A while back I started buying these new orange blocks I found at the pet shop. The birds are so crazy about them they can make it disappear in one day. One of my females became very dirty above the nostrils. I didn't give her any for the time it took to verify that this is what was causing the problem.

 

Her face became quite clean and to my satisfaction. Recently I gave her more, I couldn't help myself she loves them so much. Now I look at her nostrils and am having the same dilemma (thinking she is sick). I really don't know why I did this to myself. At first you can see the orange staining very clearly then she really just looks sick. The others are not getting this kind of staining from these blocks. I am wondering what she does differently than my other birds.

 

I guess from now on I am going to have to be cruel to be kind. No more orange blocks for Emerald! Will post pics soon.

 

 

I believe this is the culprit.

 

Sorry she does like to throw fresh corn on the walls.

Edited September 25, 201311 yr by Phoebes

I took more pics of Emerald. My eyesight is really bad but these pictures do not reassure me. It really seems like something is wrong with her cere?

 

http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/bbbirdie/media/moreofEmerald009_zpsf2125dab.jpg.html

Here is the link if someone would like to give me an opinion on her.

It looks like I am going to have to get Emerald to a Vet. The more I look at this the more I think something is going on.

Could this be hyperkeratosis?

It's a bit hard to say Phoebes, she could be going out of breeding condition, which could mean her cere is peeling off the old layer (which I think it could be) or she could have a bit of scaly face can't tell. If it'sscaly face it will get worse or it will clear up to a smooth cere when she comes into breeding condition again.

 

As to the orange staining do you think she could be scratching her cere along the block? Maybe it's like peeling skin and gets itchy.

Thanks so much for answering. My daughter is going to come over tomorrow with a better camera. All my budgies are non tame so I dread trying to catch her and bring her to the vet. She has been with all the other birds for a year and none of them have anything resembling this. We got her from the adult bird cage at the pet shop and I noticed right away she seems cross eyed. There is something different about her eyes and all my other budgies. I don't know if you can see it.

My birds get an orange stain from carrot.

 

from what i can see in your picture phoebes, id consider treating for scaly face mites with a dose of ivomectin.

Here cere looks just like a couple of my hen's when they are going out of breeding condition. If you look closely at the picture, I think you can see the smooth cere coming through at the edges. Hope this is all it is.

okay thank you all, at any rate I will post new pics when my daughter comes over after work. I don't want to treat for anything until the vet sees her. I don't drive and it's real cold outside so I have to wait for the hubby. Also no other part of her health seems to be touched so far. I know they are very good at concealing illness though. Luckily since early summer the birds have all been in cages two by two because of the couple who decided to start laying eggs. Everyone else looks perfectly fine. I do have one bird that is a bit handicapped she also came from an adult cage and possibly suffered a small stroke but got a clean bill of health from the vet though when she came in. This one has to avoid stress. Besides a small limp she shows no signs of illness (Loki is the handicapped one).

 

She (Emerald in pictures) is in with her boyfriend Charlie and he dotes over her. If she has scaly face I guess they will both need treatment. I don't want to separate them because this little female is very nervous.

 

My birds get an orange stain from carrot.

 

from what i can see in your picture phoebes, id consider treating for scaly face mites with a dose of ivomectin.

 

So beautiful by the way, did you take this picture?

Edited September 26, 201311 yr by Phoebes

I've been trying to get close ups of Emerald but with a camera phone I am not having much luck. I did get this shot. It's probably just as useless though.

 

She did eat some carrots today.

RDV with vet Monday at 9.

Edited September 26, 201311 yr by Phoebes

Looking at this picture (enlarged a bit) Phoebes I really think it's only a breeding condition thing, it seem better than first pics. If you compare her picture to Paulie's hen there is very little difference. I Don't think I would worry unless it gets worse.

Well I am so glad you posted robyn. I was a bit worried that the vet visit was only Monday. It's very stressful for such a little thing to go to the vet. They want to clip her wings. She is very talented at getting away. She does a pretty good worm imitation if you try to hold her. All the while biting like she is about to be eaten. I'm not looking forward to it but it will put this thing totally to rest.

I have a couple of days to prepare for this. Unfortunately this gives me time to think of everything that could go wrong like the cold outside. Emerald is a very nervous bird. She will often hold out her wings a bit in the presence of a human showing signs of stress. She is totally wild. I have asked for tricks before for catching them. I have tried dimming the lights ect.

 

I have to remove the cage from the room because the other birds don't like to see a bird being caught. Also I was thinking either of putting her in one of those cardboard boxes they sell the budgies in at the pet-shop or buying a small cage and maybe having her boyfriend accompany her for security. Charlie is not really afraid of humans. He actually got out of the cage once when the door to the room was open. He used to like the cat and looked like he thought it was just a big bird. He just let me pick him up off the curtains when he realized the cat was really not very nice. Luckily no harm came to him.

 

Any tips you can give me about going to the vet with such a small bird would be helpful.

I'm going to continue documenting Emeralds state for the record. Hopefully another user with a similar problem might access these images after. My daughter thought I cancelled use of her good camera when I told her I had a RV at the vets. She didn't have the camera with her. However she does have 20|20 eyesight and said that she sees no pinholes in the cere. Here is a picture taken today.

I don't think there is anything wrong with her, she looks pretty normal and could just be some colouring rubbing off on her from something else.

I don't think there is anything wrong with her, she looks pretty normal and could just be some colouring rubbing off on her from something else.

