Think New Bird Sick

[UserAZ]

I came home tonight and found Little Lemon (the name of the new bird) in the food thing. I do not think he got stuck because he is small enough to get out, and could use bird force to even pop to top. Got him out and he was just pretty much latching on to me. Right now, he on my desk doing nothing. The other bird is active and doing bird things. Seems to be doing nothing but actually eating pellets for a change, and squeaking between another dive into the food. Little Lemon has been active all week non stop since bringing him home. Likes to climb the cage and do things and flies on me. Tonight he is doing nothing and not really moving. Even seemed to be hiding at one point. As you see him in the pictures, he is sitting near my hand and mouse. Once he moved on under my hand (which is on the mouse so he had room to get under my palm) and rested there.

I keep patting him and such.

I looked online about sick birds and stuff to get an idea what to look for. I only been home for an hour and all I can say is that he is just doing nothing.

I did find, apparently, the only vet within many miles from me. I am going to call tomorrow to see what they charge, because money which I not have. They only do appointments on Saturdays, per their website, and closed Sundays. So will see what happens after the phone call.

I am... worried.

 

[zERo/]

I would definitely take that bird to the vet.
He has drooping wings, tipped forward posture, looks like squinted eyes too.
The best thing you can do right now is keep him warm and give him anything he will eat, millet or seeds it doesn’t matter right now.
Do you have a small heater you could put in the room with him?
If not, warm up a water bottle and wrap it in a towel and set Lemon next to it.

 

[Lori D Pert]

Can he perch? By that I mean can he grasp your finger? Can he flap his wings? It is hard to see from your picture but is he moving freely at all? Or is he laying without attempting to perch? If so, keep him warm and get to a vet asap.

 

[UserAZ]

No perching. He was on my shoulder earlier tonight but not moving now. He was flapping his wings earlier to move around. Just lying for 2h now. Breathing, eyes closed (unless I move him then he opens them).
I put him in his cage, emptied a water bottle and filled it with hot water. Wrapped up bottle. Next to him in cage as he lies down, wrapped in a face cloth (I got no bird blankets).

 

[Lori D Pert]

a face cloth is fine. Make him comfortable. Keep him warm. He needs a vet.

 

[Scorpi0]

Make sure Lemon has easily accessible water and food nearby. He does look sick. Hoping he’s back to normal in the morning

 

[UserAZ]

There is food and water accessible to him. Last night I also place millets, as zERo suggested, near his head. After a half hour or so he moved over to munch on those.
This morning he still is bundled in same spot last night. His position changed though. Last night he was just as the photos show, head straight. This morning he had his head tucked in and twisted around, like a bird does. He is still lying down, but his head position changed since last night opposed to just lying there.
I had the central heat on all night, something I typically do not do since I do not like heat (yes, I prefer sub freezing temps personally to be comfortable). I do use the heat for them though when needed, and last night oh boy did I have it on.
I filled the bottle with hot water again and wrapped it up.
Right now he looks like a tucked in baby.
Vet not opened yet for me to call.

 

[UserAZ]

Just as I went into the kitchen to get coffee, I come back and Little Lemon is standing on the food tray eating.

 

[UserAZ]

He just stepped out of the cage for a moment, went back in and flew on the swing, perching.

 

[UserAZ]

I called the only exotic vet within fifty miles. I talked with a lady doing triage. I got him an appointment for Thursday (starting at $80), the soonest. But I have the number for the ER (hundreds $$), a sister place near them, if he goes non-mobile again.
She did give me other suggestion and such to watch out for.
I wanted to thank you all for helping me get through the night at least. I am too new at this stuff.
Will keep updating this post on his changes.

 

[Scorpi0]

Just as I went into the kitchen to get coffee, I come back and Little Lemon is standing on the food tray eating.

He just stepped out of the cage for a moment, went back in and flew on the swing, perching.

Good…..sounds like hes starting to feel better.

Sometimes these birds dont feel well and will puff up and just stay in the same spot without moving much. Another thing that can indicate a sick bird is if their tail is bobbing excessively with each breath they take.

Most of the time they will start feeling better after an hour or two and the puffiness will go away and they will go back to being active again. Always monitor them though, because if they stay puffed for too long then it might be something thatll require a vet trip.

