Can someone help please. I have two budgies Sunny (female lutino) and Magic (male recessive pied). They are both about 7 months old. We had Magic first and got Sunny about two months later -they have been together for about 3 months now. They seem to get on quite well and they preen each other quite a lot. However they also fight sometimes but only little pecks - nothing that looks too serious. We have just been over to the cage to cover them for the night and Magic has some dried blood on his cere on one side (looks almost like he's had a nosebleed) - he seems fine otherwise with no visible damage. There is a tiny spot of dried blood on the perch (which is an apple tree branch - previously cleaned and baked and with no sharp edges). There is a cuttlefish in the cage which we have just noticed has become quite sharp around the edges. Do budgies normally get nose bleeds? Or do you think it could be though the cuttle fish or through fighting? Should we try and bathe his cere or will he need to see a vet.

i would take him to the vet anyway, even if the blood is dried, just to make sure. i wouldnt touch it as it might be painful for him and if the blood is dried it has turned into a little scab anyway sso it should be fine until you get him to a vet.

 

it sounds like fighting from your post, but peanut once grazed his cere on a chest of drawers and it appeared bruised and had a tiny cut on it - there wasnt enough blood to form a drop on the floor and it healed fine by itself.

 

if their fighting becomes physical then i would separate them to live in separate cages, you can keep the cages close together if you want, some budgies just prefer their own space - im sure your vet will be able to give you some advice too.

It's probably too late, but I would have cleaned off the cere with a warm wet q-tip to get a better idea of where the cut is. If the bleeding has stopped, and the wound isn't open, I'd say he will be okay, but you could call your vet to make sure. I've had birds get their ceres slightly torn (like a scrape), but with no blood, and it has healed fine. Budgies do not normally get nosebleeds. If the cuttlebone is that sharp, throw it away and get a new one in case his cere got damaged by it instead of a toy or the other bird.

 

What did you end up doing?

It's probably too late, but I would have cleaned off the cere with a warm wet q-tip to get a better idea of where the cut is.  If the bleeding has stopped, and the wound isn't open, I'd say he will be okay, but you could call your vet to make sure.  I've had birds get their ceres slightly torn (like a scrape), but with no blood, and it has healed fine.  Budgies do not normally get nosebleeds.  If the cuttlebone is that sharp, throw it away and get a new one in case his cere got damaged by it instead of a toy or the other bird.

 

What did you end up doing?

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Thanks for your advice. We already took the cuttlebone out last night just in case. We didn't really want to touch his cere last night as it did look a little sore. He looks okay this morning but the nostril still has the dried blood on and looks a little blocked so we are going to take Magic to the vet today just to get him checked out. It would be a shame to separate them as they do seem to get on well - they sit together all the time, do a lot of preening and also spend a little time on the bottom of the cage collecting loose feathers into a pile (trying to nest?) but seem to have the occasional argument where they bob up and down and squawk a little.

I'm glad he seems alright. Keep us posted on the vet trip.

I'm glad he seems alright.  Keep us posted on the vet trip.

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thanks for your advice

my mum rang the vet and explained what was wrong with magic and the vet said he should be fine but just keep an eye on him just incase he acts differently or unwell and if he does then bring him back for a check-up.

 

thanks for all your advice

justine

glad he's okay, when my budgie hurt his cere it was purple and bruised looking for about 2 weeks and then it healed and the grazed part flaked off by itself.

glad he's okay, when my budgie hurt his cere it was purple and bruised looking for about 2 weeks and then it healed and the grazed part flaked off by itself.

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It's much better today - now the tiny bit of dried blood has gone and looks fine. I'm still worried though - I'm sure Sunny (female) has bashed him because he's really not happy with her - he's sitting on a separate perch and keeps turning his back on her. He's a bit of a grumpy budgie anyway - we got Sunny to try and cheer him up but he does tend to ignore her - she gets quite cross!! It seems a bit worse now though because they haven't preened each other at all yesterday and this morning she is trying to get his attention and has gone to peck him a couple of times. Is it usual that budgies fall out after a few months together or does that normally happen straight away??? Not sure what to do.

they might not have fallen out, my budgies used to preen eachother all the time, but now they hardly ever do it. they do bicker over food and toys and things but their bickering hasnt ever come to the point where they have injured eachother, the most i have ever seen them do is put a foot on the other ones wing s a warning to go away.

 

if your certain it was fighting, i would separate them into different cages at night but let them play together during the day, see how things go. keep the cages next to eachother if you want to or keep them in separate rooms, it might do them good to have some time apart and realise how lonely they are without the other one. how big is the cage they are together in? maybe there isnt enough room in there for them both to have their personal space?

