Why do bad things keep happening to my Parakeets?

[BabyBirdMa]

My sanity is honestly at its wits end. Two years ago, Gus suddenly died of liver failure and I was the one to find his body then Heisinbird gets terminal Cancer and dies in my arms and now, Lydia has somehow contracted a reproductive infection and her sternum bone is crooked. Am I cursed? I did everything to give them the best life but it seems like I can’t even protect them. Are they all going to die tragically young no matter what I do? Are my larger birds going to meet the same fates or is this just a parakeet thing? Am I going to break mentally? What will happen when I do? I’m so tired of losing my loved ones. Will I reach a point where I stop feeling pain?

 

[Matto]

It could be diet or exercise related, but most likely it's just poor genetics. Budgies were massively inbred in order to get the cool mutations, and by people who just didn't care. It's very difficult (nearly impossible, really) to find a budgie with healthy lineage, and there's often no way to tell.

 

[BabyBirdMa]

It could be diet or exercise related, but most likely it's just poor genetics. Budgies were massively inbred in order to get the cool mutations, and by people who just didn't care. It's very difficult (nearly impossible, really) to find a budgie with healthy lineage, and there's often no way to tell.

It rips my heart out every time I lose one. I don’t understand why someone would willingly do this to another living creature.

 

[Sparkles99]

For money. I’m so sorry. It’s very hard to lose a budgie.

 

[BabyBirdMa]

For money. I’m so sorry. It’s very hard to lose a budgie.

They’re my children. They may be adopted and a different species but I love them as if I carried and birthed them myself.

 

[Lady Jane]

I was thinking genetics. Did you get them from a breeder?
Please do not blame yourself.
Did you get them from a breeder??

 

[BabyBirdMa]

I was thinking genetics. Did you get them from a breeder?
Please do not blame yourself.
Did you get them from a breeder??

Mom got my parakeets from Petsmart for my Birthday. My larger birds are all rescues, the parakeets are my only birds who weren’t rescued.

 

[Tyrion]

So sorry you are going through this

 

[sunnysmom]

I'm sorry. A lot of pet store budgies come from the equivalent of puppy mills. Poor breeding and improper care as babies I think leads to a lot of budgies dying way too young.

 

[BabyBirdMa]

I'm sorry. A lot of pet store budgies come from the equivalent of puppy mills. Poor breeding and improper care as babies I think leads to a lot of budgies dying way too young.

It’s just not fair. They’re just sweet, innocent, little angels. They’ve never done anything wrong to anyone. They don’t deserve this. Gus and Heisinbird didn’t deserve to die, especially not the way they did and Lydia doesn’t deserve everything that’s wrong with her now. They’re not disposable objects to be mass produced; they were/are my children. My sons were important and losing them destroyed me.

 

[sunnysmom]

It’s just not fair. They’re just sweet, innocent, little angels. They’ve never done anything wrong to anyone. They don’t deserve this. Gus and Heisinbird didn’t deserve to die, especially not the way they did and Lydia doesn’t deserve everything that’s wrong with her now. They’re not disposable objects to be mass produced; they were/are my children. My sons were important and losing them destroyed me.

I agree. Budgies are amazing birds and deserve more. The entire parrot trade does.

 

[BabyBirdMa]

I agree. Budgies are amazing birds and deserve more. The entire parrot trade does.

I mourn the ones I lost every day and cry for them every night. There’s just two, empty holes in my heart where they use to be. It feels wrong not having them here. My heart breaks when I hear their siblings call out for them, wondering where they went. They don’t understand.

 

[Kassiani]

It is utterly heartbreaking the things that some humans do to make a buck. I bought my first two budgies from PetSmart before I knew any better (Jujube and Jelly Bean), and I lost Jelly in late August. All the budgies I have owned ultimately came from a 'big box' pet store and two of them have died from something they did not deserve.

It's OK to mourn and cry. There is no fixed timeline for grief.

Grief is an inevitable result of having loved. I believe that the love we feel for those we lose never really dies. I believe it allows us to feel greater empathy for those still in our lives.

 

[BabyBirdMa]

It is utterly heartbreaking the things that some humans do to make a buck. I bought my first two budgies from PetSmart before I knew any better (Jujube and Jelly Bean), and I lost Jelly in late August. All the budgies I have owned ultimately came from a 'big box' pet store and two of them have died from something they did not deserve.

It's OK to mourn and cry. There is no fixed timeline for grief.

Grief is an inevitable result of having loved. I believe that the love we feel for those we lose never really dies. I believe it allows us to feel greater empathy for those still in our lives.

I just at least hope I gave them the best lives a parakeet could ever know while they were here. At least I have the comfort of Gus’ last memory being me spoiling him with food, treats and toys and Heisinbird’s last memory was me holding him close, petting him gently and begging him not to leave me while I desperately tried to get him help even though I knew the vet would just tell me the same thing. He kissed my fingers before he left.