 

[Scorpi0]

There is food and water accessible to him. Last night I also place millets, as zERo suggested, near his head. After a half hour or so he moved over to munch on those.
This morning he still is bundled in same spot last night. His position changed though. Last night he was just as the photos show, head straight. This morning he had his head tucked in and twisted around, like a bird does. He is still lying down, but his head position changed since last night opposed to just lying there.
I had the central heat on all night, something I typically do not do since I do not like heat (yes, I prefer sub freezing temps personally to be comfortable). I do use the heat for them though when needed, and last night oh boy did I have it on.
I filled the bottle with hot water again and wrapped it up.
Right now he looks like a tucked in baby.
Vet not opened yet for me to call.

How cold does the temp get in their cage area? My birds have always been kept indoors so theyre not used to being too cold. I usually keep the temp around 70°F, and Ive noticed if it starts getting close to 65 they will start to puff up a little to try to keep themselves warm. I dont like the heat either but 70° is still comfortable for me and the birds like it too.
I know your money situation is tight, but u can even get a small portable heater or a heating pad for birds for pretty cheap. (If you use the OfferUp app, check that and u can find some good stuff on there for really cheap). This way u can have the birds be comfortable without having to heat the whole place up.

Also, not sure if we mentioned it earlier, but budgies have sensitive lungs. Try to keep them away from any strong smells or fragrances.

You’re doing pretty good as a new budgie owner btw

 

[UserAZ]

He seems normal, as normal as I known him to be for only a week having him. Been eating and stuff. Let him fly out of the cage for awhile today. Still keeping them in separate cages until Thursday.
I realized PetSmart has the Banfield hospital, but I am betting they are going to be a lot more than an initial $80. I already put in the eighty for being a new patient at the place I found elsewhere, which goes towards the checkup fees (which could be hundreds I am realizing now). I am just starting to think now regardless where I go that they say, "welp, we checked everything and he is fine so that be three hundred bucks up front?" And since places do not do payments plans much anymore...
Am going to make some calls tomorrow for sure.

 

[Scorpi0]

If hes back to looking and acting normal, I wouldnt bother taking him to the vet. They are just gonna look at him and say that he looks fine.

 

[GreenThing]

How is his behavior today?

Also wondering what time of night he was behaving like this? Whenever I've been to a big box pet store near closing time, all the budgies are getting ready to sleep, even though they can't see the sun setting outside. It is possible they are used to sleeping at a certain time, when the lights go out.

I hope it's just the case that he wore himself out with excitement (it's definitely possible, and that sleeping posture isn't totally unusual for a very young, very tame budgie-- one of mine used to nod off like that when he was younger), but if he continues to act that way *outside of times that he would usually sleep*, I would take him to the vet. Scorpi0 isn't wrong, sadly, if you don't have an experienced avian vet they will probably just do a gram stain and a physical examination (even the experienced avian vet I go to isn't comfortable doing blood panels on small birds), and not all issues are detectable through those methods.

It's too late now, but this is exactly why quarantining is so important. I hope you got lucky, but if the yellow bird continues showing signs of illness, make sure you tell the vet that you have two birds (if the vet prescribes something like antibiotics, it is likely you will need to treat both birds).

 

[UserAZ]

He is as normal as I think he is. When this started, for me, it was when I returned home 9p Friday night. Was not until after twelve hours did he start acting normal again. He been normal in his cage since.
The other is just his chatty self.

 

[UserAZ]

I do not know much yet on how birds bond (if they decide to with owners). When Little Lemon was sick/tired that night, I wonder if he knew I was tending to him, petting him, and that one time he went under my hand to get comforted/warm while he laid on my desk. But since back to normal, he just flies away from me.
Birdy gratitude?

 

[Scorpi0]

I do not know much yet on how birds bond (if they decide to with owners). When Little Lemon was sick/tired that night, I wonder if he knew I was tending to him, petting him, and that one time he went under my hand to get comforted/warm while he laid on my desk. But since back to normal, he just flies away from me.
Birdy gratitude?

Haha. Anytime I have my male budgie in his travel cage he will let me give him scritches. He will close his eyes like hes really enjoying it. But thats ONLY when hes in the travel cage. Any other time I have tried to do that, he will run away.