Fungus' Future

[Ellie 0]

Last weekend, I found an ad on Gumtree for a free budgie.

I jumped at the chance seeing as my boyfriend accidentally let out my last budgie, Butters.

The ad stated that the owner wanted to rehome his budgie for free due to it having scaley face & he not being able to give it the care it needed.

I thought "Well! Nothing, I shouldn't be able to handle!" and so, I texted the available number and picked up the budgie on Sunday (22/01/2012).

I drove all the way from The Gap to Wynnum to pick him & and laughed at the fact that he probably wasn't free after using quite a bit of petrol to get there - it didn't bother me though.

A boy, presumably 16 years old brought out a green and yellow budgie.

I was so shocked!

His face & feet were covered in mites & he had an overgrown beak to match.

I asked whether he had any more budgies (mainly because I was concerned that if he had any more, they may be in a similar condition).

He said "I have 3 more that I'm trying to sell before I go back to school because I will be be busy" or something like that.

I assumed that the other budgies were probably healthier than the one now in my bird cage & so I told the boy that the budgie was going to a good home & I left as quickly as I could.

 

Here are some photo's I took on the night I bought him home:

 

Fungus himself.

 

Fungus himself 2.

 

Fungus' face.

 

Fungus' face 2.

 

Fungus' face 3.

 

Fungus' face 4.

 

Fungus' face 5.

 

Fungus' feet.

 

Fungus' feet 2.

 

Fungus' foot.

 

I assume nobody on this forum has ever owned a budgie quite this ill unless they've rescued it.

If you have a pet, you have a responsibility.

Neglect allows something as bad as this to happen to an innocent and voiceless animal.

I texted the boy the next day to tell him that I've never seen a budgie that has looked as ill as Fungus does.

I said that I'd be happy to take the other budgies off his hands & suggested that he buy some cuttle fish & treat his birds for mites ASAP if he was going to keep them.

 

I could've strangled this kid looking back now.

He appeared not to care that his budgie was in obvious ill health.

 

On Monday, I booked an appointment with my local vet, Jenny White.

She trimmed his beak & told me what medications to use (as I have seen her for my budgies health issues before) that I already had ready at home.

She also suggested that I give him alot of fresh foods too because he is terribly thin (you can feel his breast bone).

He is so small & skinny that he looks as though he's still a chick learning to take care of itself.

So far, I've given him a treatment of Ivomec on the back of his neck & have also mixed up some Ronivet & water for him to consume.

I also put some lettuce, a stalk of brocolli & a fresh cuttle bone in his cage for him (not that he knows what any of them are).

He sits on the cuttle bone & avoided the fresh veges as he doesn't know of them as food (I assume).

 

Anyway, he's in good hands now.

It'll be at least 6 weeks before his can join my 4 other budgies in the aviary.

 

If you have any tips to help me improve his condition, please let me know.

 

Ellie.

Edited January 24, 2012 by Ellie

[*Nerwen* 0]

glad you have him, sound like you have done a great job in fixing the mites issue.

[Bird Junky 0]

Hi I'm surprised the poor bird lived through the beak treatment without going into shock.

 

He must be a tough one to have survived till you rescued it. I think I would have reported it

 

& have the other birds confiscated for such cruelty ... Yours B. J.

[Ellie 0]

Hi I'm surprised the poor bird lived through the beak treatment without going into shock.

 

He must be a tough one to have survived till you rescued it. I think I would have reported it

 

& have the other birds confiscated for such cruelty ... Yours B. J.

 

she took the tiniest bit of the end of his beak as she was concerned about nipping the blood vessel.

his beak is still quite long but the aim of the trim was so he would be able to eat more easily & preen himself.

you should've seen him preen his feathers.

he looked like a huge weight had been lifted from his wings :-)

do you think I should report him?

Edited January 24, 2012 by Ellie

[Bird Junky 0]

I would, I can't help worrying about the birds he still has. Yours B. J.

[Ellie 0]

I would, I can't help worrying about the birds he still has. Yours B. J.

 

yeah, me too.

i'll hit up the rspca tomorrow.

[**KAZ** 0]

I am glad you have him and have addressed his health issues.

 

HUGE HUGE neglect to have allowed it to get to this stage and to a point where he was starving due to not being able to eat well enough with his beak like that.

I say he because most members are saying this, but chances are he may be a she too as females not in breeding condition will have blue on the cere. You wont really know till this clears up some.

