coffeegirl

I did notice on the wings, each side, had one feather that looked red and missing bits, like something had been feeding off it. But it looked minor. I dont think it had been there long and the bird was down in the dumps prior to this I think and from what I read, that makes them perfect prey for a flat fly. Apparently once they find their perfect host, they actually loose their wings!!! ugh shudder .. makes me shiver at the thought of this creepy black thing living on the bird. She's still inside. Will just see how she goes. I have her in the laundry, not much of a life shut in a laundry all day though. I dont think my others look like scaley face either .. if it was, surely it would extend past the cere, but it's only the cere effected. The rest of them looks pretty good?

okay thanks, I have been meaning to do this for a while to find out what's going on so here they are ... note the green budgie seems to of cleared up. I dont know what to do with the all white bird, this is the one that had the fly on it. The day after I posted, I came outside and found it on the bottom of the aviary covered in gunk. I had cleaned up the night before and obviously she had fallen down and not been able to get up and the remnants of the cleanup had dried on her. It was really hot, so I bought her inside and after a day she bounced back and cleaned herself up. Kept her in for a week and she regained strength and looked good. Put her back in the aviary and today she keeps falling down. Right after I took these photos I heard plonk onto the bottom of the aviary, so I have put her in a cage again. Problem being I have a (bird hungry) cat inside so trying to work out how to manage a caged bird and a cat. I just dont think she is suited to the aviary. She was good as gold after being in the cage for that week. Also they are all hens aren't they? I have a chronic egg layer, I suspect is the green one. I'm wondering if I have a vitamin deficiency going on with the beaks. They are mostly seed fed. Put other stuff in there but just dont seem to eat it so I dont bother so much anymore. I buy Trill brand. They have a vitamin bell.

Thanks I will try pick some up. I just did a Google on it actually and found a good YouTube video showing photos. I think what my hens have is hyperkeratosis rather than scalyface. Would it be normal for most of my birds to have this same condition though? I have 5 budgies. One of them had this horn like cere but it's now gone and nice and smooth. The others are all very similar to this photo http://www.birds-online.de/gesundheit/gesallgemein/wsanatwachshaut_en.htm

Thanks, yeh did a bit of research and it was one of those pigeon flys. Yuk. This budgie is very quiet all the time, doesn't chirp or mix with the other birds. Has always been like that, when I got it I wondered if it was a tame bird that had been an inside pet because it's not as feisty as the others and lets you catch it easily without biting but I wonder if something is wrong with her. I read those flies are more likely to visit weaker birds. Disgusting! So creepy the way they dart about. Anywhere you can get ivermectin to the do the job without vet consult or is that still difficult to come by?

Hi, my budgies (5x outside aviary) have not been looking a picture of heath lately. I dosed them about 4 & 6 weeks ago with the mite stuff I got from the Bird Vet last time I was there, he commented one had some type of mite. I was instructed to put a few drops on their neck. The ceres on them all look crusty. I am now out of the stuff from the Vet, so to keep up maintenance I bought some AristoPet Bird & Mite spray and sprayed them today. I noticed looking up to my all white budgie I could see something black under the feathers between it's wings on it's back. So I caught it to see what was there and to my surprise it was a huge fast bug. Every time I tried to get it or flick it off, it burrowed deep under more feathers. yuk it was completely gross. Very fast moving and took some effort to get rid of as it seemed to get a good grip and hide itself among feathers. It's only downfall was easy to see being on an all white bird. It was the size of a small fly !!!!!!. It was black and when it fell to the bottom of the aviary I noticed it jumped about. I am so creped out, I thought bird insects were small and tiny, difficult to see. I am really scared others may be living on my other birds just not as noticeable. Any ideas what it was? I have tried Googling but not much comes up.??

That's okay, thank you. She was an old bird I guess and had to die of something. I wish I had taken her sooner though as she probably could of been put to sleep earlier to avoid suffering. The Vet said she went off to sleep extremely quickly and I bought her home and buried her.

