My budgie has poop hanging from his vent. Yuck. And he's sleeping a lot and looking a little fluffed up. He has always loved people food - even milk, which can't be good for birds (guilt, guilt). It's Sunday, and the vet's closed today.
Hi Carolyn. Luckily it's Sunday evening so you should be able to get to a proper Avian vet with him tomorrow asap. Droppings clinging to the vent is a symptom of diarrhea and that can be very dangerous for a bird, especially one as small as a Budgie. He is in great danger of dehydrating. And yes, shame on you for the milk. I can say that because I see that you understand he should not have it. They are, for the most part, lactose intolerant and should not have dairy products. There is a possibility that is what started his problem. Whether it is or not though, on a vet can tell you for sure so don't assume he is going to be okay if you just stop allowing it without getting him checked out. It could have caused him to develop a bacterial or fungal, or both, issue. He is going to have to have, at the least, a test run on a dropping sample and then probably a 10 day course of an oral antibiotic. Just don't waste your money on anything from the pet store. They don't have anything that will help and in some cases, it can be dangerous to mess with that over the counter stuff. If they had anything useful, you would not be able to buy it without a prescription. One of the problems we have with our parrots is their very strong instinct to mask all symptoms of illness or injury, from us. In the wild, they are prey and to show weakness is to get kicked out of the safety of the flock. By the time we see any symptoms, it's because they are too sick and too weak to keep up the pretense. A couple of the first things we will be able to notice is a change in behavior, (less playing, less or no talking, etc.), any change in the appearance of the droppings that lasts more than 24 hours and cannot be accounted for by diet. For example, a lot of fruits or veggies one day can make more runny droppings but it should not last more than a day, then go back to normal. Other symptoms are sitting with feathers fluffed, giving up the perches and staying on the cage floor, and sleeping an inordinate amount of time. As you see, you are seeing advanced evidence of some of these symptoms so he has been a sick little guy for awhile not. Between now and when you get him in, all you can do is good supportive care. You need to make sure he does not get chilled and is not in any kind of draft, and keep alert for any of these other symptoms. The closer we can keep an ill bird to 85F, the better. Keep him as quiet and stress free as possible Just in case you don't have one, I'll give you links to help locate one. Another thing you may be aware of, but for just in case, I'm going to give you some links to information about the many dangerous and toxic things we may have in our houses that can be deadly to parrots. Most things we don't give a thought to because they are harmless to us and to our other pets. But with parrots, some things can kill them, almost within minutes; other things are cumulative and take longer but are just as fatal. Just to mention a few, any aerosol product, burning candles, strong cleaning products, an over heated piece of non stick cookware, using the cleaning cycle of a self cleaning oven, cigarette smoke, any kind of air freshener; the list goes on and on. Also many houseplants are toxic. If you aren't sure whether you have any dangerous items in your home, it would be good to print out these lists and keep them handy. But for right now, you need to get him to the vet asap tomorrow. Please don't delay or you could lose the little guy. Let me know if I can help any further. Patricia
Click here: Find your local Avian Veterinarian
Click here: Avian Veterinarians Recommended by Bird Breeders and Owners http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/abvpvets.htm
Click here: Avian Vet List
Click here: BirdsnWays - Avian Veterinarians - Vets - Vet Services for Pet Parrots & Exotic Birds
This one looks like an advertisement for Harrison pellets but they are only sold by vets so it's another good list to check. Click here: Harrison's Bird Foods is a family of certified organic pet bird diets that were formulated to make your bird as he
Click here: Bird Proofing Your Home: Household Hazards for Birds
Click here: Bird Proofing Your Home - Avoid These Pet Bird Hazards
Click here: More Birds Die as a Result of Air Fresheners: That Stinks!!
Click here: The Silent Killer, by Joanie Doss
Click here: Alerts Dangers and Toxins for Pet Birds Parrots
Click here: Toxic and Safe Plants/Trees for Birds - Household Poisons
Click here: Birdsnways - Safe Plants & Trees for pet birds, pet parrots &exotic birds
Potentially Toxic Plants
Toronto Humane Society :: Common Poisonous Plants
Experience: Published author, free lance bird behaviorist, adviser to the parrots at Sarasota Jungle Gardens.