Phoebes

Finally, I get my hands on a good camera. Daughter dropped it off on her way to work. So now I get to see what someone with 20\20 vision sees of Emerald. GREAT NEWS: Lucerne chaff is known as Alflafa here in Canada and Dr Foster and Smith sell cubes of it!!!!!

It sounds like you have your hands full. There are definitely people here who can really help. I'm still learning myself but this site is all about sharing info so welcome aboard. Hope to see your birds soon.

Thanks for the information Paulie I will look up where I can find this in Canada. (lucerne chaff) Here we can buy fresh lucerne in grocery stores but it has often been associated with e coli outbreaks. I wanted to sprout seeds at one point but found I couldn't bring myself to trust it wasn't contaminated. I had seen reports about why the lucerne was sometimes contaminated and the bacteria was originally on the seed and grew when it soaked. They now wash the seed with some kind of bleach which is not really great for birds. There is a bit of a language barrier being that everyone here speaks french. I am going to research lucerne to see if it is what I typically associate with this term (luzerne). You are a treasure house of information Paulie! I really want to get good at this so I apreciate all the help. I can't find a place that sells it for now. Usually the online website of Dr foster and smith has specialty stuff that I need but they only have hay for rabits. This may be something really hard to find here. I found images online.

I really wish I would have clicked on follow topic, I could have asked the vet today. I have never seen this happen, I feel really bad for you. I am so sorry this has happened to your birds. I hope someone has the answer soon. Found an article http://www.birds-onl...belbruch_en.htm The suggestion to use a rolling pin on seeds inside a cloth to remove the shells is a good one.

I mentioned your problem today to the vet. I asked her if it could be genetic and she said more likely viral or something else. She said it's a serious symptom. Sorry it's not better news.

I forgot also I used to give pellets with the seed and found the birds were not eating it or barely eating it and it was wasted. However the vet suggested I keep it in the freezer. In the fridge she said it's good about a month but in the freezer the time it can last is much greater. I've heard some negative things about pellets like some companies putting in rotten veggies and stuff. Hopefully this stuff is made right. It's hard to get broccoli grown without pesticides all the time here so I guess this may help.

Yeah the photos were bad and grainy so it did look like holes. You are so right, I was going nuts. I already have one bird that had a small stroke. The doctor was a bit late and she was breathing hard and it did not feel good. However when the doctor got there we felt much better. She was kind and gentle. She had a rag that she put over the small plastic cage (the pet shop sold us this instead of a box). She was able to check out Emerald and said it was not true what the secretary said that they had to cut the wings. It was totally unecessary (YES). She said that Emerald had a bit of hyperkeratosis probably because she was in the cage with a male. Maybe also because we got her at a year old and she had accumulated a lack of Vitamin A which she is having trouble with. She said that she won't supplement it because of the two supplements I am already using. She suggested keeping up stuff like broccoli and carrots but to try with fruit again. She asked about it and I admitted that I had no success with fruit. So basically Emerald has no other signs of illness. She warned me that I may experience some excessive egg laying and that I should not throw the eggs out right away but boil or emty them so they would not keep laying thinking a predator has taken their eggs. The vet was great using the little box I brought her in after the exam to weigh her instead of the iron contraption she had that looked like a strainer with a lid. All in all it went well. Now I hope Emerald isn't too traumatized. To catch her I used the trick this website gave me. I put aluminum foil over the window and made the room really really dark. This worked although she did jump around in the little box at first. Emerald squeeked a bit when she touched her belly but all in all it went well. Oh and I have some reading to do .

Here is what she looks like today. This is the first time I have seen parts of the cere actually fall off. Usually I just noticed the color going back to white.

I am thinking you are right. Today her cere looks like she has managed to rip more of it off. I think the hypothesis that it was itchy proposed by robyn is true. I have not canceled the vet though because I still think he should see her. It's tomorrow morning I have a little cage and it's been warmer today and yesterday. I also will have a little pet shop cardboard box as a plan B in case she is too excited in small cage. I hope I can do this without causing her too much stress.

I thought six was a handful. It must be beautiful to watch. Hopefully we will get some photos of the babies. Looking forward to seeing the little ones.

I was just doing a bit of research and just wanted to add this page. I have often heard of people giving lactulose to birds. It really surprised me because I have a cat with constipation issues (a now very expensive cat) who takes lactulose. http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_lactulose.html My cat is huge and I give him about a cm of the stuff in a syringe given to me by the vet. On the page you will see in the second paragraph they speak of what it does to the intestines and that it is good for birds with liver damage. I would ask your vet about the birds liver function having been on antibiotics quite a bit. I can't imagine what kind of a dose would be okay for a budgie.

