So my darling Pippin went for his first vet consult today, and I am so glad that he did! I've always taken my birds to the birds & exotics vet at Mt Gravatt and they have always been on the ball with my little men.

 

So they did a test of his crop and his poop .... and it seems as if Pippin has megabacteria! The vet explained that it is a fungal infection that affects many budgies, and is usually passed along pretty easily.

 

Question 1:

Have any of you guys had megabacteria treated with sodium benzoate before? I believe that it is a new treatment. It's certainly going to be a bit easier on such a young bird (mixed into his drinking water), but I haven't found much information about it online so just wanted to know more about it.

 

Question 2:

None of my budgies have had this before, and the vet mentioned that I will need to be a bit more vigilant in checking Pippin's weight to make sure it doesn't reoccur. From people's experience here, is this a "dormant"/"active" infection?? I was just curious.

 

 

Pippin also has some bacteria in his crop but we are opting to try and treat the fungal infection first and then reassess in two weeks.

 

All in all, he was apparently a perfect little gentleman! Sat on the scales to be weighed without flying off, allowed the vet to have a look over his wings and at his crop without even squawking, and when she went off to look at the samples, he even sat on my shoulder waiting for her! Such a sweetheart.

I don't know anything about megabacteria, although I'm sure there is some info on it around here on the forum somewhere. I just wanted to say how impressed I am by such a good little boy at the vet! You must be so proud.

 

Here, I was able to find the one I was thinking of for you: Pinned Article on Megabacteria