Smudgie

No it hasn't! That is what is so shocking. We estimate only about a week or ten days. He's very attentive with his birds and doesn't have many - only 9 birds. It wasn't visible at all a week ago. When we took him to the vet she said they can "blow up" quite fast and it depends on how many feathers are involved. She thinks there may be a few feathers that broke off and all became involved in the same cyst to make it so big and to grow so fast.

Oh sorry about that Liv. I have never posted a photo on here before so I thought it would just not accept it if the size was wrong. I don't know how to resize unless my husband or son does it for me. Thanks for making it a link. Oh and my son decided on selling jewellery to raise some money since I suggested people might be a bit grossed out and not want to buy cupcakes. I just brought him back from the local shopping village and he made $30 from selling bracelets that he made. Not a bad effort on a freezing cold day. He brought Fizzer with him in the little cage so that people could see how bad it was but that meant we couldn't stay too long because poor budgie would have been losing a lot of his body heat through the cyst.

Thanks Rainbow. It's encouraging to read a success story. Fizzer has been picking at his lump too and he's had a couple of small bleeding episodes over the weekend. Unfortunately the only day we can book him in for surgery is Wednesday so I'm just hoping all will be well until then. I've just loaded some of the pics onto photobucket. http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h18/squa...er/100_0406.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h18/squa...er/100_0405.jpg

That's such a good idea too. He has about a hundred of those "beannie bear" things that were popular a few years ago and now they just take up space! Good thinking 99 - I'm taking him to the local shops this afternoon so we can bring those damn beannie bears as well :fear

Oh goodness I have had all these lovely PMs!Thank you for all your kind thoughts. I have to get dinner and go to bed early as I work an early Sunday Morning shift so please don't think I am ignoring you. I'm quite overwhelmed actually. I think he cares too much to be a vet!(not meant in a bad way)But people ask him all the time if he plans to become a vet and he says he doesn't - he just wants to keep volunteering at the local shelter forever!

I never even thought of that. Do you think it would be okay for him to just straight out say "I'm saving for my budgie's operation?"See I already suggested to him that he brings Fizzer along with him in the little cage when he sells his cupcakes so that people can see for himself and they know he's working for a good cause.He planned to actually *work* to raise the money but I suppose if people said they don't want a cupcake but they would like to give him a dollar it would all help!That might be a good idea I think you are very wise because I am sure someone will try to do it at home.Honestly - this is gross! I will see if I can get my husband to download the photos of it so you can see how bad it is. My poor kid feels terrible for not noticing it because he didn't pick it up in time but I swear it was NOT there 10 days ago and it has grown like a weed. I do think that this one is a job for a vet. We took the budgie to Lort Smith because we know that they will not string us along and try to make money out of another sucker that comes in. The vet was lovely and she was also VERY optimistic - but still explained the risks.I would not at all feel comfortable dealing with such a huge lump. I am glad I don't have any veterinary knowledge or I'd feel obliged to deal with it. And then I would throw up

Thank you maesie. He is a lovely kid - he's only 11 and has already raised over $2500 for the local animal shelter in the past 18 months. I know there is a certain point that it's not viable to continue giving treatment to a sick animal but when it's a very sudden, unexpected and easily treatable thing, I think it's only reasonable for me to let him have his pet treated. I'll keep you posted. (he's even been doing physiotherapy with the "Fizzer" to help him keep up his muscle tone so he has a better recovery!)