Hi, just thought I'd do an update on this in case others have the same thing and stumble on this thread. Turns out my bird had a type of cancer. I'm glad I trusted my instinct that it looked extremely painful and didn't go poking or prodding at it. It wasn't healing and kept bleeding at the slightest knock. The appearance of the wound had deteriorated rapidly. The Vet (avian) felt she would of been in pain and I couldn't leave her the way she was. He offered euthanasia or an amputation but at her age it just didn't make sense so I had her put to sleep :bluebudgie::angel:

Hi again, I need some more advice. I'm still having problems and it seems worse. I salted and used Betadine a few times around the time I last posted and all seemed well within a few days things were healing up, dried up and looking promising. But since then it's like it doesn't heal completely. I have left her for a few weeks but caught her today as she wasn't looking too good again. There was a huge scab which fell off today when I washed/salted it again. Then put more betadine. All the bleeding seems to of started up if it gets knocked or touched. There is more pus there too. I am so reluctant to put pressure because it looks so painful. She keeps preening it, so it bleeds more. Her face is covered in blood as are her wings. I'm really not sure what to do with her. Is this something she should be euthanased for esp given her age? It looks so sore. She cant fly and when she attempts goes crashing to the bottom of the aviary. I have bought her inside now in a cage and she seems happy enough, I can at least watch her more closely for a few days and perhaps try salt and betadine twice a day for a few days and see if we can get it back to drying up and healing like last time? Do you think it's reasonable to give her a week or two and then if we are still having problems to have her put to sleep? It must be painful? She is missing feathers, there is a gap between her body and wing feather and it's hanging a bit, so it gets caught on perches etc. so this probably doesn't help healing.

The lady at the petstore told me it's best to have an aviary facing where the sun rises rather than where it sets. Apparently where it sets they can get a chill from the late afternoon air. Not sure if there's any truth to that but mine faces east with the back of the aviary bang up against the house brick wall so fairly protected. In previous years I have got some shadecloth and hung it over at least half of the exposed part of the aviary in Winter just to help keep wind and rain out. I also put in some boxes, even though I dont breed with mine. I notice my tiels sitting on the ledge of the boxes of an evening half in and half out. I'm in Melbourne and averages around 4degrees overnight according to my weather station. Fingers crossed I've never lost a bird yet.

lol okay preening. I remembered I also had some Neotopic cream which is an antibiotic which I was given for the dog's wound and also the guinea pigs/rabbits.Would this be safe to use this stuff on birds? It's a few years out of date though. A Vet once told me out of date didn't really matter, it meant it may not be as effective? Otherwise I will just get some of the other things you mentioned which sound easy options. Thanks heaps. I am so scared to put pressure on the wing though, it looks like there isn't much of the wing with all that gunk and blood I imagine it would be painfully sore. There was a fresh lot of blood after I cleaned her up today, I think she preens it and probably starts the bleeding up again.

Well I've given her a two salt baths and it already seems to be looking cleaner. I caught her yesterday and it looked like a fresh clot of blood there. She is looking quite naked in the area, I think there are a few broken and missing feathers. It also looks like on her body where the wound touches she has some issues but I noticed her pruning in there the other day. I'll have to keep an eye on that. I couldn't get any antibiotics over the counter at the pet supply? I thought you'd be able to get something like that for birds but aparently not. She also has a leg issue going on, bit of lameness with the back claws pushed forward so on that leg she seems to rest on the perch rather than grasp it. I think I'll just salt the wing a few more times and keep an eye on her, I noticed some cheesy gunk today.. She does seem happy enough and is very easy to catch given she cant fly but I know they can mask their unhappiness, so will just see how she goes.

okay thank you. I'll give it a shot and see how I go.

oh I was reading this the other day actually and wondered. On this wing in the past she has had growths which resemble a piece of corn. In this spot too. You notice them every now and then sticking out. But it's not there anymore. hhhmmm yes makes sense I should of realized the connection. She has always had these funny growths appear in that spot, they come and go. She has never really been able to fly. It has never ever looked like this though so something has happened to create the bleeding. Maybe it burst or got infected? So given her age and current condition what should I do? She is managing okay, eating and otherwise normal and her breastbone feels fine. Should I just leave her be and keep an eye on her. ? I do have an Avian Vet if necessary but it doesn't sound like they can do much, esp with her age and reinsurance anyway I wouldn't see the point. Thank you for your help.

