I have a female budgie who has been diagnosed with a hormone problem and is quite ill. She is approx 5 yrs old. The vet believes she had a minnor stroke last weekend because of this problem and he wants to give her hormone injections to stop it. This will be an on-going thing every year. My question is if I give her a male, shouldn't that stop all the problems. The vet said no, it would make things worse. At present I have 2 girl birds but would be happy to purchase 2 males, one each.

 

I would love to hear from anyone who has an opinion on this as I'm at my witts end.

 

Kind Regards

Did you see a real avian vet not a normal vet ? It sounds odd what you have been told thats all.

 

NO dont go buying extra budgies right now while you have a sick one. That wont solve anything.

 

 

What exactly are her symptoms ?

Edited September 21, 201014 yr by KAZ

Hi Kaz, I'm new at this and not sure how to use the site yet but learning. I saw Dr Alex Rosenwax - Birds & Exotic Veternarian. She (Sam) had a bad bacterial infection which has basically gone now. That's why he wants to start the injections. Symptons: Very fluffy, just looks ill, doesn't stand up straight, breathing heavy. Still eats and drinks. Goes absolutely mental when the Lorikets fly past the window. Gets very "up-close-&_personal" with me. Her bones are solidifying. Had x-rays, blood tests, etc to confirm her condition. My other bird, Holly is fine. No problems whatsoever.

Edited September 21, 201014 yr by Shell2010

My question is if I give her a male, shouldn't that stop all the problems. The vet said no, it would make things worse.

 

 

The vet is right. Why do you think buying in more birds will help her ?

I always worry when an avian vet offers advice and we think we can solve it by doing something very different. I suppose it comes down to choice.

 

I would follow the vet's advice

Sam has always wanted a partner. She goes crazy when she hears birds on the TV, when the wild birds fly past outside. She put herself into, what I call "the lovin" position constantly with me. Unfortunately I bought another female bird 12 months after I bought her. If it had been a boy I wouldn't have this problem. She has started begging the other female bird to feed her. She has raging hormones.

 

As for totally trusting the vet. Do human's blindly trust their doctors? I certainly don't. I've been mis-diagnosed on a number of occassions. I have been following his advice up to this point and the situation has not improved. That's why I'm seeking other people's opinion. I've heard this vet say 1 thing then the next time I've seen him, he's said totally the opposite.

 

Look, I was asking for opinions to see what people think, if they've ever had similar problems. I'm not saying I won't follow his advice but I think that sets of yearly injections for the rest of her life to stop her hormones is not necessarily the right way to go.

In my honest opinion ......I wouldnt add any new birds right now.

Reasoning is you will be adding stress to an already stress situation.

Adding any new bird anyway involves quarantine in another cage in another room in another airspace for a minimum of thirty days because of possible introduced disease.

All birds when under various stresses can bring out hidden illnesses.

Now is not time to be adding that possibility to the mix.

New relationships are stressful as well.

Even though your female is acting sexual is no real reason to buy her a boyfriend.

 

No.....we dont all blindly trust vets or doctors....in that you are right.

BUT based on what your vet is advising you in this case and our experience of birds, and what you have said..............I would not add another bird right now and especially not a male. This in my opinion is not the solution to your problem.

Breeding is stress conditions.......this can cause a death of the hen.

Just because she is doing mating behaviour does NOT mean she will mate with the male either. Many a hen thinks she can do all this on her own. Many a hen will lay eggs without even mating the male.

If you are thinking that the purchase price of a male for her is cheaper than the costs of the hormone injections..........yes thats true. But your hopes of adding a new male and it solving everything may well be misguided.

Have you tried other things like reducing her sunlight hours ?

Edited September 21, 201014 yr by KAZ

Hi Kaz, Thank you. I really appreciate your words. I agree that it would be too soon to add any bird into the mix and yes I also agree about about quartine etc.

