Hi all,

 

it's been a while, life has been busy and beautiful until last night, a little after he climed up top in the cage to sleep as usual..

All of the sudden Konrad (my 1½ year old budgy) started bobbing his head up and down, and then shaking his head violently sideways and throwing up seeds. After doing so perhaps 10 times, he jumped downstairs, ate some more seeds, jumped up to his sleeping area again, and started to clean his beak violently against the mineral stone he sleeps on top of. This repeated about 5 times over the course of say 1,5 hours.

 

I got the feeling that something was stuck in his mouth more than that he was feeling ill, and he tried to get rid of it. He wouldn't let me help him, and I finally went to bed (after I changed everything in his cage food, water, sand etc as well as put in some fresh yogurt to him).

 

This morning I get up, and he looks pretty okay. No vomiting so far, he does have something bothering him with his beak, but it seems a bit calmer. He has been singing, eating, drinking, dancing and carrying on as usual for the past couple of hours since I got up. He is talking back to me and just seems like there is no problems in the world, apart from rubbing his beak against different things as well as itching his head with his foot. Not as violent as last night tho, now it's more like an itch (even tho a beak shouldn't itch, right..?). I also put in fresh water in his little bath, since I read here that they get kind of messy from the vomiting, and he might want some extra help with cleaning himself up.

 

I'm just worried. The vet said I had to bring him in asap, but they had no appointments..

I live in Sweden, so it's tricky to get a good vet quick apart from the specialist.

 

I've read up what I can about budgys and vomiting on the forum as well as on other pages, but I don't feel any calmer. It's possible he ate something that was bad I guess.. hence the instant change of all food and water in his cage, but other than that, I don't know.

 

He is a special little boy (or girl, we still don't know), and I don't know what I would do without the little crawler. He has some bad feathers, but he has had that since we got him, but since august he haven't been able to fly, since he isn't growing out any wing feathers long enough, but the vet says it can happen. In the wold he wouldn't make it, but with us he is just a really good climber now, that occasionally takes a huge jump down the floor

 

He also sneezes, but he only does this when I move his cage to the window in the morning (so he can see the birds outside thats eating from the birdhouse right outside the window), so I've understood it as a way to express excitement from his side. This is something he has done since I first got him, and it's the only time he sneeze.

 

Here is a picture of Konrad, taken about 2 days ago: http://www.hateguild.net/forum/album_pic.php?pic_id=1653

 

Thank you for any advice you guys might have,

 

Nharvi and Konrad

 

edit:

Ps. As of now, he is climbing around in his cage, hanging upside down as usual and chewing on everything as usual.

I also wanted to say, that he haven't eaten anything outside the cage, since he only chews on things inside his cage.

Edited April 26, 200718 yr by Nharvi

Hi, Your Konrad is a lovely girl budgie As she comes into mating condition her cere will turn a tan and then a brown colour.

 

If she has been alright today I would just keep an eye on her. it does sound like something in or on her beak was annoying her. If the itch continues I would take her to the vet to be checked for mites.

 

 

Feathers.

 

ps. she is very pretty

Hi Feathers,

 

Thank you for your reply, and thank you for thinking she is pretty. Most people say she is n ugly little duckling, but she has charm and heart, and I think she is gorgeous

So she is a girl after all huh? Good to know, I wasn't sure She is quite the singer and have both male and female behavior, so it's been a guessing game so far

 

She seems okay right now, cleaning herself like mad as I write, and chirping away quite happily. She does look a bit sleepy tho, if I sit with her and talk she closes her eyes, pulls up one foot and seems like she is about to fall asleep. I'm not sure if I should be happy she is relaxed, or worried that she is being sleepy and might be sick

Having said that, I did wake her up at 6 am to see that she was still alive and well, so she might just be a bit tired after the early morning wakeup.

 

I didn't move her to the window today though, thought I'd give her a rest and time to recover in case she actually is sick. I called a couple of different vets today as well as a place that has a lot of budgies for sale, vet said that if they ever vomit it's a really bad sign, and the avery place said they haven't had a single budgy behaving like it.

 

However, when I think back, I haven't seen her vomit before, but I have seen the seeds 'glued' onto the top of the cage of where she sleeps a couple of times before (with maybe 3-4 months in between the times it happened), which brings me to believe this isn't the first time she has thrown up.