You can speed it all up a bit by rubbing oil into its feet and legs.

As far as reporting goes, my experience with the RSPCA is they are a toothless tiger and rarely would do anything in this case.

Thank God he/she has landed safely in your loving care is all I can say..........

Edited January 24, 2012 by **KAZ**

[Ellie 0]

Aw, thanks Kaz!

I just told him the whole way home "Don't worry buddy, you're going to get better".

I think I'll send these photos to the RSPCA because unfortunately, I may get done for trespassing & assault if I tried to handle it myself, haha.

[Guest K&M Breeding]

Wow that is beyond disgusting and to get this far it took a while, that just means the previous owner Paid absolutely no mind to the bird(s) probably just threw them some food and water every couple of days Mites is easy to catch early on IF the owner pays attention to the birds that is!

 

Glad he or she is in good hands now.

 

Since he doesn't seem to not what a cuttle bone is You can scrape some of it off on to the foods he does eat that way he'll get the taste of it and this usually helps them to use the actual product itself. and at least by doing it that way you know he's getting some of it until he starts using an actual cuttle bone. because I'm sure he's going to be needing all the calcium he can get to help him recover this ordeal

 

People like this make me sick And I too would end up behind bars If I had to go back there!.

 

as for the veggies just offer them daily and offer them in different ways, Mine love leafy greens that are still a bit damp from me washing them off and hung up (I get yelled at by them If I save them some time and put them on the cage floor ) They jump right to them taking a bath on them and eating them and a few try to do both at the same time (that's hilarious to watch)

 

for other Veggies I can give all mine corn, green beans, peas etc in a dish they'll eat it all.. Give them Mixed veggies and they either eat around the carrots or throw them out So I hide the carrots in their birdie bread I make them I use a bag of frozen Mixed veggies - they love the birdie bread so they end up eating carrots w/out even knowing it

 

I also make mine a mix of Cooked noodles, Brown Rice, a hard boiled egg (or a couple) and then I mash the egg all up and mix it all together in a big mixing bowl and add in mixed veggies (thawed) and stir it all together and give them dishes of it They Love it

 

but with this lil guy/gal it may take you a while to get him to eat anything healthy but I'm sure once he starts clearing up and getting better and Just feeling better over all he'll take to new foods easier.

[stace 0]

Good grief. How can anyone let an animal get into that state. The ivermectin should clear it after a while of treatment. As Kaz says, rubbing in a tiny bit of olive oil on the feet and beak may help. I've also heard of putting a drop of dettol or betadine into the oil to medicate it a little to help with any infection.

 

Vitamin A rich supplements or foods also may be useful. Apparently Vit A lifts resistance to infection and some parasites. Carrot, sweet potato, chickweed and rockmelon have a lot of Vit A.

[**KAZ** 0]

As Kaz says, rubbing in a tiny bit of olive oil on the feet and beak may help.

 

 

I was suggesting feet and legs only. The ivermectin will deal with the beak etc. Once it gets to that stage oil on beak and around face is useless. However will benefit the feet and legs.

[Ellie 0]

Wow that is beyond disgusting and to get this far it took a while, that just means the previous owner Paid absolutely no mind to the bird(s) probably just threw them some food and water every couple of days Mites is easy to catch early on IF the owner pays attention to the birds that is!

 

Glad he or she is in good hands now.

 

Since he doesn't seem to not what a cuttle bone is You can scrape some of it off on to the foods he does eat that way he'll get the taste of it and this usually helps them to use the actual product itself. and at least by doing it that way you know he's getting some of it until he starts using an actual cuttle bone. because I'm sure he's going to be needing all the calcium he can get to help him recover this ordeal

 

People like this make me sick And I too would end up behind bars If I had to go back there!.

 

as for the veggies just offer them daily and offer them in different ways, Mine love leafy greens that are still a bit damp from me washing them off and hung up (I get yelled at by them If I save them some time and put them on the cage floor ) They jump right to them taking a bath on them and eating them and a few try to do both at the same time (that's hilarious to watch)

 

for other Veggies I can give all mine corn, green beans, peas etc in a dish they'll eat it all.. Give them Mixed veggies and they either eat around the carrots or throw them out So I hide the carrots in their birdie bread I make them I use a bag of frozen Mixed veggies - they love the birdie bread so they end up eating carrots w/out even knowing it

 

I also make mine a mix of Cooked noodles, Brown Rice, a hard boiled egg (or a couple) and then I mash the egg all up and mix it all together in a big mixing bowl and add in mixed veggies (thawed) and stir it all together and give them dishes of it They Love it

 

but with this lil guy/gal it may take you a while to get him to eat anything healthy but I'm sure once he starts clearing up and getting better and Just feeling better over all he'll take to new foods easier.

