krosp

Hamish, I couldn't feel anything at first, and then on Friday I could just feel a soft mass around the whole area but not necessarily a lump. Not sure what to make of it. Anyway he's doing really badly now :celebrate: His crop is actually smaller than yesterday (could it be because I started him on the sulfa D?) But when I gave him his sulfa this morning, a sticky clear fluid started bubbling out of his throat :rofl: Then a little while later I had a shock as I couldn't see him so I knew he would be on the floor.... which he was, but he was just sitting down there. I got an appointment with the vet for 4:30.. it's the other vet at the clinic so I'm kind of happy about that because a second opinion can't hurt. I think it's probably too late though for much. I could have had an appointment a few hours earlier. But I really want to be able to bring my husband (for moral support and also so he can drive and so I can look after Cosmo in the car). If I really need to I can take him myself it would just be way nicer to have my husband there and also if we have to make any decisions about money I want him to be there.

Man everyone on this forum is so extra lovely :rofl: I've had so many kind offers to mail stuff and now Hamish offering to walk across the bridge on this hot day to the library! Thanks, I really appreciate it. Hamish -- my last thread it actually had nothing much to do with the crop (although he has had a big crop for a while but it was normally just after he ate and it always felt full of seed before so I just thought he was stuffing himself. My previous thread was about a month ago.. He was totally normal, there was no warning, and then suddenly one morning I came and found him kicking his vent with his feet. He had a pooey vent and it was all fluffy and swollen. We took him to the avian vet that day and she said she could feel a lump in the vent, maybe in the testicle. We decided to go on a lucrin treatment and see if it helped. So he had three injections of lucrin, and last Thursday (ie a week and a half ago) was his last one. One week after the first one I saw quite a change, and within a few days after that he was bright and vibrant and seemed so well again. Now a week after finishing the treatment he's swollen up wtih the crop. Originally there was no vent issues, and now today he's gone back to it being swollen and him kicking it. Liv I might try sulfa... the vet did tell me not to last time as she'd done a crop and stool sample and she didn't think there was anything.. but since he's so sick I think I'd rather try something that nothing...

Thanks :bump: really appreciate your help and offer. I'll give pet shops a go tomorrow.... then call up the vet again on Monday. Poor baby :question:

Thanks GenericBlue So.... do you think a lamp is needed when it's 30+ degrees? Do you think probiotics would be in regular pet shops as that's probably all I can get to tomorrow... and if so do you know what name they might be sold under?

oh my goodness how devastating :party0011: :party0011:

We weren't keeping our hopes up too high about Cosmo's health improvement lasting long as he was so so sick last time.... But this time his symptoms have changed. He doesn't have a pooey bottom this time. Now he's just got a crop full of air, it's so huge that his head is on a weird angle :party0011: And he's lost his spark since yesterday. He had been SO much better the last few weeks, chatting and talking and even learning new words. Then suddenly since yesterday he's gone like this. So anyway.... given his previous symptoms a few weeks ago... and that he's just had three weeks of lucrin injections and responded well to it.... does anyone have anything else to recommend that I try over the weekend before taking him back to the vet? Should I put the lamp back on him even though it's really hot weather now? I'm wondering if it's really worth it to fork out the $300 for the blood tests and xrays? If we can only afford either or, which would be better? The main reason we chose not to last time was because the vet indicated that there wasn't a whole lot that could be done for treating most of the things we could have found given that she found a tumour and strongly suspected a cancer. (My previous thread is in this subforum too.)

The beak wasn't close enough to see in detail but I think maybe grey/black/brown... definitely not a colour though Yeah the weird thing was the wings were blue but not the head or anywhere else. I hope I see it again, but it flits around so fast I don't think I'll get a photo

Oh maybe it could be.... I think it had a beak more like a kingfisher though but it was small... maybe not as small as a wren but it did have that wren-like tail bob thing going.

Hmmmm intriguing.. I looked it up on google images and I don't think so. It only had blue wings, not its head... the body was brown. I might try drawing it later.

I saw a bird that I really want to know what it is. I've never seen anything like it. It was a small bird, but I can't say how small as I was pretty far away.. but it was moving very quickly and seemed to be banging something with its beak so I think it catches grubs or something.. It was a pale brown colour all over, but its wings were bright blue. Its tail moved quite a bit too... flicking up and down. I'm in North Brisbane..... any ideas??

:fear grrrrrr photobucket always does that!!! Whenever I have cropped a photo and I request to upload it with the correct size limits, it only pays attention to getting it under 640 but keeps it over 480. What part of 640x480 maximum doesn't it understand!!!! I will try and fix it later if I get time.

