Louise

No worries B.J.! Robyn - I agree! It did sound like that......but then there would be times when he would 'squeak' for a little over a minute at a time, which sounded like more than just seed husk getting caught. Apparently from the swabs of his poo and down his throat they determined that it was gastro. Hopefullllllly there will be some improvement soon. I guess one side effect of having to give him this attention for the last 3 weeks is that he is starting to get used to my hand even more.....I can now get him onto my hand in the cage and bring him out while still standing on my hand......he is getting better at it.....and I am getting more confident with handling him.....I can tell that I am going to bond pretty closely to this one! he is such a ratbag already lol

We went to the vets today and it wasn't iodine deficiency. He has gastro, and phlegm in his throat and excessive bacteria in his poo. So they have prescribed him medication twice a day..... Bird Junky......I had only had him for a few days and he was starting to squeak so I doubt not having the iodine block would have worked that quickly. I would say that I got him like this from the breeder. But all sorted now. He has his medication plus an iodine block.

I've decided that I'm going to take him to the vet this afternoon. I was sitting with a client this morning in the lounge and I could hear him 'squeaking' for a good minute constantly.....so vet visit this arvo! His tail does bob also, so I think the best will be to just take him in. Thanks Kaz and robyn!

Should the iodine be having an effect by now? He is still squeaking. Might need to bite the bullet and take him to the vets.

I must say I had to giggle when the chemist what I needed it for...... They told me to make sure that it was the right one, as they didn't want me to come back and say that they killed my bird LOL I must say that was on a par with having to go into a chemist and ask for laxative for my cat LOL prescribed by the vet lol Will start him on it tonight How often should I give it to him? Do I keep him on it for a week? or is it a once off?

Sounds like this is the right one.....based on it being called Lugols solution......hopefully lol Don't want to kill my budgie!!!

Am at the chemist. All they have is Aqueous iodine solution apf. Lugols solution. Does that sound right?

So do you just ask the chemist to mix it up? I might head down to the shops now and get some. What amount would you give if they make it up for me?

Just rang the vets.....$90 for initial consult.......hrmmmm...... Wonder whether I should just do the iodine block that you suggested Kaz..... Do you think the squeaking sounds like that could be the issue? He is upbeat separate to this issue....he is singing right now....to the birds outside..... $90 is a lot if it is just iodine deficiency...

Unfortunately not Robyn. I don't have any meds here. I am considering booking in with the avian vets that I have taken my other birds to in the past. I suspect that he came to me with this and the feather mites. I'm kind of annoyed that I bought him like that.....but I would never consider taking him back, as I have now grown attached to him I am tryinggggg to catch him on video doing it, as I just KNOW that once I transport him to the vets he won't do the sound and I will look like I am dreaming things lol The same thing happened when I took him back to the breeders to get advice. As soon as he got to the breeders he perked up big time and was chirping etc..... But when he is here, and settled.....you can hear the squeaking sound every now and then..... arghhhhhhhh so frustrated! I ended up finallllllly getting his 'squeaking' sound on video......

Vinnie has been making since I got him what sounds like a squeaking sound. It "sounds" like a little cold, and it "looks" like he is coughing as his chest goes in and out. Most of the time there is no sound when he is doing this, and then every now and then there is a squeaking. Could the feather mites that he has (that I am treating at the moment) be causing this? Like irritating him or something? But why would they cause that type of sound. It definitely soundsssss like a squeaking sound.... I just know I am going to have to take him to the vet.....and I have only had him for like 2 weeks.....arghhhhhh I wasn't expecting vet bills this early in the piece. But the sound he is making doesn't seem to be going away.

