I went to get Maurie and Max out of the "big kids cage" (the aviary style cage that they sometimes play in during the day). I noticed that Xanthe, who has just recently come back into breeding condition, was sitting in the seed dispenser, leaning forward.

 

When I reached in, she let me pat her, which is very unusual - she is usually very bitey. I picked her up and she barely cared. It worried me that she seemed so out of character.

 

I noticed her abdomen was a little swollen so I thought maybe she had an egg on the way (I have not set up any boxes yet, but thought she might have been going to lay randomly anyway). And since I've never had breeding birds before, I didn't know if any of this was normal.

 

I set up a hospital box for her so that she wasn't in the tall cage with the others, put her in, and set about making it warm for her.. and she just sat in the corner, drooped for a minute, and died.

 

When I picked her up again, a lot of cloudy fluid dribbled up out off her mouth. It smelled slightly fishy. Her chest and abdomen were swollen, more than when I picked her up 20 minutes earlier.

 

What happened? Why did she go from fine this afternoon to dead tonight? What would cause fluid like that - seemingly build up really quickly (in less than an hour)?

 

I scrubbed my hands.. but I'm scared I might lose my other birds too... does anyone know if it sounds like something contagious?

 

:question:

That..is.so...sad! :question:

It sounds like she may have gotten egg bound, I will let though those who are more experienced answer this.

Very sorry for your loss :question:

It doesnt sound like eggbound at all. It sounds more crop related.

I am really sorry for your loss :question:

It doesnt sound like eggbound at all. It sounds more crop related.

I am really sorry for your loss :question:

 

do you think it could be a little bit of both? Like one caused the other?

I'm not very good with knowing the anatomy yet but I thought the crop seemed distended at the end - full of that smelly fluid?

 

My first guess was egg binding because her abdomen was swollen, but after 10 minutes or so she seemed to have another swelling that I thought was her crop swelling, but I wasn't sure because I've never really handled her to know how much meat she had on her bones in the first place.. and being quite fluffy, it was hard to feel around.

 

Thank you for your thoughts guys.. I'm just glad that I was here and I could hold her for a little while and make her a bit more comfortable.. it was peaceful and she was comfortable, instead of being in the big cage and possibly falling from a height.

okay, this a bit of a mystery and I share your concern that it may be contagious.

 

Put your dead bird into a plastic container or plastic bag and pop her into the fridge (NOT freezer). This will keep her fresh and buy you time to find a vet that will do an autopsy.

 

Ring around and find one that will do it. Usually they are not expensive, maybe $40 tops.

okay, this a bit of a mystery and I share your concern that it may be contagious.

 

Put your dead bird into a plastic container or plastic bag and pop her into the fridge (NOT freezer). This will keep her fresh and buy you time to find a vet that will do an autopsy.

 

Ring around and find one that will do it. Usually they are not expensive, maybe $40 tops.

 

40 bucks man id love to know your vets i asked around and the cheepest price i was quoted was $190

im just glad i havent needed one yet

 

if you think it could have been egg bound then you could be able to feel the egg in her bumb i think that with the regergatated mouth fluide posably she had gotten a fright and banged into something hard and given herself internal damage this can cause discharge fluide from mouth and swelling

but with out seeing bird it could of been anything an atopsy is your best bet and for 40 buck well worth the money

keep close eye on other birds and just as procortion id clean feed dish water and cage very thorow

i did a bit of reasearch on the symptons.... it interested me on what caused this to happen.

I found a story which was similar to yours, only before the budgie swelled and vomited it seemed in perfect health, this one didnt vomit, and he was panting a bit.. i found out that that froth could be the bird vomiting. In the story the bird died after being placed in the cage at the vets, maybe because of a bit of stress...

 

I hope this helps but i am sorry if the information is wrong, i got it from the internet and the story could have been a different thing, it just sounded similar...

i did a bit of reasearch on the symptons.... it interested me on what caused this to happen.

I found a story which was similar to yours, only before the budgie swelled and vomited it seemed in perfect health, this one didnt vomit, and he was panting a bit.. i found out that that froth could be the bird vomiting. In the story the bird died after being placed in the cage at the vets, maybe because of a bit of stress...

 

I hope this helps but i am sorry if the information is wrong, i got it from the internet and the story could have been a different thing, it just sounded similar...

 

So what was the diagnosis?

He said something about that the vet said it was a very likely chance of it being a tumor affecting the lungs... this guys bird was panting, and it doesnt seem like emmas bird was.. nut tumors might be the reason for the swelling

Sorry I didn't come back and post again about this. I had a car accident at work the next day (I'm fine though) so I couldn't take her to be autopsied, unfortunately.

 

Otherwise all is well with my flock, apart from me getting cranky at them for screeching and carrying on while I'm trying to concentrate on work. I was invited to be a guest speaker on a podcast last week and halfway through the show, the presenter paused for a moment and said... do you have a bird or something? They're so naughty >_<

 

My violet pied girl is coming into breeding condition (my TCB girl isn't far behind) so I'm starting to consider whether I'm going to breed nowish or not - but it will depend on my work situation in the near future, as I have a lot on my plate from two jobs, and I need to build a new chook pen before the old one finally collapses in on itself. I don't want to commit to having baby budgies if I'm going to be flat out with other commitments. There's no rush, and I want to do everything properly or not at all.

 

Still, violet opaline pied girl + sky spangle pied boy .. they're just too gorgeous, and I can't wait to see their babies. Mostly I don't want to "miss the boat" with the hen because she is already 3. But I still won't rush it if I don't feel 100% in it.

 

Thanks as usual for the replies, it was very comforting to be able to come here for support.