Hi all, I noticed a few times over the past month fresh blood appear in the aviary. Last weekend I noticed this budgie had some blood on her wing feathers so I caught her and this is the mess under her wing. I wondered if it's a blood feather but with the mess I just am too scared to go pulling any feathers in case it's something else. It looks like bits of scabby skin??? I really cant make it out. She is quite old, I'd say 12 years+. Any ideas? Should I try cleaning it up?

Hi Michelle, I know this is an old thread but I saw this picture of another aviary and thought of your problem. Perhaps for the moment a safety precaution would be to hang some shade cloth on the inside of the door, similar to how this person has done it ... http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=30198

...it has a base, galvanized iron. It originally didn't come with anything and it was on concrete pavers but I was having mice/rat problems so DH put the base on it. But I dont put a topping or anything on the base, it's just the plain iron. Thanks for all your replies, very helpful. The aviary is 6 ft long, 2ft wide and 5 ft high at the lowest point and about 7 ft high in the dome. I have 2 tiels and 1 budgie. I would like to get more budgies though. I had a bit of a clean out today with branches and it's much more roomy in there for them. I just hate getting in there, my budgie is very elderly and cant really fly so it stressed her out a bit me being there, she'd be okay but the tiels get all flighty. My aviary looks like this http://farm5.static...._78553ed6c7.jpg but the back wall is completely enclosed and the door area a bit different. I really want a new aviary but they are very expensive so we have thought about building something or hubby suggested he might be able to extend the existing aviary. Other than a passing comment that's all the info I have. I wonder if we could increase the depth by detaching the back wall and inserting some extra sides and flat roof. Here's a picture of the new indoor budgie. Thanks again

Hi all, old user but haven't posted much. Have had budgies on and off most of my life but mostly outdoor aviary. This week we have a new baby budgie who is living indoors with us for now. I wondered if she was opaline but cant seem to upload an image to show her off. She looks quite like the bird at the top left of this forum, mostly yellow with splashes of blue and a blue V between her wings at the back. I did get her for the aviary as I currently only have 2 tiels and 1 budgie (1 recently passed) but my DD and I have talked of having an indoor bird for a while so we'll see how it goes with training and if she is happy living inside. So far she seems a real sweetie and unlike my aviary birds which are very flighty so she might be more suited to indoors. Which means I really need to go and buy another budgie for the aviary!!. My budgie out there is so old but she would be better with company wouldn't she? The other bird that died was quite young (1-2yr max) and when I put her in, they seemed to bond fairly quickly after a few initial squabbles. That's normal isn't it for a bit of bitching to go on the first day or two when you introduce a new bird? And what about the budgie I have inside, shouldn't she have a mate? I think I read if you want to train them they should be alone but I feel bad depriving her of company. Can indoor caged and trained birds adapt to aviary life down the track if we decide she would be better there? I was reading the 'whats on the bottom of your cage' thread on this forum. I just have newspaper for now until I could get some sand sheets, but sounds like the sand is worth giving a fat miss, so will stick with the newspaper. The cage I have doesn't seem to have a grate. It's probably somewhere as the cage has just been in storage under the house for years and the two must of been separated at some point. What's the purpose of the grates? Most of you seem to be using them so wondering if I should try find it ?? My aviary, I am always unsure about what to put at the bottom. Currently has nothing which is very sterile looking. As it can sometimes get wet, it needs to be something that will survive water. The petstore recommended shavings but they would last 5 minutes not to mention be a pain to clean out as the aviary is difficult to clean, I normally just hose it. Getting in there with a shovel is not an easy task due to it's size 2' wide. Any suggestions? What about mulch ? Is that safe? I wanted to ask how you find local people who sell budgies? I am not into breeding and whenever I want to buy one I do a quick google but never seem to see much and end up buying from the petshop which I dont like to do. Also what sort of plants / pots do people put in their aviaries? I dont normally put fresh tree branches with leaves, but the other day put a gum branch in and got me thinking I really should have some leaf in there and wondered if potted things were the way to go or am I just better getting a new branch on a regular basis. Are gums the best choice? I also have an apple tree. I'm also curious about aviary perches. I have a 6'x2' aviary with half of it dome. I seem to have lots of perches (gum tree sticks) in all directions which really cuts down any flying space. Am I better keeping perches to a minimum, bearing in mind I have the tiels which have a much larger wingspan. I really dont like my aviary because it's not big enough for them to fly. It's difficult to get into and maneuver myself around and impossible to clean. Should I perhaps just have 2 perches in the dome area (which they spend most of their time) with a swing and at the other end I have a shelf and maybe another perch and then ditch the rest? It just looks so bare anyway but if I start adding a regular fresh gum branch it might liven things up.? Thanks :-)

what a sweetie she is I'm so pleased she found a new home. It sounds like it's been hotter in Adelaide than Melbourne. We have been sweltering here but it sounds so much worse over there. Tough for the animals in the heat.

