I think Ive mentioned this in other posts a few times but now Im getting more concerned. Candy has never been a great flyer he has always preferred to be in his cage playing than out. The last few times I have made him come out because like I have said he is getting quite chunky obviously from not getting enough exercise he does a few flutters but when he does fly he falls to the ground everytime because of course he hasnt the strength to fly any longer and he is all puffed out. Apart from this is is the happiest budgie Ive known. I know this will affect his health in the future but what can I do he hates flying and hates being out of his cage Im running out of ideas and hate to see him fall all the time, I just want him to be healthy and happy and he is only 8 months old!

well i don't really know Boomberry. My friends budgie is the same. She has to get her hout the cage and she will only do a little flying before lnding in a heap on the floor exhausted.

Will he sit on your shoulder or anything? He might just need confidence to be out and about.

Sorry i haven't been much help.

Thanks Budge at least I know its not only me, He will sit on my shoulder for a bit he is my tame budgie so its not the confidence thing, Im at a real loss as to what I can do to help - maybe there isnt anything, I just dont want his life cut short by something I could help with. None of my other birds are like it - not even Fatty Patty hehe!

maybe he is a laid back budgie! They all have different personalities don't they.

It is common for budgies to become overweight. You will need to weigh him to get a base weight, then check with your vet about the best way to put him on a diet, and what a safe rate of weight loss would be. Regular weigh-ins are a must, as well as checking the condition of the feces. As the weight comes off, he hopefully will be more inclined to fly more. Mine are on one too.

okay what type of diet are yours on Rainbow - the thing is Candy shares a cage with 3 others most of the time, would I have to put him by himself why he was dieting or not, the others are fine and not overweight obviously because they exercise. Any ideas how I can weight him without him flying off?

Boomery-my Budgy2 was like that. I decided not to put any more millet or treats at all in the cage till I tried to improve his fitness.Normally I open the cage where it stands and they will fly out and onto the tealight holder,Budgy however tended to just stay there,so instead of just letting him out of his cage I started to put the cage at the opposite end of the room and that way he had to fly the full distance of the room to get to the tealight. Then a few times a day I would get him to at least fly from object to object,just to keep him moving a bit but watching him carefully to make sure he wasn't getting stressed.

This actually did make an improvement to his fitness an he lost weight too.

Also,check his feather condition,Budgy has always had poor feather quality so on a regular basis I take him out and spray him with a feather conditioner,while he is damp I actually smooth out all his flight feathers by gently stroking them flat.he doesn't seem interested in preening them properly himself and I'm sure this affects his flying ability.

His feathers always look neater after I've done this.

I put Vitapet in his seed twice a week too.

Julie

Thanks Julie I might try making him have a litle flutter he cant really fly the full room circuit without landing in a heap on the floor so maybe just as you say from object to object just for a few minutes every night. I will take the millet out and the fruit stick the only thing is the others eat those too so will be depriving them a bit .

 

How long did it take for Budgy2 to lose a bit of weight.

 

Im going to Asda tonight to buy some scales and I will try weigh him tonight.

Hard to say how long it took really but I would say about a month, I don't weigh them,wouldn't know where to start! but he just he just looks more slender somehow.Funnily enough when he flew this moring he landed on the floor and when I picked him up I noticed some of his flight feathers were looking bedraggled so I'll be smoothing them out again which does seem to help. He never seems to bother to run his wings through his beak like the others do-I don't know why.

I wouldn't worry about the others not getting their treats for a while,it won't do them any harm. Maybe you could tale Candy into another small room for exercise and pop them a treat in while she's not there?

Julie

Yeah Ive just found some scales in Argos which I will go get later and get fatso weighed tonight hehe. Funny though Candy is always preening and he has just got a really nice tidy new tail feather. I just think its really his lack of exercise but I think your right I will have ago with your method starting tonight and see if we can get his tum tum down a bit.

Maybe you can put the treats for the others somewhere in the room so he has to fly to them! When he gets there, after a few moments, move it to another part of the room. That way the others will get to eat the treats, and he will have to fly for his treats!

Good idea Lin to be honest I will try anything right now, Im going for some scales in a little while and Im going to weigh him tonight. I am really dreading it what if he is like 100gms or something!

He won't be 100g! That would be like a sumo budgie. I really doubt he'll be more than about 40g.

He is Sumo Bea havent you seen any pics of him recently his tum is huge - is 40gm really huge?

Blinkie is 30g. Can you post a picture? He can't possibly be as porky as Buzz.

 

This shows his fat tum off is Buzz as big as that?

 

Does his weight concern you it does me.

my rocky weighed 45g boomberry! he was very healthy. Don't worry about it.

He looks about the same as Buzz. She went through a phrase of not being able to fly very well cause she's just such a porker! She'd go to the effort of climbing right around the aviary instead of flying.

I know but Rocky could fly okay couldnt he, Candy just falls in a heap like your friends budgie, I just want him to be healthy - anyway I guess I will be able to reveal his weight in the morning - thats if I get him to sit nice for me.

Is Buzz okay now Bea has she lost any weight at all and is she flying better?

She can fly a bit now. Not as far or fast as the others but she can still do it.

okay so heres the bad news Candy weighed in at 54g - now these were scales I got at a high street store not medical ones so Im not sure how acccurate they were plus he was dancing around on them.

 

Anyway he is on a strict diet of seed, egg mix, spinach, apple, carrot, broccoli and banana with me taking him out for half an hour each night to try build up his flying skills.

 

Does anyone have any other suggestions that might help him out.

 

He can have half a millet when he reaches 40g.

Sorry, that made me laugh! You're weight loss plan for him is very good! Do you have a vet you could ring to see what weight he should be for his size? Some budgies are healthy at about 45g.

Yep we have an avian vet Mr Chadwick that works Wednesdays and Thursdays, I'll ring him tomorrow should I just measure his height feet to head?

 

Im hoping he is going to maybe lose 3-4 grams a week nothing too fast - I reckon he should if he is not eating treats or millet and if he has a little fly everyday not far just to exercise his muscles a bit.

3-4g a week could be too fast. I'm not sure but wouldn't that be like us losing 3-4kg a week?