Two of my budgies looked ill to me - they were fluffed up and "kicking" their bum, I thought they could have an egg. So I went to the vet with them and she said, there is nothing wrong with them they are just very fat . Thats very strange - last time I went to the vet, she said another of my budgies was too tin . So now my budgies are on a diet (lots of veg, fruit, grass and some millet - in the evening only)

 

I'm watching them all the time and they are all friends - all of them get to the food bowl.

 

I'm feeding them less. They get lots of carrot, cucumeber, apples, ..., but they don't look tiner, what is the best to feed budgies, so they are not too fat or too slim?

How much of seeds for 20 budgies?

 

The vet said she could treat them with some hormon shots - but I don't want to do this, just if it's nesessary :ausb:

 

And she said, that some of my budgies look like they have "showing genes", so they are bigger.

 

 

I even got a new cage to seperate the fat budgies. Do you think they will be okay in a different cage next to the other budgies? They are used to being together

I feed mine on a canary base mix. I add to this the carrots, corn, sprouts and celery every day.

What do your birds weigh?

How do I weigh them? Can I use a kitchen scale?

 

And what corn do you give them? The young fresh corn?

Edited August 23, 200618 yr by Zebra

corn on the cob, frozen corn or the small sicks of corn are all fine to give.

 

Yes a kitchen scale works, use a box make the wight to zero with the box on the scales then add the bird and take the weight.

 

 

I was told by my vet to use finch (or canary) food for overweight budgies, becuase it doesn't have the 'marsbar' type seeds in it. Now all my birds are on that with out any worry.

corn on the cob, frozen corn or the small sicks of corn are all fine to give.

 

Yes a kitchen scale works, use a box make the wight to zero with the box on the scales then add the bird and take the weight.

 

 

I was told by my vet to use finch (or canary) food for overweight budgies, becuase it doesn't have the 'marsbar' type seeds in it. Now all my birds are on that with out any worry.

 

 

Good Advice Nerwen.

 

Just one thing. It depends on the type of budgie as to the "over weight" thing. My birds can weigh upto 70 - 80 grams when in top condition.

Don't forget the exercise. If you have perch potatoes, make them fly about more often, even if you have to do a little hand waving to do it. Be creative. It's much easier to do with one or two birds but then again, with 20 if one takes off the others will too. Just try not to scare the bejesus out of them. (Laughing out loud). Exercise goes a long way in keeping birds fit, it makes all the difference.

 

If your birds have a pad of fat over their keel, they're overweight. I'll leave it at that as when I state what ideal weight is, it doesn't always go over well. :glare:

Don't forget the exercise. If you have perch potatoes, make them fly about more often, even if you have to do a little hand waving to do it. Be creative. It's much easier to do with one or two birds but then again, with 20 if one takes off the others will too. Just try not to scare the bejesus out of them. Lol. Exercise goes a long way in keeping birds fit, it makes all the difference.

 

If your birds have a pad of fat over their keel, they're overweight. I'll leave it at that as when I state what ideal weight is, it doesn't always go over well. :glare:

 

I read an article where they were saying that fitter Budgies breed better than fatter budgies. One breeder goes as far as giving his breeding pairs flying time where he does excactly what Eterri has said.

Treating them with hormone shots doesn't sound right, unless your vet thinks there is some other issue going on that is causing the weight gain. I would pass on that option, I think.

 

It is difficult to get budgies to lose weight. Rationing seeds will help some, but also might just make your birds more bickery with each other until they come up with some other 'favorite' food. Exercise plus rationing is probably your best bet, but with multiple birds there will be a fine line to walk because you will not know whether all the birds are eating optimally or whether some piggie is eating more than his/her fair share until you go a week or so of regular weighings. You will HAVE to weigh them on a regular basis, and don't let them lose more than a gram or two per week. If you do find you have a bird that refuses to give up the lion's share of the food, and can still find a safe way of cutting the food, let me know what it is. You don't want any of the birds to not get enough to eat.

 

I'd like to find a better way to get my perch potatoes to exercise a bit more too. Not to knock the handwaving method, but I personally am a little leery of that one...I'd prefer my birds to not shy away when they see my hands...

Another way is to step them up and take them away from the cage so that they fly back to it, but that's hard with a lot of budgies.

 

Annnd during out time, give them a gym on the far end of the room but directly in front of the cage so they can easily go back and forth. Put a different food on the gym to entice them, just nothing fatty as that defeats the purpose.

Thanks a lot everybody

 

 

I'll buy some canary food today.

 

They fly and play a lot during the day.

