Hi guys,

 

My male budgie, Phoenix, has one of his nostrils blocked. There's no discharge, the rest of his cere looks fine, it's just that the nostril is just completely plugged by some smooth amber-coloured substance. It doesn't seem to be giving him any respiratory problems. The other nostril is completely clear. So should I take him to the vet to check it out, or is that something normal that should resolve itself?

 

As some background information, it has been quite hot lately, so I don't know if the sudden change in weather is related to it. Back on Monday night when I first noticed his blocked nostril, he was also quite constipated. Like his poo was getting all bundled up in his vent, and I could see him straining. So I had to had to grab him and carefully remove most of the poo, which was a bit stressful for him, but he recovered within two minutes. His vent fine now. So would that event be related to the blocked nostril, or was it just a seperate thing entirely?

 

Any help or advice would be great.

if your concerned i would take him to the vet, its better to be safe than sorry.

I would take him to the avian vet

most issues don't resolve by themselves and can get worse quickly.

Even if it is a errant seed, it doesn't seem to have dislodged itself unfortunately, get it checked out.

Okay, thanks for your advice. I've booked him in for a vet appointment for tomorrow. :ausb:

awesome let us know what happens

Well, the vet said that his case was a little odd, considering the blockage seemed to be isolated only on one side. She said that it might have been caused by some trauma (like bashing into something), or just the common combination of hot weather + moulting + stress = lowered immune system, causing him to get a little bit of sinusitis (sp?). She couldn't clear all of the blockage as he started to bleed. Anyway, he was given medication. I have to give him one drop twice a day... which I'm really unhappy about, as Phoenix is already getting extremely nervous around my hands especially now that I'm grabbing him so often (I'm only on day two out of a possible ten). I also have to clear his vent and try to pick out the blockage with a cotton bud (I just tried, but I had no success with getting rid of the blockage... and all I got was a budgie bite wound. ). I just hope breaking his trust is all worth it in the end.

I once watched a vet program where a parrot had one nostril blocked and it was caused by a deficiency and high fat content in his diet, as he was only being feed sunflower seeds. What do you feed your budgie? Maybe he is deficient.

interesting sailor good question.

 

When you are done grabbing him and giving him his medcine I would work on bonding for about 10-15 mins with treats if he likes millett. Because all the grabbing and chasing he will start to get scared. Do you have a smaller cage that you could keep him in until the medicine is done?

 

Those who gave medicine may have some suggestions too. You may want to pm eterri she gives great advice in these situations.

When I apply medicines I grab them in a blanket and hold them in a blanket, so that they associate the manhandling with the blanket rather than your hands.

excellent idea

I use a face cloth as it is smaller and I try not to use my hands much. For some reason they really hate gloves. And then I try to get back in their good graces. Phoebe gets meds per beak on a daily basis so I just grab her and she tries to hide, no bad feelings there, she is used to it and will cuddle with me immediately after.

only a few weeks ago i had to fly my little baby Indian Ringneck out on the aeroplane (i live remote) for "Emergency Vet Treatment" he got a little poppy seed stuck in his nose (hence his name Poppy ) anyways the vet nurse tried to remove it with the end of a needle but only managed to push it back in further so then he was at risk of inhaling it.. After being flown out he actually managed to get it out himself during the flight out but the vet decided to rinse out his nostrils just incase, i'm not sure how exactly she rinsed them out but she did.. Also she said that in the case that if it was closer to the surface (like it was before the vet nurse pushed it back in ) I could have also used an empty syringe and very gently sucked it out.. I have had this done with bubby budgies before with hand feeding mix stuck in their noses but never thought about doing it with the seed