 

tell me about it!

i mean, this little one would've been putting up with these health problems for some time now.

i just don't understand how some people have no empathy whatsoever!

 

i'm going to have give your idea's a go once fungus starts eatting more.

they sound fantastic!

 

thanks for your comment & foodie ideas K&M!

 

Good grief. How can anyone let an animal get into that state. The ivermectin should clear it after a while of treatment. As Kaz says, rubbing in a tiny bit of olive oil on the feet and beak may help. I've also heard of putting a drop of dettol or betadine into the oil to medicate it a little to help with any infection.

 

Vitamin A rich supplements or foods also may be useful. Apparently Vit A lifts resistance to infection and some parasites. Carrot, sweet potato, chickweed and rockmelon have a lot of Vit A.

 

i have no idea.

personally, i wouldn't be able to ignore something like that growing on my budgie's face.

 

this afternoon i greased up fungus' feet & legs with some olive oil.

they're looking better already - not as flaky and white.

 

ty for your comment.

Edited January 25, 2012 by Ellie

[Finnie 0]

Wow. Ditto to what everyone else has said. A warm lamp might give him some added comfort, too, while he is fighting off his parasites and trying to put weight back on.

 

As I was reading your story, I thought you were going to end up by saying that the other three birds had scaley face too, and you took all of them. (For free, the rat deserves no money to reward this!) If he was so clueless about this bird's condition until it got this bad, I think it's very likely that his other birds also have scaley face, and if they aren't this far gone, he tells himself they are "healthy".

Edited January 25, 2012 by Finnie

[Guest K&M Breeding]

Your welcome Hope all goes well and he heals up and forgets all about the life he had before

Edited January 25, 2012 by K&M Breeding

[Ellie 0]

(For free, the rat deserves no money to reward this!)

 

Just a quick update!

 

Tonight I found an ad on gumtree for three budgies.

Guess whose budgies they are? (Yep, it's him. I can tell because the mobile number is the same).

Here is a link to the ad:

http://brisbane.gumt...QAdIdZ349922152

 

I was considering buying the remaining three, not that he deserves any money for them (just like Finnie said!)

but I do need to consider my other budgies.

I'm only really looking for one more budgie rather than three, otherwise my aviary will be too crowded.

 

Anyway, I just thought I'd pop this on here in case anyone in Queensland/Brisbane feels like attracting some good karma or adopting some budgies.

:-)

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited January 28, 2012 by Ellie

[Flip-trainer 0]

This is Disgusting!!! Ellie, do you mind me using the photos on facebook for an anti-neglect for a cause page? I want to make it clear to the world that it is NOT okay to do this

 

 

 

Edit: Nevermind, I'll add a link to this

Edited January 29, 2012 by Flip-trainer

[stace 0]

(For free, the rat deserves no money to reward this!)

 

Just a quick update!

 

Tonight I found an ad on gumtree for three budgies.

Guess whose budgies they are? (Yep, it's him. I can tell because the mobile number is the same).

Here is a link to the ad:

http://brisbane.gumt...QAdIdZ349922152

 

I was considering buying the remaining three, not that he deserves any money for them (just like Finnie said!)

but I do need to consider my other budgies.

I'm only really looking for one more budgie rather than three, otherwise my aviary will be too crowded.

 

Anyway, I just thought I'd pop this on here in case anyone in Queensland/Brisbane feels like attracting some good karma or adopting some budgies.

:-)

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

How depressing. There must be so many budgies out there living awful lives. Hope someone kind and knowledgeable buys them.

 

 

[Ellie 0]

This is Disgusting!!! Ellie, do you mind me using the photos on facebook for an anti-neglect for a cause page? I want to make it clear to the world that it is NOT okay to do this

 

 

 

Edit: Nevermind, I'll add a link to this

 

Flip!

I'd be more than happy for you to use the photo's.

The more people who see them, the better.

If people know that what's being shown in the photo is wrong, then progress is being made.

 

P.S: I'm going to like that Facebook page of yours. :-)