armchairangel

Oooh! Your grandma's budgie got to be 18?! Baby could still have a few years then! But yeah, genetics have to play a big part. Just like Baby and your grandma's bird who both had less than optimum diets, people can be the same way. I'm finishing up a container of Lafeber's pellets. My birds love them. I sprinkle the dust left from Cupid and Psyche onto Baby's seed. The whole pellets I give her I think she just crumbles rather than eats. *L* C and P eat their pellets like crazy though. I've started putting 2 containers in their cage cuz they almost seem to fight over them. *L* I've found where to get fresh seed and Harrison's pellets in town. My vet feeds their clinic birds a mix of seed and Harrison's. I'm gonna convert to the same thing when my current supply of food is gone. I hope the birds will like Harrison's as much as they like Lafebers!

I can't believe I don't have a picture of Baby here!

Oh the poor little guy! He's just totally lost without his Pretty.... He's very lucky to have such a dedicated momma! And yes, you will know when its time for another one. Its different for every person and for every pet (the timing was COMPLETELY different when I got my cats after Wizard's and Grizzly's deaths). Follow your heart and trust yourself.

Thank you for the link Lovey. I think that what makes it look like diarrhea is that the solid center is covered in mucus. The vet didn't think that I needed to do anything other than make sure she's still eating and drinking. Skipping the veggies for awhile will probably be a good idea though. i have one of the heat lamps set up over one end of the cage (and checked the temp with our temp gun) and both are perching under it. I hope it helps them.

When i checked on the birds this morning, there was a rather large puddle of diarrhea, all mushed together in the bottom of the cage. Psyche was sitting fluffier than usual too. Up until now, she hadn't had this much diarrhea and wasn't fluffy all the time. I decided she shouldn't wait till Monday to see the vet, so I called to see if I could bring her in. It was quite the ordeal getting her in the travel cage. I have a really sore place on my pinkie even 4 hours after the fact, bright red and swollen where she was chewing on me. My husband and I got into a big fight in the car on the way, cuz he didn't see why we couldn't just give her some of the leftover baytril from Baby since that's probably what she was going to be getting anyway. He wasn't happy with my answers and ended up saying all the animals are completely my responsibility now, that he wasn't going to have anything to do with their care since I obviously don't think he knows anything. He told me to call him when i was done at the vet and drove off in a huff. The last thing I needed. *L* (okay, yeah, I ended up going a little off topic, but I need to vent *L*) Psyche was not happy about being there and being examined. Nothing unusual was found - she was breathing well and there wasn't any swelling in her abdomen. She didn't seem dehydrated to him. We tested her poo to see if there was an overgrowth of bacteria or any parasites. Fortunately, it was found that the center of her poos were nice and formed like usual and it was just coated with mucus. So her small intestines are working just fine and her colon (actually the bird's equivalent to it *L*) is just irritated and producing the mucus. There wasn't anything abnormal in her feces, so since she's still eating and drinking well, its just stress related, like some people can get colitis from stress. He didn't want to give her anything since there wasn't any overgrowth in bacteria and all the handling of her to give her the meds would stress her even further. As long as she continues to eat and drink fine, she should be fine and hopefully now with Cupid back with her she'll settle down soon. I can heat their cage to be around 80 if I want, which I think I'll try to do to help her out. I am SO not saying "I told you so" to Jared. *L* (he did come back to the clinic, with a diet coke and chocolate in hand cuz I hadn't eaten yet)

I'm glad that you had such a good experience with the vet with Merlin and you got some good advice. I think that clipping him at least temporarily was a good idea. It really sounds like for as painful and tragic this whole experience has been, you've really handled it gracefully. You've done everything right, and you've given so much to your birds. Pretty was very lucky to have such a peaceful passing in the loving arms of his momma. I hope that some day you can find comfort in knowing how much you helped and loved him.