Yes I know. My mother replaced my budgie with a similar one when it died, thinking I wouldn't notice. She obviously didn't know me very well.My son is not interested in obtaining another similar looking bird as he actually has a great love for his pet who is very tame and affectionate.He's already been raising money by doing car washes and tomorrow he's making cupcakes to sell to raise money for the operation. I know some people might think it's silly but I find it an admirable quality in a child that I am keen to encourage.It's probably going to cost around $100 - $150 which is a lot. But he wants to do it and he wants to pay for the surgery out of his own money so I have absolutely no right to tell him he can't and I'm pretty proud of him actually. How do you treat them?This one seemed to blow up overnight. It is the size of a cherry and the bird went from a healthy, mobile creature to one who cannot even fly enough to get from the perch to the floor. We've taken him from the aviary and put him in a small "infirmary" cage.But I had no idea about them being hereditary. This is the first feather cyst he's had in two years and my son has bred three clutches from him already. The babies have been absolutely beautiful actually and so far there have been no problems in the offspring. At what age does this problem normally seem to present?I think the bird is about 3 years old.

My son noticed a large lump on his budgie's wing last Sunday. It definitely wasn't visible on the previous Friday and the budgie was flying well. On Sunday it was the size of a marble and bald. We immediately took him to the animal hospital and they rescheduled an appointment with their avian specialist for today. By today it was doubled in size and the moment the vet saw it she immediately recognised it as a feather cyst. Budgie is booked in for an appointment on Wednesday for surgery to have it removed. Vet said it definitely needs to come off ASAP but it's not an emergency and can wait until Wednesday. Meanwhile the poor budgie is picking at it so it's obviously annoying him. I looked everywhere here for some pictures of a similar lump but couldn't find anything but we'll get some pictures to post on here before and after so people can see what it looks like. He's such a sweet bird, it will be a relief for him to get rid of the lump. I am absolutely amazed at the speed with which it's grown. And just a warning to people - a lot of vets are listed in the phone book under "avian vets" who are not. (I'm sure people already know this)

We have a male who is the father of about 12 who has a very pink, female looking cere. Everybody who has seen him insists he is a girl. However we have witnessed him mating and there is absolutely NO question that he is a male, no matter how feminine he looks.

**Liv** I cannot say for certain that he is plucking out his own feathers but I don't think so. It's small tiny areas of patches that he has lost but a large area under each wing. I have never ever seen him pluck his own feathers. It's almost like they are just not growing properly anymore.

We actually put the nesting boxes into the cages because we kept on finding eggs all over the floor of the aviary. Is there a way to discourage this?

Oh thank you for your reply Elly. I forgot to add. He most definitely had scaly face because we took him to the local "small animal" vet and by sheer good luck, she was away on holidays and the locum vet was an avian sub-specialist. She told us how to treat the scaly face and warned us that it can be hard to get rid of and can return again and again. So I am sure you're right and that the scaly face never really went away. He was out on the loose for so long when he escaped, goodness knows what else he might have come into contact with. However, I was aware of that likelihood so we never returned him to the other birds because it was just too risky. However there is no option of going to an avian vet because we live out in the outer suburbs and I do not drive. I have to hope the normal "pet vet" will do.

My son had a co-ed aviary and he's already had two lots of babies. He doesn't really intend to breed budgies because he just wants them as pets so we've separated the males and females. We waited until the babies were out of the nesting box before separating the males because they are so involved with the care of the babies it did not seem right to take them away when the females were relying heavily on the males helping with feeding the young. So now the males are all together in a big flight cage (4 birds) and there are the 2 females and their babies in the aviary. They all seem to be getting along but is there anything we need to watch for? Will the males fight or try to kill each other or something equally as nasty?

My son has about 9 birds (more including babies) and he has them in an aviary and a large flight cage. His old budgie Oliver has started going bald. Oliver has never been 100% healthy since he escaped and was gone for many months before my son got him back. he developed scaly face which we've treated many times but just to be on the safe side, he was kept away from the other budgies. Well we've noticed that his feathers seem to be falling out. The scaly face also seems to be coming back again. he is completely bald on his body under his wings and even though he's been in a huge flight cage, getting plenty of exercise, he can no longer seem to fly. I've put him into a smaller cage to get a better look at him and treat him for scaly face again but he looks really shabby. He has very patchy feathers and quite a lot of bald patches up to 3-4mm. What on earth could this be? Is it just because he's getting old and he's had a rough and adventurous life on the run for 5 months? He must be about 5 years old by now. I'll try to get some photos when my son gets home with his camera. I think it was a wise thing to keep him apart from the other birds.