I'm trying to feed them seeds in the afternoon only, but then they just run to the bowl and eat, eat and eat!!!

 

I wanted to separate the tin ones (there is less of them) and put them into my new cage - but most of my budgies are paired (where one is fat and one is tin), so I'm afraid they would be unhappy without each other.

Two of my budgies looked ill to me - they were fluffed up and "kicking" their bum

 

If anyone is familiar with my budgie Percy and his liver disease etc etc... then what this is describing is something he has always done, nothing to do with him being "fat". He has a fatty lymphoma on his stomach though, but the trying to itch his vent with his back feet is awful for him and he's done it for ages now, always gets worse when the gut problem he has is worse too. It helps with some antibiotics but the liver disease is always going to be there unfortunately.

 

I would say that your budgies, if looking ill and you should know seeing them every day, also them being fluffed up and "kicking their bums" isn't because they are over weight, I would seek further advice and help and definitely not let them have injections for something you or the vet doesn't know what they're for.

 

I'm not an expert but I do know that doesn't sound right all round. I hope you find something out that will help the poor little mites, let us know if you do... take care

 

Chrissie xx

Thanks Chrissie. Zebra did you take the budgies to an Avian Vet or just a general Vet. It may pay to get a second opinion

My vet is an avian vet. Do budgies get liver problems often?

 

I'm feeding them less and they are starting to look better, I think.

 

I want to weigh them, but my kitchen scale is not good - it wouldn't give me the numbers exactly. So I'm looking for a better scale.

 

I'll see if the diet helps and if not, I'll go to my avian vet again and I hope she'll do some tests to find out whats wrong.

sounds like a good idea.

okay, I got a better scale.

 

It's strange, but they are very various weights - from 30 to 72g

 

How do I know which ones are too tin and which ones too fat? I know the extreme ones (under 40 are tin I guess, and above 70 are fat), but some of them are about 50,60, is it too fat already? Because some of them are bigger (showing genes maybe) and some of them are tiny.

 

I want to separate them, so the tiny ones get more food then the fat ones.

 

 

Please help

Edited August 27, 200618 yr by Zebra

okay, I'll do my best. This is only my opinion from 30 + years of keeping budgies, and I'm sure others won't agree with the finer points.

 

If you have the smaller, "American" budgie (roughly 7" long without the big poofy head) they should weigh in at about an ounce (28 grams). It's rare to find them that small, and most 'pet' budgies will actually weigh between 30-35 grams. Any more and I don't care what anyone says, they are overweight. If you have the larger "English" budgie (roughly 8 1/2" long with the big poofy head) they will weigh in at around 50 grams. Never having had an "English" budgie, I cannot tell you from experience at what weight they are considered overweight. But I would guess the same 5-7 grams over "ideal" weight would put them there.

 

I weighed three of my four today. They are all three considered obese by the numbers on the scale. Some carry the weight a little better than others although only two of them look "fat" (ie - have fatty lipomas). And yet mine eat very little dry seed. Go figure. There must be something else going on, so I think it time to make a call to my avian vet, as it appears they are gaining again instead of losing. Thanks for your question about weight, as I would not have weighed mine had you not asked.

 

If the budgie you have that weighs 30 grams is the smaller type budgie, he is at the right weight. Budgies are supposed to be small, streamlined birds. They are supposed to look thin. In the wild they fly practically all day looking for food - if they carried any extra weight (like mine) they would be somebody's lunch in no time, as they couldn't keep up. If you can handle your birds easily, pick one up and gently press the abdomen, the area right in front of the vent, and over the rump. Those are the areas you are most likely to be able to feel extra fat. If you cannot easily feel the keel bone on the chest, chances are your budgie is carrying extra fat. It should not stick out, but you should be able to feel it easily. When your bird sits and you look at it sideways, you should not see any areas from the bottom of the mask to the vent that stick out. The profile should be smooth, and a gentle curve from top to bottom.

I'd agree with Rainbow.

 

The wild Budgerigar lives in arid areas of central Australia. One of the driest continents in the world. They live on what they can find. They breed when the conditions are right. It is not unusual for a hen to desert the nest if food becomes scase. They are not the best parents in the parrot family. So the wild budgerigar is a small colourless parrot. Green and yellow.

 

It is not until we genetically alter or allow nature to alter them that we get larger bulkier birds. I run my larger birds between 40 to 80grams. But they are usually around the 50 gram mark.

I'll look at them properly and decide which ones are going to be separated for diet. It's not going to be easy

 

Thank you a lot