*(Laughing out loud)* Oh taht was just too cute!! He flew over to bite you and then flew away... how NAUGHTY!!! But it looks very painful. Baby has left some marks like that on me too, but she hasnt' ever come over to me for the sole purpose of biting. I used to live with an umbrella cockatoo that would do that though. *shudders*

I'm sorry to hear that your little guy isn't improving yet. I'm not sure if I have anything really reassuring to add, other than try to find comfort in knowing you're providing the best care you can for Pippin. I will be honest in what I do have to say though. It is common for budgies to get kidney and testicular tumors, which affect their hind limb functions. I'm not sure of any of the mechanics of it, but my guess would be that the mass might press on nerves and blood vessels to the legs, which would impair the way they work. My vet hasn't told me any of the specifics surrounding them (like he has with respiratory infections), so I could be way off. He did tell me that there's not much that can be done for them though, as they're basically too small to operate on. If Pippin is suffering, he'll do his best not to show it until its really bad. Even though its very difficult, maybe you can feel a little better knowing he's not hurting so much that he IS showing it. I'm not sure if there's any way you make him feel more comfortable. Perhaps putting a little bit of padding on a perch or two might give him a little comfort when he does decide to rest his bad foot on the perch. Be careful not to add so much padding that he can't get his good foot around it. A soft towel works well, and I think a number of people here have padded a little ladder and laid it horizontally across the cage as something soft to stand on (as opposed to have to wrap the entire foot around to perch on). Putting some padding on the floor of the cage would be wise too, in case he falls. I'd also leave a regular perch for him to go to if he prefers. Good luck - you're in my thoughts and I hope he feels better soon!

Wow.... what a sad, sad thing to come home to and read! I've learned a few things about avian medicine with my involvement with my avian vet (I'm interning with him now). Perhaps the guy that saw Pretty was a minimalist when it comes to treating animals - Dr. Larry is for sure - so that could simply be why he didn't want to treat Merlin too. Also, when it comes to antibiotics, some drs don't like to overuse them for fear of contributing to resistance. And not being an avian vet, he very well could not know of the importance of treating resp. infections early. Another thing that he might not have known is how the blood doesn't have a really good exchange deep in bird's lungs, particularly in parakeet sized ones. When an infection gets really deep in the resp. system, getting antibiotics to it through the blood stream isn't the most effective way to do it. Inhalation works better, but even then the passageways are so tiny that the medicine molecules can have a tough time getting deep in there where they're needed, particularly if the lungs are inflamed with a lot of congestion. I learn SO much from my vet its amazing! Its really sad that Pretty was too sick to benefit from the care he did get. He surely didn't die from lack of care or love.... I'm so sorry that he didn't make it.

Baby always took her food dish off and threw it on the floor of her cage so she could forage for the seeds rather than eat them in the cup. Once we created a place for her to forage, she stopped doing it. However, she never dumped her water, so maybe your guys are doing it for a different reason.

Our birds sneeze on occasion, which is normal. Just like us, they sometimes get stuff in their nose and have to get it out. However, the moisture sounds like it could be more than just a little dust or something in the nose. Is he acting differently at all? Resting more or being fluffed up more? Is he quieter or less affectionate than usual? If you notice anything that seems different, I would definitely take him in to get checked over by a vet. If he does have a respiratory issue, it can become VERY hard to treat if it gets into his lungs, so taking him in sooner is much better than later.

She sounds so naughty (in a fun way, of course)! That's great that she's feeling that comfortable in her new home already!

Actually, budgies don't need to eat grit or sand because they hull their seeds before they swallow them. However, as long as the stuff he's eating is clean, I would imagine it wouldn't hurt him.

And tonight, Psyche made the big leap and spent a bunch of time on my finger, hand and arm! I got her to sit on my finger a couple of times. She jumped onto my arm, but when she realized what she did, she flew away *L*. A little later Baby was sitting on my hand eating millet and she hopped a good 6 or 8 inches from a perch to my hand and sat there for quite a while, even after Baby flew away. I'm so proud of her!!!!