 

sometimes my budgies love eachother and sometimes they hate eachother, just like humans do. they are funny little things, once my green budgie - peanut cuddled up next to my white budgie - casper and rubbed his head on caspers chest, you should have seen caspers face! he puffed out his chest and he looked like a little boy that had just got a sloppy kiss from his grandma! :(Laughing out loud): he was so disgusted he went and slept on a different perch! (Laughing out loud)

Edited June 11, 200520 yr by pixie25

they might not have fallen out, my budgies used to preen eachother all the time, but now they hardly ever do it. they do bicker over food and toys and things but their bickering hasnt ever come to the point where they have injured eachother, the most i have ever seen them do is put a foot on the other ones wing s a warning to go away.

 

if your certain it was fighting, i would separate them into different cages at night but let them play together during the day, see how things go. keep the cages next to eachother if you want to or keep them in separate rooms, it might do them good to have some time apart and realise how lonely they are without the other one. how big is the cage they are together in? maybe there isnt enough room in there for them both to have their personal space?

 

sometimes my budgies love eachother and sometimes they hate eachother, just like humans do. they are funny little things, once my green budgie - peanut cuddled up next to my white budgie - casper and rubbed his head on caspers chest, you should have seen caspers face! he puffed out his chest and he looked like a little boy that had just got a sloppy kiss from his grandma!  :(Laughing out loud): he was so disgusted he went and slept on a different perch! lolHi - Justine's mum here (I write most of the postings!!!) - thanks for your reply.  I've just been watching them closely for the past hour.  They aren't really friends at all at the moment - they are hopping back between one perch and the others and when they are on the same perch Sunny will just go up and give Magic a peck - mostly he just backs away and occasionally he will peck back.  She is such a stroppy bird - sqwauking a lot and looking for attention.  Their cage is about 30mm (wide) x 60mm (long) x 50mm (high) with one perch lengthways in front of their food/water bowls (2 seed bowls!) and three others across (one each end & a smaller, 1/2 width, lower in the centre).  I really hope this is a temporary fall out!  They have both only been out of the cage once - Magic when we first got him & he flew into all the walls - terrifying and Sunny once - she was more controlled.  We try leaving the cage door open occasionally but Sunny just sits on the landing perch and Magic doesn't venture out at all.

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is there any chance you could post a picture of their cage? it might just be a case of moving things around in the cage. the cause of most arguments is usually food. sometimes budgies will bully eachother and walk up and down the perch in front of the food, so that the other budgie cannot get any. is it possible for you to move the seed dishes or perches so that there is a separate perch for each dish? try to keep them on the same level though otherwise they will fight for the highest one.

 

keep two of everything in the cage, and if you have a spare cage i would definitely use it for one of the birds to stay in overnight - be it only temporary.

 

have you changed the perches around since you got your new budie? if your first one was in the cage on his own for a while before you got another, he may be terratorial about it. if this is the case try moving around absolutely everything in the cage and let them explore it together.

 

good luck

is there any chance you could post a picture of their cage? it might just be a case of moving things around in the cage. the cause of most arguments is usually food. sometimes budgies will bully eachother and walk up and down the perch in front of the food, so that the other budgie cannot get any. is it possible for you to move the seed dishes or perches so that there is a separate perch for each dish? try to keep them on the same level though otherwise they will fight for the highest one.

 

keep two of everything in the cage, and if you have a spare cage i would definitely use it for one of the birds to stay in overnight - be it only temporary.

 

have you changed the perches around since you got your new budie? if your first one was in the cage on his own for a while before you got another, he may be terratorial about it. if this is the case try moving around absolutely everything in the cage and let them explore it together.

 

good luck

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You're absolutely right - it is mostly the food they fight over - we had a green holder with one of those Trill toppers (seed & herbs in the middle) in it so I just put another in on the opposite perch. Trouble is when they have eaten some of it it becomes loose & falls out onto the floor. Then they both fight over the remaining one!! I will post a picture of the cage & my lovely budgies - I just went to and digital camera batteries are flat - need to recharge. Magic was on his own for a couple of months but when we first got Sunny he was delighted - it was so funny to watch and that's when I put new (apple tree) perches in and moved stuff around. He doesn't play with the toys much but doesn't seem to want her to either. Going to look on e-bay for a spare cage - don't want a tiny one so I might find a bargain there!! Thanks again for the ideas - this forum is great!