Gomanda

Thank you all for your kind words - I think for now I'll stick to my two cats I enjoyed having Frankie and Ollie, we always had budgies when I was a kid but these two were the only hand-tame ones I've had - and they definitely had personality!!!

Hi All Just wanted to thank everyone who has given me advice and support over the past couple of months - I'm afraid that both my budgies have gone now. Frankie was put down on Friday night. She kept laying eggs and she was very swollen and sore. The vet said short of an op to remove her reproductive organs there was nothing more we could do to stop the egg laying and egg binding. So thanks again. Regards Amanda

Frankie was at the Avian vet this week with Ollie - he wasn't concerned about the marks above her head but he also didn't tell me what they were - he was more concerned about Ollie and Ollie didn't have the dreaded P word - he had a brain tumor I just wanted advice from you guys without having to take her back to the vet Her poos are normal and she's behaving normally. She loves the new mirror but it hasn't stopped her harrasing me when I go near her cage - as soon as she sees me she'll run or fly to where I am standing and chirp at me and talk to me - and as soon as she comes out the cage she flys right to my should where she insists on playing with my hair and t-shirt collar!!Her breathing is definitely clear and yes her eyes are bright - so I'll try not to worry - I now she's an OLD bird as the vet said but hopefully she'll be around for a little while yet!I just had a thought - you said the stain almost looked like dried blood - the vet nurse told me that Frankie was really mean to Ollie in the hours before they put him to sleep - I'd hate to think that she could have seriously hurt him, but maybe it could be Ollie's blood???? They assured me that Ollie was on so much pain medication that he wouldn't have suffered but that Frankie constantly harrased him - I don't know why they didn't put her in a cage next to his incubator rather than leave her in with him!!! Budgies can be very nasty when one of them are sick - Ollie did the same thing to Frankie when she was egg bound - then as soon as she was better he was all over her like a rash.

She's seems healthy enough - I've got her liquid calcium (which I've seen her drink) and I've been crushing up egg shells (I haven't seen her eat these but I'll keep giving them to her) and since she'd too old to get a new friend I bought her a mirror so that she doesn't get depressed and lonely since Ollie died. She's in there chirping away to herself now Hopefully the brown feathers go away because it doesn't look pretty - as long as I know it's not some sign of a terrible illness!!! Once again the forum has helped - thank you all!

I hope so She seems happy - apart from when I was trying to take the picture!

The cage is still quite new - so there's no rust. There is nothing in the cage that is brown at all. To start with she was tucking into some mineral blocks but they were pink/red. So while she was eating the block her feathers were a reddy colour on the top of her head - but she hasn't had one of those blocks for over 3 weeks, and the brown is more noticeable to me now. Or maybe I'm just paranoid that she's going to get sick and die too??

Hi All After having a $250 vet bill this week for poor Ollie who didn't make it I can't afford to take my other budgie Frankie back to the vet - she went to the vet earlier this week with Ollie to have a check up and all they said that was wrong with her was her calcium levels due to laying a number of eggs lately. She had some brown discolouration above her nose at the time but since her breathing was fine and her nose and eyes were clear the vet said he wasn't too concerned about it. He said that she was looking good for a bird her age Here is a picture: http://s275.photobucket.com/albums/jj296/g...18New0001-1.jpg Can any help with what has caused this??

Hi All I'm afraid Ollie started having seizures today and the vet said he was 99% sure it was a brain tumour - they tried different drugs but he started twitching constantly. They said he'd probably have another big seizure and not make it so I got them to put him down instead. I couldn't stand to think of him in pain - although they assured me he was on pain medication. I'm off across to the other side of Auckland to pick him and Frankie up now. As the vet said - I won't have to worry about Frankie laying any more eggs either. Thanks for all your help and support. I'm still a bit shocked about Ollie as he was so fit and healthy - if anything I thought I'd loose Frankie :hap:

Thank you and yes I am really worried - it's horrible seeing the empty cage tonight. The vet said that he's such a lovely bird with such a nice nature that he'll try his best to save him. Both my babies are so friendly and tame - I put it so much time to get them to where they are

The Avian vet I went to today - the reasons are on the topic I started was also shocked about how the local vet treated or I should say MIS-treated my baby. He said she is still very tender and swollen around the vent - which isn't at all surprising!!!