 

Could it be that she just had a something stuck in her beak and she vomits to try to get rid of it? The reason I'm thinking that is since she went straight down to eat as soon as the vomiting gave her a break last night,. Comparing to other animals I've had (cats, dogs, horses etc) none of those eat if they are sick and throwing up, so one would assume it would be the same with birds, but I could be wrong.

 

Sorry for a long post, I'm just worried I guess, and want to make sure I cover all needed information so that I can find out whats wrong with my precious little thing.

Edited April 26, 200718 yr by Nharvi

Hi Again, the reason that I think that she's probably okay is because she bobbed her head up and down before she threw up. Bobbing their head is what they do to regurgitate food. When they throw up it is more violent and shoots out more forwards, not the head shaking side to side. It seems more like she was trying to bring up the seed herself.

 

Keep an eye on her and see how she goes.

 

What you need to do is find an avian vet. Most vet know very little about birds. Whereas an avian vet specialises in birds.

 

 

Feathers.

Edited April 26, 200718 yr by feathers

I think she is a pretty little girl too...gorgeous and lucky to have you

Thank you Feathers,

 

I really appreciate the answers.

It seems like you and I think the same way. I got the distinct feeling she was trying to clear her beak/nose the way she was vomiting, and also since she was eating straight after.

 

The vomiting started with her moving her head up and down as well as somewhat back (like picking seeds in the air, but while bending her head backwards and looking up the roof kinda), then shaking the head side to side as the seeds flew out from the beak. She did this maybe 10 times, and then straight off eating again, and it kept going with a few interrupts while rubbing her beak against whatever was around her and cleaning it with her feet.

 

She seems happy enough, now she has calmed down with the itching, so hopefully whatever was stuck in there is gone, and she is making all her feathers pretty again. I put in some nice fresh bathwater for her just now, so maybe she'll take a dip and feel a bit better.

 

Thank you again for some feedback and good advice, and if she isn't back to her usual self by the morning, I'll book an appointment with the avian vet tomorrow (today the vet was booked up and quit work right around lunch).

 

Huge,

Nharvi

 

edit: Thank you Kaz =) a girl can never have too many people telling her she's pretty, am I right? =)

Edited April 26, 200718 yr by Nharvi

Thank you Feathers,

 

I really appreciate the answers.

 

You're welcome, Nharvi. You will always get good answers to your questions around here. It's where I have learnt everything I know about budgies

 

 

Feathers.

Regurgitation looks just like when the cockbird is feeding either babies or hen. They are bringing it up into their throat to feed others. They arch their head and neck and then bob their heads up and down to bring the food up. Regurgitation is an up and down movement. This is a normal behavior. Read more: Why does my budgie regurgitate for me (or another object)?

 

Vomiting is a bit stronger like convulsive and the bird shakes it head side to side and splatters the vomit. Vomiting is a sideways shaking of the head. If your bird if vomiting you need to call your Avian Vet immediately this is a sign of sickness.

 

 

Last update: 2007-04-13 18:29

Author: Kaz

 

Here is information written up by one of our members for the FAQ section. I hope it helps.

Hi again,

 

Well, Konrad started off like he was regurgitation, but it ended with vomiting, and those were very violent, as described above.

He haven't been doing it since 11 pm last night, and currently it's 2 pm here the day after.

 

Thank you for the info tho, I've been reading every topic I can find about ill budgies since last night.

One gets worried when my little angel is sick

:ausb: Hope your pretty little girl continues to be alright, you have been given excellent advice.

Hello again!

 

Well, now it's been about 40 hours since she was sick, and she is as happy as ever.

Seems like we both were very lucky, and it was something that stopped quick.

She has been eating a LOT more than usual tho, so I guess she is regaining her strength, and I've checked the ground under her to make sure she isn't just biting off seeds to fool predators, she is actually eating them all =)

 

If Konrad keeps this up, I'll be back posting in 2 weeks with a weigh problem in the topic =P

 

Thank you all for your replies and help, you really eased my mind.

 

Nharvi & Konrad

Glad she has bounced back, just keep an eye on her .

Continue to keep her nice and warm to ensure whatever she may have had if anything is really gone.