I have just been to the vet this morning with my Budgie Declan (bought him on St Pats day last year). He keeps chewing off all his flight feathers so the vet said it could be caused by either a viral infection or something else. The vet recommended we get another budgie for company as Dec is home a lot on his own. Would you suggest holding off on the other bird til we know for sure what it is Dec has. I don't think its the French Moult someone mentioned as he has tail feathers and there is no issue there, just whenever his flight feathers grow back he chews them off or they don't grow at all.

 

Some tips would be great!!

 

Fantastic idea to have this forum!! Thanks ever so much!!

I have just been to the vet this morning with my Budgie Declan (bought him on St Pats day last year). He keeps chewing off all his flight feathers so the vet said it could be caused by either a viral infection or something else. The vet recommended we get another budgie for company as Dec is home a lot on his own. Would you suggest holding off on the other bird til we know for sure what it is Dec has. I don't think its the French Moult someone mentioned as he has tail feathers and there is no issue there, just whenever his flight feathers grow back he chews them off or they don't grow at all.

 

Some tips would be great!!

 

Fantastic idea to have this forum!! Thanks ever so much!!

 

Hi and welcome to this wonderful forum... Did you go to a normal vet or an avian one? There advice is not good. If they think this behaviour is caused by a viral infection or something else and recommended you getting a new budgie, I don't think they know what they are talking about. Did they do any tests? Physical exam etc... I'd be finding your nearest avain vet and definately be finding out what is wrong with Declan (cute name) before even thinking about getting him a new friend. You are right with that. Can you post any pics of him? Is he showing any other symptoms? Any more info you can give us? If after you get him sorted out, you could get a friend to keep him company, but the new budgie would have to be quarantined in another room for 30 days before introducing them. Good luck with your little guy and please keep us updated. Maesie

Hi there and welcome to the forum!!! We have had other members with runners here and they have had to adapt their cages/aviaries with ramps but all worked out well. Good Luck and welcome again.

Hi, welcome to the forums

Welcome to the forum.

 

I would have to agree with maesie, if your bird is sick the last thing you want to do is add another budgie... If its bored then that would work but sick... why make another budgie sick??

 

That said, once you find out the problem and Declan gets better... Feel free to buy another one as a playmate... just make sure you quarantine the new bird before adding him/her to Declan's cage.

I TOTALLY agree with everything Maesie has said

I couldn't put it any better Maise gave you excellent advice, I was a little taken back on what the vet said you just don't get another budgie if you think the one you have has a viral infection you are just spreading it. There probably is something going on because budgies are rarely feather pickers or pluckers so a trip to get a second opinion with an avian vet is your best bet.

 

Do you have a picture of your budgie and set-up?

Has Declan been checked for mites ?

Have you actually seen Declan chew his feathers off? How are you sure he is doing this?

Common things occur commonly and often in association with each other.

Nutritional deficiency can lower immune resistance to parasites and diseases, and cause poor feather growth and feather plucking (self-mutilation), especially during annual moult.

Check budgie has iodine, charcoal and calcium shell grit or mineral block, cuttlebone and regularly give variety of fresh fruits and vegetables like raw spinach leaves, carrot and sweet potato peels, apple rind and grated beetroot, and native flowers (bottlebrush, grevillea and gumtree) for natural vitamins and minerals. (Don't leave fresh food too long to go bad though). Fresh food is essential, supplements do not even come close to the nutritional content of real fresh food.

Mites and lice can make them itchy and chew or pick their feathers. De-louse the budgie, yourselves, and respective environments.

If no improvement see avian vet.

Hope this helps.

My lorikeet used to do this when she was young, chewed her flights and her long tail feathers, she didn't stop until we got a friend to keep her company. She is on her own again now since her friend passed away but she is now happy with us and the other non-lorikeet birds for company. If you have personally seen him chewing his feathers and you have established that it is not a medical condition a friend would be a great idea but do make sure there is not something medical going on first.

The Vet I saw was an Avian Vet but not our normal Vet as she is overseas. I thought some photos may help so here are a few. As for the chewing, I have seen him chewing them off so I know it is that - they aren't falling out. Hope the pics help.

 

Please let me know what you think. Dec is home a lot on his own, so it could be boredom, but he's been chewing them for awhile.

Welcome to the forum…did he ever have good feathers before he started chewing them? The reason I ask is that some birds that have had French Moult early in life grow feathers back, but depending on the amount of damage some never grow back perfect & can break with use & then possibly the bird would pick at them, if they annoyed him. Apart from the feather problem he looks healthy enough.

Has Declan been checked for mites ?

 

Has he been checked for mites ?

Vet said it wasn't mites. He had perfectly normal feathers in the shop when we bought him, they seem to have started to annoy him after they grew back following him getting his wings clipped. I had heard that its an idea to clip wings if you want to tame your budgie, but now I'm not so sure. Could it be that the wings weren't clipped properly and are irritating him?

All his other feathers look fine...he looks healthy apart from the chewed and destroyed feathers. Note they are ones he can reach.

 

Here is a good article

 

http://www.sidneyanimalhospital.com/Caresheets/CARE6A.pdf

THere are anti-pick sprays that you can get from the pet shops to help with this sort of problem. But if you do go down that path don't spray it on th bird(they always come in a spray pack) put a little on your fingers and put it only on the feathers he is chewing. You don't want to muck with his usual preening. But keep in mind that there is a reason for the chewing so you nee to address that at the same time by adding toys, etc to keep him occupied.

Thanks for that article, it was really interesting, From reading that I'd say Dec's behaviour seems more psychological that the others. None of us are around much so I suppose he is bored - he spends most of his day chatting to his mirror. Thats what makes me think he needs a friend, he was waiting in the vets and there was another budgie there and they were chatting to each other - very noisy, Dec was fascinated by the other bird, it was so cute. We've always had birds in pairs except for my last bird. I think I'll get the tests done to rule out polyoma and beak and feather disease and then go from there.

 

Your suggestions and ideas have been really informative, thank you!!

I am also in Melbourne, and have a number of adult birds just finishing their quarantine at the moment. Once you have sorted out the potential health issues if you would like to borrow one to see if it helps before you commit to another bird long term I'd be happy to lend you one.

Truly?

 

That would be great, Going to start with foraging and pellet diet with seeds. At the moment he has 3 different seed varieties but he only eats one. Going to have to spice things up for him to maintain interest.

 

Thanks for the offer!! I'll let you know how it goes!

I'd say he has polyomivirus which has effected his flight feathers. I have a Hen bird like that. She is a good mother and doesn't seem to pass it on.

 

What does that mean for other birds? Can i get another companion for him or is it contagious?

I don’t think what your bird has is contagious, if it’s French Moult [polyoma virus] it only damages birds in the nest, when they are young. You said that it had normal feathers when you first got it, so maybe it’s nor French Moult, but if it’s picking itself or some deficiency it wouldn’t affect another bird.

Took Declan back to our regular Avian vet and they are doing blood tests for Polyoma and Beak and feather. Should know results in the next 2 weeks. Vet seems to think that his new feathers that are coming through now (he has just been moulting heavily) are all okay so maybe he is shedding the virus and will be okay. We'll wait and see for sure, but he seems very happy otherwise. Have tried giving him pellets but he's not overly impressed by them but he must be eating a few, I mixed them in with his favourite seed mix.

Good luck with the test results. Other than his feather issues, he looks great! If you get the all clear on the tests, a friend for him would be a great idea. Just remember to quarintine them for 30 days. Let us know how you go