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Suddenly swollen chest/crop??

Cheeko

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Sara
Hello, today I noticed my budgie (Cheeko) crouching forward and looking intently suddenly, it looked weird to me because he was like that for several minutes. But I was leaving the housing so I couldn't keep watchin him.
image0 (3).jpg image1 (1).jpg

I left on some TV and went out, I came back 4 hours later and noticed that his chest looks weirdly puffed or swollen?? Im really worried, what does this mean. I've only had him for 6 days and its my first pet bird so I'm not very experienced.
Its already late here though so I put him to bed. Before bed he preened himself normally and then moved inside to his fav sleeping spot and then I covered him.
image0 (4).jpg

I would appreciate any advice I'm really worried.
some context: the only thing that happened differently today is that I had some issues with the tray of his cage so I had to struggle with it for several minutes (40 minutes) and it made lots of noise and shook his cage quite a bit and that freaked him out, and he was breathing heavily but he didnt fly or screech or anything, just watched me very intently and fully alert. idk if this is relevant, but here it is.
 

Shezbug

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Does he have a full crop? Maybe that is all you are seeing??
 

Cheeko

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Oh what do you mean by a full crop? like he ate too much you mean?
 

Bookwyrm

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If it still looks like that in a while (a few hours, maybe a couple days?) I'd take him to the vet. Since he's new, that would probably be a good idea anyways.
 

Cheeko

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So this morning his crop looks normal again, I guess it was like Shez said, his crop might have been full! Is spotting his crop full a cause for concern though if it goes back to normal the next morning?

I am planning to take him to a vet visit this week regardless, but I want to know for my own knowledge if thats something to worry about usually.
 

Shezbug

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When they have a good feed you will see that their crop is full and plump like what you saw which is pretty normal. If he is a new bird then a vet check is always a good idea to have done pretty soon after getting them. I would only really worry about a full crop if the bird was not pooping well or for quite some time which is why we all monitor our birds poop like we have nothing else better to do with our time lol. Although Burt eats all during the day the only times I really see him with a big pudgy obviously full crop is usually breakfast and dinner meals where he really pigs out.
 

Cheeko

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Yeah its weird bc when he eats in the middle of the day his crop looks normal, but this is the second night where after he had his evening meal that his crop looks puffed up like that :roflmao: He seems to be pooping regularly and it all looks normal to me though. I'm glad it's nothing to worry about!
I've only had him a week so he is still on an all seed diet but I wanna start changing that. Will introduce him to some chop disguised with his seed mix tomorrow and see how that goes!

And yup I have the contacts of two avian vets and will be taking him for a check up sometime in the coming weeks hopefully.
 

budgieluv3

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That's good it cleared up! Good luck with vet checkups! I suggest giving the option of chamomile tea a few hours before the checkup. It can help calm them. :D
 

Cheeko

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Yeah, it seems to clear up in a few hours, and then happens again when he eats at night! Such a strange pattern, I wonder if this happens with anyone else's budgie. I swear sometimes I feel like my budgie does things so differently from other budgies I cant understand him :wacky:
though the last two days it doesn't look as extended.

and thanks for the chamomile tea advice! Do I put it in place of his water dish?
 

Ember-Tiel

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My cockatiel had a similar situation. The vet told me its from her diet and that the pellets I was feeding her was causing gas to form in her crop. It was a sort of an infection so I had to put a drop of apple cider vinegar in her water to help fight it a little.

I could be wrong but what is your bird's current diet?
 

budgieluv3

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Yeah, it seems to clear up in a few hours, and then happens again when he eats at night! Such a strange pattern, I wonder if this happens with anyone else's budgie. I swear sometimes I feel like my budgie does things so differently from other budgies I cant understand him :wacky:
though the last two days it doesn't look as extended.

and thanks for the chamomile tea advice! Do I put it in place of his water dish?
I would have the option of chamomile tea or water. So a separate dish. He might not recognize the tea as liquid and you don't want him to get dehydrated.
 
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