*NEED HELP* Hormonal? Sick? Both?

[FightNight]

Hey everyone, just to preface - I am going to take him to an avian vet hopefully tomorrow. I couldn't take him to the vet today as it was a holiday here in Canada and no avian vets were available. So please keep that in mind.

My 10 month old male is very off today and showing signs of illness. I have a lot of odd behaviours happening here.

When I clued in earlier today that something was wrong, he was vomitting on the toy he has become fixated on in his cage He has only had this toy for about a week or so and he spends a lot of time masterbating to it and playing with it, but I hadn't seen any vomitting until today. At that point, I took him out of the cage away from my other bird, another male. He is not himself. He is holding his wings in the "batman" formation away from his body and shaking. Lots of rubbing his face against the cage and perches. Lots of grooming that seems excessive. He very aggressively shred the lettuce in his quarantine cage to bits and then even more aggressively masterbated to it. Currently gettint it on with another toy in his cage.

For the first couple hours after I separated him, he had extremely loose / liquid stool. Pure liquid at times. Then the poop was a very pale, light brown. It seems back to normal as I type this though, a few hours later, but I'm keeping an eye on it.

He is still eating, drinking, took a bath, took treats. He is chirping, playing with toys. But excessive grooming, scratching the face, keeping his wings held out like this.

He has over the last few months gone through his first "big" moult but he seems to have mostly cleared the pin feathers from his face. He seems to be getting over the moult by now. I let him out of the quarantine cage and he is extremely hyper and sexually fixated - not the ill-looking bird of the moment before I let him out.

I'm happy to provide more details if needed but I'm wondering if anyone has seen something like this?

 

[Shezbug]

Vomit or regurgitating?
Loose liquid stool after lettuce shredding?
Possibly still moulting?

What signs of illness are you actually seeing? What do you mean by ill-looking?

Sorry, I can not understand the wing/batman comment but @Ripshod might be able to help you with information.

 

[FightNight]

Vomit or regurgitating?
Loose liquid stool after lettuce shredding?
Possibly still moulting?

What signs of illness are you actually seeing? What do you mean by ill-looking?

Sorry, I can not understand the wing/batman comment but @Ripshod might be able to help you with information.

Thanks for trying.

This morning the stool was totally clear liquid, then light pale brown. His stool is normal now.
I believe he was regurgitating on the toy in a sexual manner. I haven't seen any other vomit or regurgitation today.

By "batman wings" I mean he is holding his wing-shoulders out away from his body making him look like a bat, and his wings are trembling - as though he were severely pissed off or if he was super hot. It is not super hot in my apartment, and he doesn't seem pissed off. It seems like something is wrong.

He is still rubbing his face so much and doing that with his wings, but also very hyper and acting almost totally normal, but not completely normal. I know this is really hard to describe. Something is off about him. But I'm sure I will have to wait for the vet to see him.

 

[FightNight]

I should also note: his deep blue cere has turned a reddish brown!!

 

[Shezbug]

I am just guessing here but I am thinking that you maybe have a hormonal female. Ripshod will confirm if you can post a clear close up pic of your birds face.

There are big differences between vomit and regurgitation so it is most helpful if you can identify the differences between the two- Vomit is not controlled and when done the head is flung side to side to get the yuck out causing stuff to go all over their face and all about the place. Regurgitation is a head bobbing up and down that then neatly in a controlled manner deposits food in front of it in a neat pile- they often eat this back up.

 

[Ripshod]

Ripshod will confirm if you can post a clear close up pic of your birds face.

Before and after photos will help a lot. Sounds like a girl though.
Masturbating and regurgitating are common signs of a maturing budgie of either gender, more common in males though.
Holding the wings like that are a sign they're stressed, ready to escape, and/or (in this case) fly back to their flock.
I think the polyuria in this case is a combination of stress and lettuce.
Rubbing their face? Are they moulting?
I'd be tempted to put him/her back with their friend to reduce the stress and watch the change. There's no need to seperate them as there's been no aggression, and if this is an illness both would likely have it by now anyway.

 

[FightNight]

Before and after photos will help a lot. Sounds like a girl though.
Masturbating and regurgitating are common signs of a maturing budgie of either gender, more common in males though.
Holding the wings like that are a sign they're stressed, ready to escape, and/or (in this case) fly back to their flock.
I think the polyuria in this case is a combination of stress and lettuce.
Rubbing their face? Are they moulting?
I'd be tempted to put him/her back with their friend to reduce the stress and watch the change. There's no need to seperate them as there's been no aggression, and if this is an illness both would likely have it by now anyway.