I totally second that!!! Please remove the nestbox, quarantine if you aren't already doing it and in any event it will help them settle down and I am sure all will work out the budgies. Oh I should have added. He has the aviary AND a big cage as well. The pet shop birds are in the big flight cage and the other 5 budgies that he got together are all in the aviary. They haven't been mixed but the pet shop budgies are in with Oliver. I didn't realise about quarantining them. They are all boys together so no problems with breeding. The birds that he got from Tal are (I think) 2 females and 3 males. The nest box is bolted in, we can't get it out - is it okay to just block the opening? A friend who used to breed said they'll breed anyway even if there isn't a box in the cage.

My son already had two budgies in a beautiful huge flight cage but sadly one of them passed away on July 18th. He still had Oliver but figured he'd be lonely and wanted to get another friend for him. But... Oliver is getting a bit older now - 3+ years and he thought it would be better to get a small aviary and a few more birds to keep him company instead of just one other budgie. So my son answered Tal's ad and bought his budgies... http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index....showtopic=15988 Now he has Tal's 5 plus his own - and he also "rescued" the three budgies in the local pet shop because he was sad that their cage was too small for them and he had a couple of nice big spaces now. So my son has 9 budgies! There's a breeding box in the aviary which may end up being used. I'm a bit nervous in case they have babies. What are we supposed to do if they lay an egg?

That's so great. We have just treated my son's bird for scaly face. He started improving after just a couple of days and over the weekend we moved him into a small cage while we completely disinfected everything in his big flight cage and replaced all the wooden perches. He seems so much happier now too. I wish we'd taken photos as well.

Great news! We never use pesticides so the sprouts will be "organic"! Thanks for the replies. I'll cut a bunch before work and the boys can have sprouts for lunch.

When my kids clean out the seed containers they usually throw the seed onto the lawn and replace with new seed. Well now I have these little leafy plants growing in the lawn. Is it okay to cut them and feed them to the budgies as fresh greens?

Our problem is the Noisy Minors - they swoop and divebomb the cage when it's outdoors. Thankfully they are not able to get close (they are not as brave as they pretend to be) but they are terribly annoying and they drive all the other birds out of the area

Misty that is the EXACT same cage we have for our budgies! We have two and the cage is the perfect size for them as they can actually fly around in it. I have to say it is not very "solid" in that the wire is thin and you have to be very careful when you move it - it takes two people because you could easily bend the wire. Instead of the wood perches, we went outside and got some nice textured broken tree branches for perches and put them in the corners of the cage to increase the flying space. The boys just LOVE the space they have there in their big cage. But I personally don't think it would be big enough for six birds! Four would be the absolute maximum. The cage is big but not huge. By The Way if anyone in Melbourne is thinking of getting the same cage - ours was $99 AUD at the Diamond Creek pet shop and they have black or white in stock

I get mine from the beach!

Wow I never thought of offering oranges to my budgies! I am so glad I read this post. Many thanks Talking of fruit salad - I was in the greengrocer a few weeks ago and there was a woman next to me buying a whole box of mixed exotic (and expensive) fruits including lychees, rambutan, starfruit, custard apple as well as local fruit like stonefruit and berries, apples, bananas etc. She proudly boasted (in the best possible way) to me and the cashier that she was the very proud to have just got another (some unknown species) exotic parrot and the expensive fruit was for them. We're in Australia so whatever type of bird she was buying the fruit for was not an indigenous species but something she was planning to breed with as she already had one of the opposite sex. She said the babies will sell for over $800 each! Maybe they were some kind of South American Parrot? Whatever - she gave me some good advice on buying very expensive exotic fruits for parrots ! :fear

okay thanks for that info. It sounds like it's probably a waste of time and unecessary stress to the bird. Now my cat on the other hand...