I was handling Vinnie today, getting him used to my hand and being out of the cage. When I was sitting with him, all of a sudden I started seeing little 'things' crawling around in and under and around his feathers. I first only saw 1, but when I held him closer and ruffled through his feathers I saw quite a few of them. I have had a look through the budgie FAQs section......and I "think" that they are mites........could these hurt him? I need to get something tomorrow to treat it......any suggestions? What are some of the symptoms I need to keep an eye out for? I can't see any irritation to his skin.....but his feathers on his head probably look 'thinner' than last week......are these 'feather mites' that I read about in the FAQs? Help would be appreciated Thanks, Louise

He perked up a lot when I took him out of the cage today! I think he is lonely......I can't have him out of the cage all of the time as I have to work in my office lol He also still keeps on doing this munching kind of thing.....I have never seen another budgie do as much as he does.... It looks like he is rolling something around in his mouth all of the time, and there is a small munching sound as he is doing it.... It escalates and the sound gets slightly louder after he has had a bit of a fly out of his cage..... I am hoping that it is just me being paranoid.........I think I am just scared of starting off with a sick budgie.....and then getting attached to it and having all sorts of problems......Mind you, there is no evidence to suggest that he is a sick budgie......other than being veryyyyy quiet and not very active.....subdued......and this munching sound and movement with his mouth......

okay, I came out of my office today to find Vinnie sitting down IN his food bowl....like crouched down in it with his head poking out one side and his tail sitting up and out the other side.....he got out of it as soon as I came outside......it is one of those round open ones that is attached to the side of the cage. This seems really odd to me and makes me question whether he is sick or not? I think he is fretting with missing his place at the breeders. I just don't know what to do. I give him lots of attention during the day. I bring him into the office with me. He is veryyyyy quiet, until he hears the bird sounds that I have playing on my computer. He also makes like a very quiet munching sound most of the time and looks like he is whistling, but no noise is coming out........when he does whistle/talk though he can really talk.... I don't know what to do. I took him back to the breeder last week.....and as soon as he got there he perked up big time......he seems sooooo quiet here......... I worry that him being part of an aviary when he got bigger, means that he is so attached to the other birds that I am distressing him by him being separated from them. I sound like a worry wart.......but I am just trying to do the right thing......

Garlic powder??? Really? how bizarre hehe Never tried it.....tempted though as the novelty is wearing off with having to pick poo out of his bum each morning lol

So I did an experiment yesterday. I was booked up yesterday with lots of things to do outside the house. So Vinnie would be home alone. So I played some bird sounds throughout the day.....a mixture of other bird sounds and budgie sounds. I came home yesterday to a happy budgie and lots of poo on the ground (NOT on his bum)......So I put him to bed......wake up in the morning and there is poo around his bum.....We have been removing it each morning and night (ick)..... He is on that medication that the breeder gave me.......I would say that a big part of the issue is him missing his pals.....so will keep the bird music up for a few more days.....and hopefully he will start to settle.....to be honest his behaviour isn't really anxious.....but it's more his poos that I am suspect about. The poos are normal colour......just sticking to his feathers.....Not sure where to go to from here.....other than persisting with what we are doing.

Who knew.......Vinnie is a fan of Michael Jackson BAHAHAHAHAHA

Ohhhhhhhh sorry lol Rushing around here doing heaps of things and misread your post Yeah, I suspect it is because he is a bit anxious and an upset tummy....hopefully that will ease a bit today.....he didn't have any poo in his bum when we went to the breeders, so hopefully fingers crossed!

Yep Kaz! I got to see the setup, and there are lots of breeding cages with individual parents in them and the babies. I think the breeder handles them quite a lot, so Vinnie shouldn't be any different. Yep, I suspect it is the feathers around his bum that aren't allowing the poo to just fall. That's the one Kaz! Coccidiosis........The breeder says that he gives that off and on to all of his birds, especially when there is wet weather. I have a bird recording playing most of the time (except when I start to go a bit mental listening to it lol) called Morning Birds and I can hear him whistling to that a fair bit through the day. He is coming up to us moreso in the cage in the last 12 hours, so I think he will relax and be fine I think I feel a lot better now after seeing the breeder's setup......Feeling better about the decision to get him.

I just got back from the breeders. He has a great setup there. Lots of lovely budgies. Vinnie perked up BIG time once he got back there....and of course showed NONE of the symptoms I have been talking about lol. His poos seem to be getting better. I just had my first 1 on 1 with him in a small room so as not to overwhelm him....and he had a nice flutter, and some sitting on my arm and on my hands, and even did a few step ups. He seems to have calmed a bit more now....after that. The breeder gave me some medication to give him for the next 5 to 7 days.....I can't remember the name he used, but he said it is fairly common with birds in this wet weather. I asked the breeder a bit more about the age. I think I might have gotten confused about what he said at our first meeting, as he said again today (I was listening more today), that Vinnie would have been born around November/December, making him about 5 months old. He said that the ring that is on his leg wasn't received by the society until September last year.....so that gives me a bit more of an idea on age. I decided to keep him and move forward.....he is a lovely little budgie, and I think if I give him time he will be able to relax some more and enjoy his new home.