An update - well my girl Frankie seems to be responding well to all the calcium - I've seen her drinking the liquid calcium and she doesn't seem to mind the crushed egg shells - BUT - and it's a BIG but - I've been so focused on her and her problems I didn't notice that my boy was having problems. On Saturday he just didn't seem himself - and I didn't see him eating all week-end. He was mainly looking depressed over the week-end and he seemed a little 'groggy' when he walked. I took him (and Frankie) to an Avian vet today (the only Avian specialist in Auckland!)and he thinks that Ollie has a brain tumour!! He's pretty sure that Ollie is either going blind or is blind in his left eye and that would be caused by the tumour. He's kept both my babies - Frankie as company/comfort to Ollie and Ollie to force fed and pump anti-biotics into. If he gets better then it is just an infection of some sort - maybe an inner ear infection. But the vet said he didn't think Ollie had a run of the mill problem and that he probably wouldn't make it. He said that Frankie was looking good - for her age....and that we may not need to worry about her egg binding and laying situation as she'll probably be on her own shortly :bluebudgie:

Hiya My girl was egg bound and I didn't know what to do - so I took her to the local vet - to start with they told me she wasn't egg bound but after poking and prodding her they agreed she was in fact egg bound. They then forced the egg out which caused her to bleed really badly. I didn't think she was going to make it through the night. Someone suggested I contact a local woman called 'the bird lady' she is part of bird wing and the SPCA over here refers most of the injured birds in the Auckland region to her. I discovered that there are very few vets who actually know very much about birds and that the vet who treated my bird did everything wrong and I was very lucky that she didn't bleed to death. The bird lady told me that if it happened again to do the olive oil treatment and then to put the bird on top of a hot water bottle for a short time and that they should deliver the egg easily themselves. She said that my poor girl basically had the equivalent of an episiotomy and forceps delivery! Luckily the last two eggs that she's delivered she has done on her own. So although it may be an old treatment it's still recommended.

I'll buy some liquid calcium tomorrow The cage has two cuttlefish and a calcium stick in it but she doesn't seem to be touching them at the moment. I'll also try crushing up some egg shells over the week-end as well.

Well she's laid a third egg, this one was soft but had a yolk - I've been reading through a lot of the other posts and my bird has also plucked her own feathers around her vent. I keep telling her not to lay anymore but I don't think she's listening!!!

Hi All My girl laid another egg last night - it is fully formed but light as a feather so obviously hollow. At least this time she didn't need any help. She seems to have coped well with laying the egg but this afternoon one of her eyes doesn't look right. I know that budgies have three eye lids and it's like she's keeping one of them closed. She can open the eye and it looks the same as the other but she keeps closing the eye lid. Any ideas??

I hope so! I don't want her to go through that again. I don't know how you all do this all the time - I was a wreck watching her so stressed and unhappy.

Thank you for you help - i'll clean the cage out and move everything around tonight! And yes she is a real character!!! I thought I was going to loose her after she'd been to the vet as she bled quite a lot when I got her home - she spent almost a week in the hot water cupboard in a small box and she slowly came right - thank goodness!! They are both hand tame and very friendly - she also loves to dance to music and she lets you know when she wants to come out the cage!!!

I'll try that - but why would she suddenly lay an egg after being with him for 5 years?? There has always been paper/sand sheets in the bottom - I'll also try taking the silver feed dish out as that's the only other thing I can think of - again that's been there for years as well - and I have to peg it down because my little girl has a real attitude - she loves to tip things over and when she comes out the cage (I let them out for half an hour every day) she pulls books and toys off the book shelf in my son's room - she also likes to tease the cat by walking up and down the window sill!

I read through some instructions - so hopefully this works! http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj296/g...0315New0016.jpg http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj296/g...0315New0013.jpg

Here is a picture of their cage - it's been basically the same for the past 5 years - I've just added new calcium perches etc when they get through them...sorry I can't seem to add the pictures - it won't let me copy and paste them in - any suggestions - sorry it's the first time I've posted a topic

Hi All - I need help! I have two budgies, the female is approx 6 years old and the male 5 years old. They have been in the same cage for the past 5 years. Five weeks ago the female didn't look well and I suspected she was egg bound although I had never seen this before. I didn't know what to do so I took her to the vet. They forced the egg out and told me to take her home and to put her back in the with the male for company. Luckily I spoke to a lady near where I live who rescues birds and she told me to put them in seperate cages for a few weeks to let her heal and she even loaned me a cage. Now my girl is all better and back in with the male but I want to know if I can prevent this from happening again. I thought and was told that they wouldn't lay eggs/have babies unless they had a nesting box. They don't have a nesting box!! They have been in the cage together for the past few days and the female is tucking in to the cuttlefish again (something she did a week or so before she tried to lay her egg). What can I do? We only have a small flat and I don't have the room for two cages permanently and I don't want her to have to go through this again if possible :ygbudgie: