Carmen

Thinking of names for him, I have come up with two so far. The first, which is simplest to explain, is Indiana (Indy) for short since he is so inquisitive and likes to check everything out. The second, Kalium (Kal or Kallie for short) pays homage to his parents Blue and Flame. Kalium is the latin name for the element Potassium. Potassium, when ignited, produces a blue flame. That, and its cute

We DO! Introducing the newest addition to my flock, a gorgeous little boy courtesy of AV's budgies Blue and Flame! He is just a beautiful little boy, and even having him for only one day has made my home feel fuller again after having lost Chomp a couple of weeks ago. Everyone in the house has fallen in love with him already, I have been getting emails from boyfriend and housemate to see how he was this morning. I havent named the little one yet, he is so small and cute, I am trying to find something that captures his inquisitive personality perfectly. Thank you so much to AV for trusting me with this precious little guy, it was lovely to meet her and her friends and family, as well as her other fids!

Put an office lamp next to his cage with a 40W light globe if you dont have a heat lamp.

Its a disease caused by a large gram positive microorganism which acts more like a fungus than a bacteria, the best treatment for it is amphotericin B. Most birds have it, and it often flares up when birds are stressed or another infection pops up. I think it is transmitted from mouth to mouth contact between birds, and probably through water also. The best thing would be to get their poop tested for macros and bacteria.

Could it be Megabacteriosis? The wasting you've seen in your bird, and the watery/bloody poo might be an indication of that.

Great! I am thinking of getting the compact bulb as an overhead lamp for my birds. How many hours a day do you give them with the light on Renee?

Renee, I take it you use the Arcadia lamp? Do you use the compact version or the tube version? Are you finding an improvement in your budgies? Lessening of disease?

Yay! Their lives will be so much better now, poor things must have been so miserable before!

Depending on how far away you are from the light, it is doubtful you would be affected by the light at all. The amount of light detected using a UV-B monitor decreases exponentially as you move away from the light - which is why it is recommended that the animals the light is used for is a minimum of x distance from the birds (depending on the brand of bulb and the animal in question). The small amount of research I have done also suggests that it is important to select a bulb that emits light above 295nm, as ones that emit lower frequencies have been associated with photo-kerato-conjunctivitis in birds and reptiles. There are also reports of budgerigars becoming quite distressed when housed in close proximity to fluorescent bulbs (although this person may have been using a research type UV-B blacklight). This information was found here: http://www.aavac.com.au/birdmed/avian_lighting.pdf (a discussion between animal health professionals from AAVAC). Basically I wouldnt go putting any old UV-B emitting light in a cage with birds unless you know other people have done it with that particular brand and model of bulb with success and without harm to the birds in question. The Arcadia bulbs have been used by members here with success (so I understand?). While Don Burke uses the Sylvania Reptistar tubes, we must remember he has a very large aviary, and the birds are able to move away from it as they wish - might not be quite so practical for a smaller cage or room.

Hey there, how is everything going with the budgies? Have they been taking good care of them? You've done such a great job getting the birds better, you should be very proud of yourself!

Poor little Lou Lou, he sounds like a real sweety and would flourish with the right owner.

Hi Pearce, I am not a breeder and am a budgie beginner at best, but I read this article and it reminded me of some of the problems (with feathers falling out etc) that you had mentioned here. http://www.buybudgies.com/site/index.php?o...tent&id=106 Very interesting, hope it is useful to you.

Good on you for rescuing that bird, good karma will come to you! Some people just make you sick dont they? Cant even understand it.

Oh thats not fair Explain to them the care and effort that will go into her care while she is unwell, and perhaps offer to get them another bird like Kaz said.

Aww what a beautiful little baby! Good on you for taking her in, you are going to make a beautiful little friend out of all this! If I were you I would take her to a vet for a full check up before you introduce her to your flock, get her tested for trichomoniasis, psittacosis and other bacterial infections like megabacteriosis.

That is damn cute. What a delightful little guy you have there Did you keep whatever it was he may have painted with his feet?

Thanks Krosp Took Jimmy back in to the vet last night. She had a look at the feathers above his cere and said theres no discolouration going on there, and that its possible he was just sneezing because something got up his nose as happens to you or I at any time. She said that its okay that I brought him in, she said she understands that I would be on edge with everything that the Chomper went through and its always safest to check. Instead of having our appointment on the 30th to check for trich, she thought it might be a better idea to just medicate him with both Baytril and ronidazole, one to make sure he doesnt come down with the bacterial infection Chomp ended up with just before he died, and the other to make sure we wipe out any trace of trich. So what I have to do now, is give him 0.2mL of Baytril to the beak twice a day, which he HATES. I end up chasing him around the cage until I manage to corner him at the bottom, pick him up, put him in a box where he squarks and squarks so that I can reposition my hands to hold him correctly to get the medicine in his mouth, the get him back in his cage, where he runs away from me to the furthest part of the cage! Poor little boy, we have to do this day and night for 6 days! He also gets 1/4 teaspoon of ronidazole dissolved in 500mL of water everyday for 5 days, then we will give him 2 weeks off, then another 5 days on. As long as everything looks okay with Jimmy, we can wait a month and then take him back in for a crop wash and fecal test to make sure there are no signs of macrorhabdus or trichomoniasis. He is also going through a terribly heavy moult, poor little guy, he has been through so much stress - being moved from cage to cage, no longer having Chomp around, moulting and now all this handling and medicine.