Antibiotics do ruin the natural flora of the digestive tract. Some people give some form of yogurt I heard but I would wait for suggestions from people who have had this problem as to what kind. Also I have heard they use apple cider vinegar to aid the crop. This site does speak of the problem. http://ocw.tufts.edu...urenotes/832349 Also I had a problem with water and a person suggested aviclens. I opted for using bottled water because we already have to drink bottled water so there is always some on hand. I would not deprive a sick bird of water but that is just me. I would maybe boil it and let it cool if I had no option. I always shake the water vigorously before, I don't know if it's a myth that boiled water looses oxygen but I was told it gives tummy aches. I haven't verified this scientifically, at any rate shaking the water in a bottle can't harm it. Your idea of separating him is probably good. Although I know how you feel one of my birds has a problem and I don't want to separate her from her guy because I do believe he takes good care of her. It's not the same problem though and you may have a bird who is a healthy carrier passing an infection to him as you suggested. Keep in mind I am probably newer at this than you.

You know Robyn this is one pretty bird. The background being light he could be overlooked but I was just taking a second look at the bird and realized she is splendid. That pattern on the wings is so much like lace. The lighting and background don't bring out the fact that she kind of looks like a porcelain doll.

I'm going to continue documenting Emeralds state for the record. Hopefully another user with a similar problem might access these images after. My daughter thought I cancelled use of her good camera when I told her I had a RV at the vets. She didn't have the camera with her. However she does have 20|20 eyesight and said that she sees no pinholes in the cere. Here is a picture taken today.

Hi, Welcome. How are things going? Hope to see pictures soon.

I only had one female lay eggs. I separated her and the male to a single cage with a nest and put the egg in there. They continued to take care of the egg and laid more. All hatched. I separated them because I have read many horror stories about females killing babies to steal the nest. I have limited experience but separating the couple worked fine for me and all the babies reached maturity. Here is a video of my experience.

I have a couple of days to prepare for this. Unfortunately this gives me time to think of everything that could go wrong like the cold outside. Emerald is a very nervous bird. She will often hold out her wings a bit in the presence of a human showing signs of stress. She is totally wild. I have asked for tricks before for catching them. I have tried dimming the lights ect. I have to remove the cage from the room because the other birds don't like to see a bird being caught. Also I was thinking either of putting her in one of those cardboard boxes they sell the budgies in at the pet-shop or buying a small cage and maybe having her boyfriend accompany her for security. Charlie is not really afraid of humans. He actually got out of the cage once when the door to the room was open. He used to like the cat and looked like he thought it was just a big bird. He just let me pick him up off the curtains when he realized the cat was really not very nice. Luckily no harm came to him. Any tips you can give me about going to the vet with such a small bird would be helpful.

There is much info on the internet like this site I found. http://ocw.tufts.edu/Content/60/lecturenotes/832349

Totally adorable little fellow.

http://s1055.photobu...a24ae8.mp4.html Hopefully this video will work. My birds tend to run from the camera... except Noah. He seems to think the phone is a little square friend. Fixed focus on second video one cm from camera.

Well I am so glad you posted robyn. I was a bit worried that the vet visit was only Monday. It's very stressful for such a little thing to go to the vet. They want to clip her wings. She is very talented at getting away. She does a pretty good worm imitation if you try to hold her. All the while biting like she is about to be eaten. I'm not looking forward to it but it will put this thing totally to rest.

Yes it is Phoebes. They are some very nice looking budgies. Beautiful and healthy looking.

I've been trying to get close ups of Emerald but with a camera phone I am not having much luck. I did get this shot. It's probably just as useless though. She did eat some carrots today. RDV with vet Monday at 9.

okay thank you all, at any rate I will post new pics when my daughter comes over after work. I don't want to treat for anything until the vet sees her. I don't drive and it's real cold outside so I have to wait for the hubby. Also no other part of her health seems to be touched so far. I know they are very good at concealing illness though. Luckily since early summer the birds have all been in cages two by two because of the couple who decided to start laying eggs. Everyone else looks perfectly fine. I do have one bird that is a bit handicapped she also came from an adult cage and possibly suffered a small stroke but got a clean bill of health from the vet though when she came in. This one has to avoid stress. Besides a small limp she shows no signs of illness (Loki is the handicapped one). She (Emerald in pictures) is in with her boyfriend Charlie and he dotes over her. If she has scaly face I guess they will both need treatment. I don't want to separate them because this little female is very nervous. So beautiful by the way, did you take this picture?