Hi, my budgie Buddy died last week. It all happened very suddenly. I didn't even know he was sick. The vet thinks he had a tumour of the soft palate. Is this common?

Hi Jac, I am really sorry to hear about Buddy. Unfortunately budgies are very good at hiding their illnesses. This is a natural instinct for them as a sick budgie in the wild would never survive, he woud be picked off by predators.

 

Tumours are not uncommon in budgies either.

 

Feathers.

Jac, I am sorry for your loss. My first ever budgie was also called Buddy (he flew away, a long time ago).

Did Buddy get regular vegetables? If not, it could be vitamin A deficiency, which commonly leads to growths in/around the mouth.

Unfortunately, it could be many things. They are delicate little creatures, and are good at hiding their illness.

 

By the way, welcome to the forums!

Edited March 23, 200718 yr by Chrysocome

Hugs on your loss I just lost my Pretty to a very sudden illness his was a respiratory infection and they are so good at hiding their illness. He wasn't even 2 yrs old.

 

The best bet you can do to make sure they are healthy is buy an e gram scale I just purchased one at Wal-Mart. You can get them at an office supply place, e bay but make sure they go up and down in increments of 1 gram and don't pay no more then 40US dollars as you can find them inexpensive. The reason for this is if they have a tumor you will see it in a weight gain and also weight loss can be noticed if they are sick too. I wish I would have weighed Pretty I maybe could have found it earlier but I can't think about what I didn't do but think about what I can do for my remaining budgie Merlin.

 

Tumor are very common in budgies and that is the biggest issue they have with them and what takes them at such an early age. We hope through better breeders taking on the stance to breed healthy tumor free birds that things can change for our feathered friends.

Just an article I read a while back- unfortunatley too late for a bird I had to put down just previous(the reason I was searching on this topic.) I haven't tried it but it can't hurt if there is nothing else to do.

The only thing is I'm not sure how much water vs how much beets.

 

As budgerigars are prone to tumours and cancer, a good mixture to sometimes rid the system of the problem, is a prolonged course of beetroot fluid in the drinker in place of usual water.

Boil freshly picked beet in water, with no additives, and drain off the fluid, and bottle it, retaining it in the fridge for further use.

A six week course will sometimes rid the problem.

 

It is perhaps a good precaution to give cooled, boiled water to your birds at all times.

Hi, thank you for replying to my query. I had heard about budgies getting fatty tumours, but never thought about them getting them orally. It was not a pretty sight. I had been out for a couple of hours and returned home to find him, my other budgie, the cage and the wall covered in blood. Apparently he must have bit the tumour and it wouldn't stop bleeding. I managed to find a vet that would look at him (it was a Sunday evening), but he died that night at the surgery. Sunny, my remaining budgie seems to be doing well. I now have to decide if I will get a companion for him, and if I do will it be hand raised.

Aw, Jac, I'm very sorry to hear about Buddy. I know you are heartbroken. It must have been so difficult to come home and find what you did.

 

Baby budgies have a small window where they seem to be just 'naturally tame' from about 5-7 weeks of age. If you can find a breeder who handles the babies in the nest box on a regular basis and can get a youngster a week or two after fledging you shouldn't have too much trouble taming him or her. It is not necessary to pay extra $$ for a handraised baby unless you just want to.

Sorry to hear what happened to Buddy, Jac. I have 2 budgies with benign lipomas but they are just fine. One of them (the oldest one) has a growth about her eye area so there is a worry about cancer. Funny, when I was a kid, I always thought animals and birds didn't get human diseases but they do, very sad. Hope you and Sunny are managing to get through this very sad time. My sympathies to both of you. :angel1:

Hi Jac, I was saddened to hear about Buddy. It must have been awful to find him that way. He's flying free in budgie heaven now and in no pain.

 

 

Feathers.