 

I did forget to mention that Sam has been having eggs. She gets so excited when she has them. She comes to tell me that she's had one. She talks to it and looks after it until she realises that it's not alive. It's awful to watch.

 

My main reasoning for buying a boy is not necessarily breeding . I have promised not only myself but both birds that I would give them the best and longest possible life I can give them. I just want her to be happy. I don't care if she breeds or not and it's definately not cost.

 

It's only approx 3 weeks that I've reduced her daylight. She goes to bed at 7pm and wakes at 6.45pm. On weekends I purposely sleep in til 8am or 9am so that she has a longer sleep. They normally have the run of a 2 bedroom flat while I'm at work. I have never caged either of them until bedtime. The vet talked me out of caging them. He asked me how I'd feel being locked in something the size of a toilet? so up until now I've not caged them during the day. But today, for the 1st time, I locked them in. I'm hoping this will help as well. I will do anything to help both my birds have a better, healthy life.

 

Do you think if I lock them in the cage more that it will help?

I dont necessarily think caging them now will alter whats going on with her, However I do have concerns with any bird uncaged and not supervised while you are at work. Too many things can go wrong in a home with a free flight bird who isnt being watched. A really decent sized flight cage would still be a good environment for them while you are at work, and keep them safe.

I have a female budgie who has been diagnosed with a hormone problem and is quite ill. She is approx 5 yrs old. The vet believes she had a minnor stroke last weekend because of this problem and he wants to give her hormone injections to stop it. This will be an on-going thing every year. My question is if I give her a male, shouldn't that stop all the problems. The vet said no, it would make things worse. At present I have 2 girl birds but would be happy to purchase 2 males, one each.

 

I would love to hear from anyone who has an opinion on this as I'm at my witts end.

 

Kind Regards

 

 

Hi Shell, welcome to the forum! :thumbs_up:

 

You said "My question is if I give her a male, shouldn't that stop all the problems. The vet said no..."

 

I have to agree with Kaz and Dave and the vet. This isn't just a normal vet making a guess. There has apparently been a lot of testing done, and the vet seems to have good reason for the diagnosis he made. You've already been willing to have all these tests done, and the bacterial infection has been cleared up. The next step seems obvious: to have the injection, and see if it helps. I suppose if the 1st shot doesn't seem to help, you are under no obligation to go back the next year for another one. But I think, having done this much, I wouldn't quit just yet.

 

As far as your hen laying eggs and getting very sad when they don't live, at 5 years old, she is pretty much too old to breed anyway. Even if she had no health problem, getting her a boyfriend so her eggs can live would be a big drain on an older bird.

 

I'm all for people owning as many birds as they want to own. If you want a flock of four, there's nothing wrong with that. But Kaz's point about the stress that adding new birds would bring is a good point. It's better to sort this problem out first, and think about new birds after Sam is better.

 

Also, about the vet convincing you to keep your birds cage-free? This makes no sense to me. I would think a vet would be fully aware of all the dangers to birds that exist in a human home. No matter how carefully you birdproof your house, there is always going to be something they will find that you couldn't forsee. But I guess if it's been working for you for 5 years... I just think you must have been very lucky all that time. Not to mention that there is no way to avoid the door being open when you go in and out...

 

I can see why you would be at your wit's end. It looks like you have done as much as possible, short of getting a second opinion from a different avian vet, if there even is another around. (And who would, no doubt, expect you to pay for all the testing to be re-done.) It isn't a pleasant thought, but for a 5 year old bird who has had a stroke and whose bones are solidifying, she may be on her way out. You are obviously a caring pet owner to go to such lengths to try to cure her. I guess you will have to decide for yourself whether to continue working with the vet on this, or whether to just make her comfortable at home on your own. But I feel pretty safe in agreeing with Kaz and Dave, that another bird right now would make the problem worse, not better.

 

I hope you will let us know what you end up doing, and how it works out. And also, we love pictures here, so it would be great if you put up some of your two birds.

Edited September 21, 201014 yr by Finnie