins.
Hopefully its easily fixed! I will ask the AV for some diet advice.

 

[Zara]

I will have my fingers crossed for you both Stacie

Hopefully is is maybe the veggies or something, but hard to know.Hopefully your vet can get to the bottom of it

 

[Miss_sj]

I will have my fingers crossed for you both Stacie

Hopefully is is maybe the veggies or something, but hard to know.Hopefully your vet can get to the bottom of it

Thank you! I really hope she is OK. She is a very happy little bird and this afternoon was singing happily and swinging around on her playgym like a little acrobat. Flynn has the same diet and he has been fine too. If it was the diet wouldn't they both have had the same symptom?

 

[JoJo&Loki]

I hope she is ok
That has happened with Loki a few times. When you say it’s dirty, is it just stuck on the fluffy feathers back there? Loki is really floofy (much floofier than Jo) and when he eats a lot of fresh food especially the “stickiness” of it seems to make it messy. I sent pics to our AV when it happened and she verified it was fine. Is this a possibility for you, to send them pics today to hopefully ease your mind while waiting for tomorrow’s appointment?

 

[JLcribber]

The symptoms are a sign that your bird may not be drinking enough water. Compounded with a dry seed diet. Getting her to eat more moist/wet foods will help.

 

[Miss_sj]

The symptoms are a sign that your bird may not be drinking enough water. Compounded with a dry seed diet. Getting her to eat more moist/wet foods will help.

I'd love to improve her diet, both of my budgies were used to a seed only diet when I got them. They flat out refuse pellets/crumble mixes that I've tried. They love veggies and fruit, but they just demolish them without appearing to actually consume much. The food just ends up shredded. I guess they must eat a tiny bit in the process. I'll definitely discuss diet with the avian vet in the morning.

 

[Miss_sj]

I hope she is ok
That has happened with Loki a few times. When you say it’s dirty, is it just stuck on the fluffy feathers back there? Loki is really floofy (much floofier than Jo) and when he eats a lot of fresh food especially the “stickiness” of it seems to make it messy. I sent pics to our AV when it happened and she verified it was fine. Is this a possibility for you, to send them pics today to hopefully ease your mind while waiting for tomorrow’s appointment?

Yep, just stuck on her feathers.
Its night here so I'll wait for the morning. Charlie and Flynn are covered up and fast asleep!

 

[Miss_sj]

Little Charlie has got a stomach infection and has some antibiotics. Hopefully this does the trick!
We had a big talk about diet. The bad news is both my budgies are obese . I am surprised as they have a lot of flying time and are active. The vet mentioned the seed mix I feed them is a good one, they just eat too much. I'm going to persevere with pellets- I'm trying them on Harrisons which is what the vet reccomended. In the past I've had no luck with pellets but I'm just going to keep going with it. The good news is that they are still young so I have time to retrain their eating habits.

 

[Zara]

Have you tried @Monica s tips? Converting Parrots to a Healthier Diet - Tips
Maybe it can help you
Hopefully Charlies infection goes away with the antibiotics

 

[JoJo&Loki]

Poor Charlie I’m glad you got her to the vet quickly so she can feel better soon!
Good luck with the pellets, I know how hard it is getting budgies to accept new foods. Do they eat sprouts? They are lower in fat than regular seed so maybe that could help as well?

 

[Lori D Pert]

Poor Charlie, I hope the antibiotics do the trick. I know how hard it is to get them to eat pellets but if they are shredding their veggies, maybe try taking the seed out in the morning and offering them a chop mix. Put the seed mix back after they eat some of the veg but cut back a bit on it.

 

[Fergus Mom]

Glad you got to talk with your AV on the diet, and hopefully you can get them on some pellets (I never really know if mine eat them), good luck with this!

 

[Hankmacaw]

I'm so glad that you are going to put effort into a better diet for your babies. Seeds should be labeled "Too much of this and your bird will die". Our caged birds just don't use the calories and energy that they do in the wild. Seed diets are the major cause of fatty liver disease and Vit.A deficiency.

 

[Monica]

Birds who get a lot of exercise may be heavier and "thick" compared to those birds who do not get as much exercise.