I hope so! We have become rather a lot closer over the last few days, he watches everything I do when I come into the room. Likes watching knitting and what I'm doing on my laptop, so hopefully he will forgive me sooner rather than later! Found out today he doesnt like the NZ lady on the Thin Lizzy ad. Whenever she is on TV, he cracks it!

I'll check out the pet store for them AV, sounds like a good idea. I called the vet and she is concerned, and wants to see Jim tonight. Poor little guy, he has been grabbed out of his cage so many times the last few days, he is never going to trust my hands again.

Thanks Boris Slave, he was a good little bird and deserved no less! Buried him last night, in a pretty place with lots of trees and other birds to keep him company. While I do feel a sense of relief from all the grief of the last week, I feel positively nauseated today. And I have seen Jim (his cagemate) sneeze a few times the last few days, so I am cautious. I will probably call the vet today and let her know about it, she told me if I notice anything odd with Jim not to hesitate to call or bring him in. Hopefully its nothing, but I'm so spooked from this week and what poor Chomper went through that I dont want to take any chances!

:rofl: Thanks so much AV, I think that sounds great.

Hi everyone, thanks very much for your lovely comments and thoughts. Just picked up Chomp, it was lovely how respectfully he was treated after he passed. He was brought to me wrapped in fabric, with his name surrounded in little glittery hearts. I spoke to the vet, she is a lovely woman, told me she was sorry they couldnt get him through the illness especially since we had done everything right, but just didnt pick it up when he came in for his first check up. She gave me a hug after booking in my other budgie for a second consultation to make sure he doesnt have any infection after having been treated when Chomp got sick. We will wait till Jim (my other budgie) gets the all clear (he has an appointment on the 30th), then look into getting him another friend and get him in quarantine - I dont want Jim to be alone. He is very bright and bubbly though, chattering away on his perch. He should be alright, and I will give him lots of extra love and attention to make sure.

Thanks everyone. Just looking though some photos I have of him, wish I had more. AV, thank you so much. I probably wont wait too long, I will have a talk with my vet about what is best for Jim, then get another little one in quarantine so he has some company sooner and doesnt get lonely. I dont like leaving him on his own when I work full time, I have been feeling dreadful about it even when Chomp was in the vet.

Hi everyone. Thank you all for your thoughts and well wishes in these past few days. I called up at 5:30 to find out that Chomp had passed away just a little while before. I will go in tomorrow morning to take him home, and bury him somewhere where theres lots of birds to keep him company. I will miss him so much, he was my first pet out of home. He lit up my life for the short time I had him, and without him I would never have known the joy caring for a pet would bring me. I thank God for every day he was in my life, and I hope that he enjoyed the time he spent with us in our home. I loved Chomp with all my heart, and know that he is in a better place after fighting so hard. I love you Chomper, rest in peace my little man.

AV, I totally understand that point of view from the non-paying side of things, which is why I have been keeping the account up to date. What I found interesting was that the male vet quoted me what I had spent so far, not what I owed, which showed his true colours to me. Just visited Chomper, he is still very sick but the female vet was in today so I was happy. She said that she did another crop wash and found no more signs of the trich or the original gram positive bacteria that was in his crop. What she did find in the crop wash was a gram negative bacteria, so basically he is so sick at the moment anything that is going around, he is getting sick from. He is still doing green runny poops and has some vomiting which would be a sign of bacterial infection. She said that she was worried that what she had been giving him may have been beginning to knock him around so she said she decided to change her strategy otherwise we would lose him. What she is going to do now is rather than inject him with antibiotics, she is going to deliver a special anti-gram-negative-bacterial directly to his crop to try to save him. He really isnt eating anything at all. She thinks that at the moment what we have been managing to do is keep him alive rather than get him better, so it sounds like this is a last ditch attempt to get him well, hopefully if we clear up the gram negatives, he will start to come around. The nurse who took him in when I first went in (the blonde girl with glasses) said she is amazed at how much of a fighter he is. She thought that he might die overnight on Thursday when he came in, but now he is perching and trying his hardest. He leans up against the side of the perch and keeps falling asleep then waking up again when he almost falls off. She tried to pat him on the head and he got grumpy her, I laughed and said "Thats my Chomper". He's such a funny little boy, I hope he gets better. He is trying his very hardest to at least.