GOT IT!!!!!! Had to use flash, as he was swinging quite vigorously and it would be blurry without it.. He does this all the time now. http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u210/kr...headsquish3.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u210/kr...headsquish1.jpg

Thanks Anne. Cosmo has always been a big eater but it's been worse since Piccolo came (I think about 4-5 months since they were first put together). Kate - yes I did try that... he mouthed at them but didn't eat them. I do have a few ideas of how to try next time, but in the meantime I want to make sure I'm doing the best I can with the seed (since Cosmo eats SO MUCH of it lol)

So it seems like most people on here were mostly using baking soda and salt and boiling water.... but someone mentioned vinegar too. They're all such disgusting tasting things, but it's good to know they aren't harmful to budgies

Thanks

Well I am getting quite confused. I give my birds vegetables every day, but they still eat a lot of seed. It has got worse since getting Piccolo... because he is a lot smaller and needs to eat more often, but the two of them never eat alone, if one eats the other always goes to eat too. So now Cosmo is eating more often than he used to (copying Piccolo) and he eats heaps every time. He is very heavy (53g, Piccolo is only 35g) and looks quite solid. When he got sick recently and we took him to the avian vet, she said he should go on pellets. I bought some and they didn't take to them, and I read more on here and decided I don't think I want to. I would like to wait until the new year and try to get them to accept pellets so I can at least get the use out of the ones we've got, but I don't want it to replace seed. But I think something needs to change. The vet warned me that seeds are oily and full of carbs and are an unbalanced diet and related to all kinds of health risks... although they do eat veggies too and some fruit, I am certain Cosmo is eating too much seed. I've browsed through a lot of threads already about seed but I would like some specific questions answered......... - Are there any good websites that have a photo of each budgie seed type and explain whether they are nutritious or fatty? - Is there such thing as a "bad seed" in terms of it being less healthy? - Is there a certain seed ratio that is recommended and how can I get my head around remembering what it is and how to make sure it's right? - What should I do next? I use trill and am more than happy to get off it onto something else. But I haven't been able to find anything - can't find Golden Cob anywhere and I don't have a pet shop in my local shopping centre so every time I walk past pet shops I go and look, but they only have their own mixes in a plastic bag without any brand name or description. Without me having a detailed knowledge of which seed is which, I can't evaluate their seed mixes. - Is there anything else I can do to help Cosmo with his overeating/weight? He's still fairly active, not sure how I could possibly get him exercising more. I live on Brisbane's north side, if anyone knows of a good place to get a good seed mixture please let me know. Thanks!

What is the safest and most effective thing to use to clean out the cage and especially their water dish?

nawww :emoticon112: I have a real soft spot for ones that are mostly white with a blue belly Although I have never had one myself lol. They're adorable, I hope it all comes through this time and I'm glad that you have found a reliable breeder!

I could try but I think if I did that, it'd have the cage in focus not the bird... I guess I'll leave my camera near the cage and see what I can do

Good idea, just a shame that it won't be clear, because I don't think he'll do it with the cage door open. Maybe I will need to house the camera right near the cage so we never have to run too far to capture it.

Piccolo has been doing the most hilarious thing! And I can't get a photo because he stops doing it as soon as I get close.. and even if I was close it would be through the bars of the cage He gets on his swing. One leg in the middle of the swing, the other leg is on the side of the swing. Then he squishes his head into the corner and stands there upside down with his head squished, for quite some time. It looks so funny!

If GB was near me I would buy one of her birds in a flash - scratch the pet shop idea

I'm glad to hear that because I really felt uncomfortable with it too. They were so hungry yesterday I couldn't stand it anymore and put a small amount of seed on my hand, which Cosmo just sprung upon and wolfed down in no time. So today I have given them their usual amount of seed (mixed with the pellets, simply because the pellets were still in their seed dishes and I didn't want to tip them all out). He did mouth at the pellets a lot yesterday but I only saw him chewing up one of them and I don't think he ate any. Piccolo wouldn't even stay on the food dish with pellets. A bonus is that they seemed to eat a lot more of their veggies than they would have normally.... but I am taking everyone's advice to leave the conversion for a couple more weeks.

His cere was mostly normal but a little bit darker purple down the bottom than it should be when we first took him to the vet two Fridays ago. Last Thursday when we took him for his second lucrin injection, I noticed that it had got quite brown and flaky down the whole bottom part. Now most of that brown crusty layer has gone, except for a little patch right in the middle.. and underneath it seems to be back to the similar bluey/purple colour it was before. It's hard to tell though because the changes are quite subtle. Montie I'm so sorry to hear that Sunny isn't improving as much as Cosmo has I hope he gets better too.

Thanks Kaz.... that is good to know. I just want him to be healthy, I'm not too keen on pellets either, especially having only pellets... although it would be nice if they recognised them as food so they could eat them if I did include them in with other stuff.