what a great thread. I was about to go out and buy some new perches like Bea made but instead I'm heading to the hardware store to get the bolts and stuff. Those perches are really exxy from the petstores! Actually I have an old had it perch I bought a while ago I am going to pull apart for the hardware off it!

great setup. that mob picture is awesome. You should send that into the Herald Sunday Sun pet section.

god I dont know which story is more disturbing. As if you would pick up a nest of birds and take it to a petstore. Have these people not heard of a telephone to ring around and ask for advice far out, that is just bizarre. People really are stoopid.

We have had such a hot spell the past week or two in Vic. My birds were really heat stressed by early AM. Our aviary didn't have much shade and full arvo sun. The tin roof gives them shade and I have shadecloth over the open area but in full sun it is still way too hot. AFter the first day of hot weather we recloated it to the side of the house so now early AM it gets filtered light thru trees and by about 11am in full shade from house. Much better spot for Summer but Spring & Auturmn probably better in the other spot so they get those nice sunny days. We just moved it with a trolley. To keep them cool I am misting them with the hose, changing water and I put a big beach umbrella over the top of the aviary and wet the underneath of it. Adds extra shade and the cool from it drips down.

Thank you for rescuing them and taking care of them.

okay thanks all. Tonight though after I posted, I went out there and everyone was obviously hungry, the budgies had worked it out (it is big enough for them, I got the large size) and the tiels were also managing to get food from it. I let them continue to discover it for another 15 or so minutes, then I put the tiel saucer back in. In the petstore the aviaries all have them and the budgies and tiels are eating from them. I will go and check it out again and take better notice of styles and sizes they are using and watch the birds a bit to see how they get on. They are a really good design, keeps everything dry and because they take seed then take their head out, no husks get in with the fresh seed. Some of them can be quite small for the finch size birds but you can get larger ones. I'd say mine is suitable for budgie size, but not tiel size. But because I have perches going right up to it, near/next to it they can just sit on there and get seed without actually getting on it.

I have an aviary with 2 budgies and 2 tiels. I have always had an external feeder contraption which I hated from the minute I bought it, it's useless but the theory is the seed sits on the outside of the aviary and the feeder part is on the inside and the seed shall fall through (gravity). Hopeless, cost me over $60 and big waste of money. I used to have the budgie seed in this. It required me going and scooping and constantly 'encouraging' down new seed, scooping out old seed from the dispenser. The seed would also get wet when it rained. We have a ledge in the aviary and in a large plastic potplant saucer I always have the tiel seed here. [/size] All birds share seed. I often see the tiels eating budgie seed and visa versa. So I finally find a new contraption to replace my budgie feeder. Love it, ideal. I see them using in in the petstore and all the birds happily go to the feeder and feed away. Even the tiels use it up the petshop aviary. Bliss! So I buy one myself. Only trouble is my birds wont have a bar of it. It's been in there few weeks now, they wont use it. In that time I have removed the old budgie seed dispenser. I have enticed them to the new one making sure lots of perches go to it, hung lettuce and nice things off the dispenser. I have also removed the tiel seed so the only seed available in the aviary is the new one. There are perches nearby so that they dont even have to sit on the feeder, they can stay put on the perch and be able to reach the seed. But they STILL wont use it and after a day or two I end up putting back in the tiel saucer as I'm worried they'll die of starvation.!! Then I try again. I know they aren't using it because there are no budgie seed husks anywhere and the seed is at the same level I started with. This is similar to the dispenser I have (slightly different) but the birds put their heads inside the hole to get the seed http://www.wraith.sf.ca.us/agfa/bird-feeder.jpg http://www.amazon.com/Audubon-NATUBE12-AUD...75&sr=1-183 What else can I do ??