I almost had Psyche steppign onto my finger this evening!!! I was luring her across the top of the cage towards the edge (where my finger was oh so slyly lurking) with millet. It took her a little bit, but she finally got to the edge and her feet would touch my finger before she'd back away. She wouldn't really step onto my finger, but she got OOHHhh so close! I think having to do more on her own is actually helping her a little. CUpid is still right there and she spends a lot of time on the perch right next to his cage, but I let her come out more and she's more active and seems to take interacting with me better when she's out. We're learning a lot about each other - she's seeing that I'm not such a scary monster and I'm starting to see the sweet birdie she's been hiding. I'm going to have to see if I should continue Cupid's meds and rest. They seem to be working - his wing is almost in a normal position most of the time. He still preens it a lot, which makes me think its still bothering him a little. And if he gets away from me when I take him out for his meds, the wing goes back up after he flies around a bit. Tomorrow is his last day on the meds already, so we'll see what the dr says. Cupie is remaining nice and hand tame, though he's learning that with my hand comes icky things. I keep trying to feed him millet too though, so he gets some positive reinforcement as well. He's such a sweet, brave little guy.

my glasses attachment is yellow, pale green and gray!

yes, if you take him in, you can probably get some meds to make him feel better. poor little guy!

Hmmmm... sounds like something a vet should check out to me. Rabbits can get ear infections that causes them to tilt their head - it kind of affects their balance. There is an issue in snakes that causes a head tilt as well that is neurological in nature. I don't know if birds can be affected by either of these things, or if it would be something treatable or not, so I'd talk to a vet about it. Also, are his poops normal? Is he as active as usual? These are also indicators of a bird's health. Reading over things again, it occured to me that if the problem only shows up when he tries to move his head to the side, perhaps he has an injury or arthritis or has some other sort of neck or muscular issue.

oh wow.. those are SOOOoooo cute!!! What a personality!

There are several things that can affect feather growth. People have mentioned pulpitis and french molt. There's also Psittacine beak and feather disease where the feathers come in formed wrong. There are also a number of other diseases that can affect feather growth. What happened to last year's clutch? We need some more information about what happened so that we can help you. Pictures would be a big help and what about the parents? Do they have normal feathers?

*(Laughing out loud)* I was thinking about that as I was writing. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. *L* Updates on all fronts will most definitely be coming (socializing Psyche and Cupid's tameness will probably go somewhere else though).

