Hi everyone

 

I am looking for some advice on what might have happened to my female budgie 'Batfink'. See before + after pics.

 

We have had her just over a year - she was a stray so we dont know how old she is. She always had a brown/pink cere with a few small ridges in. Last week it turned white with baby blue and pink visable underneath. Her beak has some white lines on aswell which are new.

 

Is this the start of scaly face or scaly beak or is it just old age?

 

We had a new floor fitted just before this happened so that could have stressed her. She lives in a big indoor aviary with a male budgie 'Biff'. He has no signs. They do no have a mating box.

 

Any comments would be appreciated

 

Before;

 

After;

It looks like scaley face to me but the best thing to do is for you to take her to see a vet.

In the second picture her cere just looks like the cere of an out-of-condition hen. Her beak is a little rough, but depending upon her age, a flakey beak can be a sign of vitamin or mineral deficiencies, or she could be scraping it more on a rough perch or toy. That would be likely if the new construction at your place bothered her. How is her activity level and eating habits? Any changes there, and does she seem stressed? Is she starting to molt a bit (also in response to stress)? She is a lovely color.

Thanks for the advice - There is an avian vet about 1hr drive from me, I didnt tkae her immediatly as she was still active and eating and it stresses her to put her in the box.

 

Thanks Rainbow - I feed both my birds a food called 'Trill' - I dont know if you have that in America but it does supposedly have added vitamins and calcium (so the box says). They also have an iodine block and get treats such as millet sprays, apple and those seed stick things you can get from pet shops.

 

I havent noticed her rubbing her face - i gave her a sandy perch cover because she likes to nibble these BUT i have noticed her preening/grooming a lot more this week but there are no feathers coming out. She never takes a bath and doesnt like to be misted either - not sure if thats relevant or not! She does appear to be moulting on her head a bit but this has happened a few times since weve had her (a year) - I didnt know that could be stress related. And I think shes more responsive to me - she hops right on over whenever i go near or speak to her, as if she wants to interact with me a lot more.

 

All advice greatly appreciated as i have only been keeping budgies over a year. i have a few books which pointed me toward scaly face BUT id rather chat to experienced people like yourselves aswell.

 

Thanks,

 

Laura x

The thing to remember about scaley face, or any other illness or parasitic infection is this: If you keep your birds in the house, and they have no contact with other birds, where would they come into contact with the illness? I'm not saying they can't or won't come down with something, but before you panic about it, think to see if you have brought any new birds in the house, been to a pet store or bird fair where there were obviously sick birds (did you touch them?) and didn't change or wash your hands after coming home, or things like that. Also, scaley face won't show up overnight - it takes a while for those little mites to burrow in good. I don't get Trill over here, but know a lot of people feed it in the UK and think it is a very good seed mix. But seeds don't supply all the nutrition budgies need, so even if you feed an excellent mixture it is possible/probable that without supplementation with other foods there could be some deficiencies. If yours won't eat veggies, cooked diets, or pellets, try feeding sprouted seeds and adding wheatgrass to the diet. If you think your budgie might have been exposed to something, or feel the flakey beak might be due to the scaley-face mite, please call your avian vet and ask what they recommend. The phone call is never a bad idea.

 

Most birds will molt roughly twice a year - one full molt where all feathers - even tail and flight feathers are replaced, and a mini molt where some body feathers and head feathers are replaced. If you notice pin feathers on the head more often, the additional molts are probably stress-induced or temperature-induced (due to constant indoor temperatures in the house). This is not necessarily a problem, just something to be aware of. I'm not a fan of sand perch covers because of the damage they can do to the feet if the bird prefers the location of the perch to others, because of the glue used to hold the sand on, and because I don't believe budgies need grit. But if your bird doesn't eat it or spend a lot of time on the perch it may not hurt anything. Mine don't like to be misted either, but love to take baths in greens clipped to the cage, wet lettuce, or damp wheatgrass. She sounds like a friendly little bird - is the male that is with her the same?

Hi there,

 

Just to let you know - I took Batfink and Biff to the vets on Tuesday. The white lines on Battys beak had got worse and were going crossways as well as down. Also I noticed some teeny tiny holes appearing in the middle of her cere. I panicked this could be the 'honeycomb' effect ive seen horrible pictures of birds with scaly face.

 

The vet said it looked like it could be mites and gave both birds a spot-on treatment called ivermectin.

 

They are both doing fine at present and singing away.

 

They have to go back for a repeat treatment in 10-12 days.

 

Love Laura x

good you took her to the vet and I am glad they are getting better

Very pretty birds. Glad they are getting the mite treatment and will soon be well. Do you feed them veggies at all. My birds love lettuce and broccoli clipped to the side of the cage.

Hi there,

 

Just to let you know - I took Batfink and Biff to the vets on Tuesday. The white lines on Battys beak had got worse and were going crossways as well as down. Also I noticed some teeny tiny holes appearing in the middle of her cere. I panicked this could be the 'honeycomb' effect ive seen horrible pictures of birds with scaly face.

 

The vet said it looked like it could be mites and gave both birds a spot-on treatment called ivermectin.

 

They are both doing fine at present and singing away.

 

They have to go back for a repeat treatment in 10-12 days.

 

Love Laura x

 

Good for you on catching it! The little holes made it a giveaway, didn't they? Let us know how long it takes after the first treatment before you notice a difference in the appearance of the beak. I am curious.