Well, Vinnie is a lot more active today. He seems a bit more relaxed, and whistling away. We have still needed to clean the poo around his bum, but I am just wondering if that is because he has so many feathers around his bum. I managed to pull one of the feathers out (Kaz you would be proud babahahaha).....it wasn't as scarey as I thought.....they are just the finer feathers.....I will try and do a few more in the coming days. I think we are both a bit nervous about anyyyything that might be out of the ordinary, seeing as though our last budgie had so many issues with blood clots going to his leg.....so I think we are extra sensitive to everything that we view with Vinnie..... I also don't think we are used to a 'usual' budgie and their behaviour, as our last one was quite subdued I think because of the ongoing issues with his foot. Vinnie has the poo around his bum which could be just due to excess feathers bunching it all up......but I also notice him doing a lot of 'munching' or like he is trying to clear his throat or something.......IS this just normal? Am I being completely too sensitive to his behaviour, almost like I am 'trying' to find something wrong with him????? I took a video which doesn't show it 100% well......but it's the only way to describe the behaviour of like clearing his throat.... When he does this there is usually no sound associated with it, but occasionally I will hear like a munching or small squeeking like sound.....It also seems to be that he is trying to whistle but does this with his neck instead. Am I just being overlyyyyy sensitive, trying to find something else associated with the poo issue? Or is there an issue? The video doesn't show this behaviour until about half way through.

Finnie - yep, I think he is older than what he told me. I rang the breeder a couple of times yesterday. He is concerned. He told me that I could come and swap him for another budgie......but I feel really weird about doing that as we have attached ourselves to him now lol arghhhh We cleaned out his bum again last night. Surprisingly my husband held him this time, and once we were done he got him onto his finger, and he was quitely calmly 'stepping up' on my husband's fingers.....OMG! lol I think I might be nervous which is stressing vinnie out, although I didn't try that with the stepping up when I held him early yesterday. So there are signs that he could respond pretty well from now on. I am concerned though as I have checked this morning and he has a stack of poop again around his bum, which we are going to have to remove....again......*sighs* I don't really want to worry the breeder, but I also don't know what to do with Vinnie ifffffff he is sick with something. What are the common reasons for poop stuck around the bum?

Yep, I suspect it is stress also. He hasn't done many more poos since I posted last. Going to keep an eye on him though. I'm not sure about the age Kaz. When I was looking at him closer he has quite a few bars further down on his cap but he has a soft layer of white feathers covering them at the front. Very bizarre lol Fingers crossed that he isn't sick. The breeder told me to pull away a few of his feathers around his bum but I don't know whether I can face doing that lol

Have just been observing him after doing that this morning (see above) lol He is fairly quiet now. And it looks like his sphincter (??) is spasming or something.....so his tail rocking back and forth or something like that..... Is it that he is constipated? due to the buildup? or is it a sign of something worse? The breeder asked me to call him later today if he doesn't improve..... *sighs* I can't seem to catch a break! 1 day into having this little fella home and it seems like he already has some issues. Could it be the food? I am feeding him good clean seed that I bought from a produce place. I double checked what was in the mix and it all seemed fine. Could it be that he is eating something different to what the breeder had him on? He is veryyyy quiet, and hasn't whistled much this morning.... Arghhhhhhh Can't tell if it is just because he is new to his environment and getting used to it, or if there is a real problem....

okay, two things.......lol Budgie poo is gross especially when you have to pick it out of their feathers around their bum....(he had quite a build up there)..........and Vinnie has a veryyyyyyyyyyyy strong bite......ouchies! I had rung the breeder this morning and he was mortified, worried that the bird had gone to my house like that. I told him it could have just been from yesterday and him stressing. He said to ring him ASAP if his poos don't go back to normal after I have removed all of the buildup...... Let's hopeeeeeeee that he just goes normally today!