Baby has been run down lately - lethargic and sleepy, puffy and just not herself. So I decided to bring her in before she got really sick. Just a few minutes after I made her appt, Cupid's wing seemed funny. I looked at him and looked at him and something just wasn't right. He was holding his wing out and it was all shaky, and he was favoring the foot of that side too, holding it up and kinda letting it dangle. I knew something was wrong even though I hadn't seen or heard him run into anything this morning. So I called to see if they could see him today. They were going to call the dr in from his lunch break, but I thought Cupie could wait till the available time. We were really worried about how Cupid would react to being at the vet - being handled so much etc. He's just barely finger tame and still prefers to interact with us at a little bit of a distance rather than very much on our hands and stuff like Baby. After flying into the window in the office where they don't go and flapping around in a corner, we got him into the box fairly easily. However, once we took him out at the clinic, he had a little spot of blood above his eye! Poor little guy.... Baby ended up having a lot of debris and inflammation in her cere. It was a surprise because she hasn't been doing any sneezing and there hasn't been any discharge anywhere. We were hoping it was just another feather, but I was SOOO glad that we brought her in now instead of waiting till she was sicker. When respiratory infections get into their lungs, its almost impossible to treat because their airways are so narrow and the lungs don't have as many blood vessels as people's do. I'm sure that this is why when people see that their parakeets have a nose or breathing issue they almost always die. Larger birds have larger airways and can be treated easier. So Baby is now on 2 antibiotics, one orally and drops to put right in her nose. Hopefully we caught it soon enough and the bacteria don't become resistant to the one med in case this has been a chronic thing and actually going on since December when she was sick before. Luckily, I'm starting my internship at the clinic on Monday, so if she isn't getting better it will be very simple to switch to a different one. Cupid is another story. He was a complete angel at the vet and almost literally clung to jared the whole time. It was so sweet! He flew around the room a couple of times, but very readily stepped up for us and went to the vet with little hesitation too. We figured that our work with him at home was something familiar to him in a strange place. I really hope that he'll stay that tame here at home too! So as for what's wrong with him, the vet really couldn't say for sure. His wing was not broken or injured in any way that he could tell. No bruising or swelling and he could obviously fly just fine. He was also hardly putting any weight on the foot of the same side, which really seemed to rule out a lot of things. The only logical explanation is that its something neurological. However, in such a small bird, its almost impossible to diagnose something specific in this case. He thought it might be an inflammation in the spine that is affecting a nerve which controls the limbs, but it would be too tiny to show up on an xray. And they don't do MRIs or cat scans on parakeets either. If it wasn't that, the only other explanation would be some sort of brain injury, like a concussion (but he wasn't showing other signs of that). And there really isn't treatment for that beyond oxygen therapy, which pretty much just gives them strength to heal (and its like 110$ a day!). So Cupid came home with an antiinflammatory in hopes of reducing anything that could be pushing on a nerve and helping with any pain he might be having. He also is resting in a small cage by himself. I'm not sure if this is going to be something he'll have to continue for life, or if its just going to be a one time thing if the meds clear up what's going on. Time will tell. He doesn't seem too uncomfortable other than being confused about the teeny cage he's in and wanting to go home. He's eating and pooping good and since his first dose of stuff, he seems to be holding his wing closer to normal, but not quite all the way. Poor little Psyche doesn't know what to do without her Cupid. I put his cage right next to hers, so they can still be near each other, but she's quite a bit more nervous than she has been lately. She really freaked when we took him out and put him in the little carrier box. We're talking "where are you?" calls like crazy! And she called out a lot when we came home too. I'm hoping that being 'separated' from him will help her gain a little confidence on her own. I've decided that I'm going to start reading to her every day. She's come out of her shell a little bit lately, not retreating to the top back corner when we interact with them and she takes millet more readily too. I just hope this isn't going to be a setback for her and I'm looking at it as an opportunity to work with her more to gain her trust. The next 2 weeks are going to be interesting... giving 3 meds to 2 birds, all for different lengths of time. its going to test my nursing skills! *(Laughing out loud)* But as everyone knows, when faced with something not so pleasant, it helps to look at the positive side. Here's to hoping all 3 will come through this in better shape than before!

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss.... Losing pets can be really tough, particularly when you are attached to them and have had them for a long time. We have a 16 year old budgie and are worried she may be coming to her end too. I've only been around her since June, but have grown quite attached and I'm guessing our other two will miss her when she's gone too. I think that budgies grieve in their own way. They miss their companions and can get depressed just like humans. Watching for the signs like Daz mentioned is a good idea. As far as showing him the body, I've let my pets view their deceased brothers and sisters. Yes, it upsets them, you can tell, but I think it helps them not try to find them anymore. However, I've done this very shortly after their death. I should also mention these were dogs and cats, which very well may respond differently to stress than birds. Since some time has passed since her death, I would not show him her body. Getting Stan a new friend would be a good way to help ease his lonliness for Sadie. I woudn't worry too much about the age difference. Baby was 15 when we got 2 young budgies. It took her some time to warm up to them, but she seems happier with friends. As long as you don't push him to spend time with her, he'd probably enjoy having another bird around. The quarantine is to be sure you're not introducing any diseases to your existing birds. There are diseases that don't show symptoms initially, so it doesn't look like you're getting a sick bird.

awwww.. she's adorable!! Just wait till she gets an entire headfull of pins! They're so funny and pathetic looking. And when the feathers start coming out of the pins, they end up looking like they need to brush their hair.

I love her blue cheek patches against all the gray!