I am thinking you are right. Today her cere looks like she has managed to rip more of it off. I think the hypothesis that it was itchy proposed by robyn is true. I have not canceled the vet though because I still think he should see her. It's tomorrow morning I have a little cage and it's been warmer today and yesterday. I also will have a little pet shop cardboard box as a plan B in case she is too excited in small cage.

 

I hope I can do this without causing her too much stress.

Here is what she looks like today. This is the first time I have seen parts of the cere actually fall off. Usually I just noticed the color going back to white.

 

Hi Phoebes. after looking at the first picture thought may have been mites as there seemed to be pinholes in here cere. Having seen subsequent pics Id agree that it is her going out of breeding condition. As far as your vet trip goes either the cage or cardboard box will be fine, and I think it will be more stressful for you than the bird.

Hi Phoebes. after looking at the first picture thought may have been mites as there seemed to be pinholes in here cere. Having seen subsequent pics Id agree that it is her going out of breeding condition. As far as your vet trip goes either the cage or cardboard box will be fine, and I think it will be more stressful for you than the bird.

 

Yeah the photos were bad and grainy so it did look like holes. You are so right, I was going nuts. I already have one bird that had a small stroke. The doctor was a bit late and she was breathing hard and it did not feel good. However when the doctor got there we felt much better. She was kind and gentle. She had a rag that she put over the small plastic cage (the pet shop sold us this instead of a box). She was able to check out Emerald and said it was not true what the secretary said that they had to cut the wings. It was totally unecessary (YES). She said that Emerald had a bit of hyperkeratosis probably because she was in the cage with a male. Maybe also because we got her at a year old and she had accumulated a lack of Vitamin A which she is having trouble with. She said that she won't supplement it because of the two supplements I am already using. She suggested keeping up stuff like broccoli and carrots but to try with fruit again. She asked about it and I admitted that I had no success with fruit. So basically Emerald has no other signs of illness.

 

She warned me that I may experience some excessive egg laying and that I should not throw the eggs out right away but boil or emty them so they would not keep laying thinking a predator has taken their eggs.

 

The vet was great using the little box I brought her in after the exam to weigh her instead of the iron contraption she had that looked like a strainer with a lid. All in all it went well. Now I hope Emerald isn't too traumatized.

 

To catch her I used the trick this website gave me. I put aluminum foil over the window and made the room really really dark. This worked although she did jump around in the little box at first.

 

Emerald squeeked a bit when she touched her belly but all in all it went well.

 

Oh and I have some reading to do .

Edited September 30, 201311 yr by Phoebes

I forgot also I used to give pellets with the seed and found the birds were not eating it or barely eating it and it was wasted. However the vet suggested I keep it in the freezer. In the fridge she said it's good about a month but in the freezer the time it can last is much greater. I've heard some negative things about pellets like some companies putting in rotten veggies and stuff. Hopefully this stuff is made right. It's hard to get broccoli grown without pesticides all the time here so I guess this may help.

Phoebes Im not a fan of pellets for the simple reasons that budgies are seed, fruit, veggie and grass eaters. Also the nutritional value claimed of pellets is generally lost due to the high temperatures used in the extrusion process.

 

Can you obtain steam cut high quality lucerne chaff? It is cheap AU$25.00 for 25Kg.That will keep me supplied for abt 6 months if kept dry. Budgies love it & it is high in most things that they need. I feed mixed millet seed with abt 5% sunflower seed, Egg and biscuit, fresh fruits and veggies and lucerne chaff.

Edited October 1, 201311 yr by paulie

Thanks for the information Paulie I will look up where I can find this in Canada. (lucerne chaff) Here we can buy fresh lucerne in grocery stores but it has often been associated with e coli outbreaks. I wanted to sprout seeds at one point but found I couldn't bring myself to trust it wasn't contaminated. I had seen reports about why the lucerne was sometimes contaminated and the bacteria was originally on the seed and grew when it soaked. They now wash the seed with some kind of bleach which is not really great for birds.

 

There is a bit of a language barrier being that everyone here speaks french. I am going to research lucerne to see if it is what I typically associate with this term (luzerne).

 

You are a treasure house of information Paulie! I really want to get good at this so I apreciate all the help.

 

I can't find a place that sells it for now. Usually the online website of Dr foster and smith has specialty stuff that I need but they only have hay for rabits. This may be something really hard to find here. I found images online.

 

Finally, I get my hands on a good camera. Daughter dropped it off on her way to work. So now I get to see what someone with 20\20 vision sees of Emerald.

 

 

 

GREAT NEWS: Lucerne chaff is known as Alflafa here in Canada and Dr Foster and Smith sell cubes of it!!!!!

Edited October 1, 201311 yr by Phoebes

Lucern is the mature form of alfalfa sprouts. I usually buy it in 25kg bags from a local stock feed. Is used as a horse food, be sure to use steam cut and the highest quality you can get. Should look a bit like chopped straw but green with a sweet smell. if it has a sour odor it isn't good enough.

Edited October 2, 201311 yr by paulie

I saw the steam cut stuff on a website but that website only sends it to Indonesia. So the steam cut is superior? So far this is the only place I found where I can get alfalfa but it doesn't look like it's steam cut. Could there be parasites on this?

http://www.drsfoster...cfm?pcatid=5899

 

Or is it a question of dust? I am trying also to find seeds to grow some. I can never grow enough for sure though because I tried growing lemon grass and eucalyptus trees and they eat them faster than they can grow and die. Our growing season is too short. I checked out the kaytee site and this alfalfa I can get is sun cured.

 

 

Here is what seems to be available, but I found what you buy on a website that says it only sends it to indonesia. I can't seem to find it here.

Edited October 2, 201311 yr by Phoebes