Even older birds who have eaten a poor diet for years can be converted to eating healthier. Don't worry! Hopefully you'll find a way to better expand their diet! It's great they are already getting fresh foods!

 

[Miss_sj]

Poor Charlie, I hope the antibiotics do the trick. I know how hard it is to get them to eat pellets but if they are shredding their veggies, maybe try taking the seed out in the morning and offering them a chop mix. Put the seed mix back after they eat some of the veg but cut back a bit on it.

They do get a chop mix as well as some fresh sliced veggies, even with the chop they seem to play with it and throw it around. The vet actually wants me to offer chop/veg for a limited time in the afternoon, because she said that may actually be how Charlie got an infection? I leave their veg in for 4-5 hours because they tend to return to it, but the vet mentioned the veg gets soggy from them chewing and can grow bacteria.

I offered some pellets with a small amount of millet sprinkled over it. Both budgies ventured over for a look but haven't touched it yet.

The vet doesn't want me to adjust their diet too much until Charlie finishes her antibiotics and is better- we don't want to stress her out and make things worse. I'll take them back when the course is finished.

Both birds are very happy and flying around today. Hopefully I caught this in time!

 

[Lori D Pert]

They do get a chop mix as well as some fresh sliced veggies, even with the chop they seem to play with it and throw it around. The vet actually wants me to offer chop/veg for a limited time in the afternoon, because she said that may actually be how Charlie got an infection? I leave their veg in for 4-5 hours because they tend to return to it, but the vet mentioned the veg gets soggy from them chewing and can grow bacteria.

I offered some pellets with a small amount of millet sprinkled over it. Both budgies ventured over for a look but haven't touched it yet.

The vet doesn't want me to adjust their diet too much until Charlie finishes her antibiotics and is better- we don't want to stress her out and make things worse. I'll take them back when the course is finished.

Both birds are very happy and flying around today. Hopefully I caught this in time!

Yes, that is unfortunately the problem with fresh foods, the longer you leave it on offer, the more prone to bacteria it may be. I offer Sam her chop in the AM in a separate bowl on my kitchen table. She is out of her cage all day and the first place she goes is to that chop as she knows it is removed after about 2 hours. I hang something wet (kale, broccoli, romaine, etc. on her playgym after that). I must also say that Sam has never cared for pellets. I wish I could convert her but I hold out little hope. The veg and grain that she does eat hopefully will keep her well. I agree that any change you make should be done after Charlie is well. As I type this Sam is nibbling on a sausage roll and trying to get a nip of my wine so I am in no way preaching...lol.

 

[Miss_sj]

Well I had some success today! The budgies had a big fly, and I offered them some of the Harrisons pellets from my hand (I pretended to eat it because they always want what I have) and they both had some! They still arent touching it in their cage because the seed is on offer. Not bad for day 1!

 

[Gribouille]

To start my birds on pellets, my vet recommended that I give pellets in the morning as their only food until the afternoon where they could get seeds. Once I was certain they were eating from it -which means they know it is food- she told me to remove the seeds from their diet completely. They'd get hungry and go eat the pellets, even if they prefer the seeds because yes, pellets are boring in the long run... But as Monica says, seeds are too fat, it is too much energy that they don't have the use for. Even if they fly inside every day, it is really nothing compared to what they use in the wild.
Now I give them pellets + one spoon of sprouted seeds (for 2 birds) under fresh chop every morning (after getting them to eat the pellets, I wanted to get them to eat veggies! ).
They get dry a sprinkle of seeds as treats for foraging in the afternoon.

 

[Miss_sj]

Thanks! I'm going to continue to offer it and encouraging them to eat while Charlies on medication, then I'll start trying more things to get them to eat it. When I tried to feed them from my hand, Charlie actually ate some but Flynn doesn't know what to do with it. He puts it in his beak, then drops it and looks puzzled. They do seem very hard- should I try crushing them?

 

[Gribouille]

Thanks! I'm going to continue to offer it and encouraging them to eat while Charlies on medication, then I'll start trying more things to get them to eat it. When I tried to feed them from my hand, Charlie actually ate some but Flynn doesn't know what to do with it. He puts it in his beak, then drops it and looks puzzled. They do seem very hard- should I try crushing them?

What are you giving them? Mine are on Harrison high potency Superfine