Thanks for the response.

He is definitely male - the cere is a deep blue, but there's been a tint to the colour over the last day, like a "blush" in a way.

He seems well this morning but is still "strung out" for lack of a better word. The hormones are out of control. I have no doubt if I put him back with the other bird, aggression would appear. His stool seems a bit loose still, and he's still holding his wings out, but he is also at max energy. I have to guess this is all just hormones.

 

[Lori D Pert]

A vet visit will certainly calm your concerns but I would really like a pic of that cere. His behaviour can most definitely be hormonal though as he is basically a "teenager". Let him "have at it" with his toys though...lol.

 

[FightNight]

A vet visit will certainly calm your concerns but I would really like a pic of that cere. His behaviour can most definitely be hormonal though as he is basically a "teenager". Let him "have at it" with his toys though...lol.

I've attached a few pics:

The first two photos are from today that show the discolouration on his cere. It's a little less red today - clearly red yesterday, it has dulled to a brown today. The third pic of him on my hand is from a week ago - no redness, but you can see he still has visible pin feathers. The fourth pic is from over the summer showing a regular cere. That was around the time he started to go through this big, massive first moult. Nimbus is about 10 months old currently.

Today, showing no signs of illness, but is extremely hyper and sexual. I think he's holding himself oddly today, sitting lower on his legs, but I'm guessing that's a sign of inflamed testicles? Oh lord, it's been so, so long since I've had a male this young, it's on another level. Currently only have these two males. The other male is 3 years old. He's another story. I've never seen him masterbate or do anything sexual.

 

[Lori D Pert]

I admit that I have looked at that cere colour on both my laptop and phone several times over. Looks more lilac than blue to me and perhaps turning to beige/brown but it could just be the lighting. You are positive of the sex? @Ripshod what say you?

 

[FightNight]

I admit that I have looked at that cere colour on both my laptop and phone several times over. Looks more lilac than blue to me and perhaps turning to beige/brown but it could just be the lighting. You are positive of the sex? @Ripshod what say you?

If this bird is a female, I'll eat my hat, lol.

Lots and lots of rubbing his face on the cage today. Do their faces get flush when in breeding condition? That's the only real concerning behaviour today. I feel for this bird!

 

[Ripshod]

I'm saying male too. Just like females males have hormonal surges. It is hard to see but their ceres can 'flush' when the hormones surge. More visible in this case.
I see nothing to be concerned over.

 

[Lori D Pert]

If this bird is a female, I'll eat my hat, lol.

lol. I ask as well because crouching low and holding the wings out from the body is what a little lady would do when she's ready for mating. But if @Ripshod thinks male I'll bow to his expertise.

 

[FightNight]

Thanks everyone. I'll continue to monitor the situation, but try not to be concerned.

 

[Mrs c]

Hey everyone, just to preface - I am going to take him to an avian vet hopefully tomorrow. I couldn't take him to the vet today as it was a holiday here in Canada and no avian vets were available. So please keep that in mind.

My 10 month old male is very off today and showing signs of illness. I have a lot of odd behaviours happening here.

When I clued in earlier today that something was wrong, he was vomitting on the toy he has become fixated on in his cage He has only had this toy for about a week or so and he spends a lot of time masterbating to it and playing with it, but I hadn't seen any vomitting until today. At that point, I took him out of the cage away from my other bird, another male. He is not himself. He is holding his wings in the "batman" formation away from his body and shaking. Lots of rubbing his face against the cage and perches. Lots of grooming that seems excessive. He very aggressively shred the lettuce in his quarantine cage to bits and then even more aggressively masterbated to it. Currently gettint it on with another toy in his cage.

For the first couple hours after I separated him, he had extremely loose / liquid stool. Pure liquid at times. Then the poop was a very pale, light brown. It seems back to normal as I type this though, a few hours later, but I'm keeping an eye on it.

He is still eating, drinking, took a bath, took treats. He is chirping, playing with toys. But excessive grooming, scratching the face, keeping his wings held out like this.

He has over the last few months gone through his first "big" moult but he seems to have mostly cleared the pin feathers from his face. He seems to be getting over the moult by now. I let him out of the quarantine cage and he is extremely hyper and sexually fixated - not the ill-looking bird of the moment before I let him out.

I'm happy to provide more details if needed but I'm wondering if anyone has seen something like this?

Hi. Just wanted to say that I've just been through a hormonal surge with my grey as a few of you may have read. When he was regurgitating to his toy a lot he also drank a lot of water afterwards which in turn produced very watery poop.