Hi there, I have a 7 year old budgie who has had this problem for a few years. He does a funny thing where he eats a bit of seed then he looks like he's chewing for ages and he smells really strongly of chlorine (bleach)!!! This can last for about 15 minutes then he is back to normal again - eating, drinking and pooing normally. I have taken him to an avian vet before and he didn't know what the problem was - have tried antibiotics and antifungal solution but neither has worked. He doesn't look or act unwell. Has anybody else experienced or heard of such a thing??

 

I've never heard of this. Have you tried giving him a different seed mix? Does it happen when he eats his fresh foods too or just with seeds?

Its wierd - nobody seems to have heard of it!! We have tried giving him different seed and he only does it when he is eating seed - not all the time though.

that is really bizarre! has he done it on every single seed mix you tried?

 

I've only tried him on trill and avia because thats the only seed I can find

what do you guys recommend??

Can birds suffer from Acid Reflux? I have never heard of it but I guess anything is possible with these complex little creatures.

I've no idea!! he is a strange little fella!

I would try him on your own seed mix from a health food store. He might have some sort of allergy to one or more of the seeds used in the commercial mixes you've tried. How this would cause him to smell like bleach, I have no clue. But anything is possible!

 

There's a recipe in the diet section that I posted a few days ago if you want to give that a try. If nothing else, it's healthier than a commercial mix.

 

*edit*

Here's the post: http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=7533

Edited January 5, 200619 yr by eterri

This is just a gut feeling, but ask your vet to test your budgie for diabetes mellitus. it is a condition that can affect budgerigars. there are many forms of diabetes, but this is one of the (although fairly rare in any form) more common ones in budgies. If it is this condition, it is usually NOT an insulin dependant form of diabetes. The bird can usually compensate naturally for the diabetes without developing notable signs of ill health. Under times of unusual stress however, the bird can display signs of illness.

In time, this problem often rectifies itself with no adverse reactions or damage.

I think its an avenue worth checking out even so. Is your vet deffinately an avian vet?

that's brilliant thanks very much for your help. i'll give it a shot and see what happens!

 

This is just a gut feeling, but ask your vet to test your budgie for diabetes mellitus. it is a condition that can affect budgerigars. there are many forms of diabetes, but this is one of the (although fairly rare in any form) more common ones in budgies. If it is this condition, it is usually NOT an insulin dependant form of diabetes. The bird can usually compensate naturally for the diabetes without developing notable signs of ill health. Under times of unusual stress however, the bird can display signs of illness.

In time, this problem often rectifies itself with no adverse reactions or damage.

I think its an avenue worth checking out even so. Is your vet deffinately an avian vet?

 

 

 

oh no!!! that doesn't sound very good!! Yeah it was an avian vet I took him to the last time. He checked his crop for fungus and gave him a general check up - said he seemed fine. Said he could do a blood test but that it could be dangerous for him! didn't want to do that in case he died. Scared to take him back now

How often does this happen. If it's very in-frequent then the risks of a blood test probably out weigh the benefit seeing as he's a mature age of 7.

he does it almost every day i think. going to try new seed mix and see how it goes. he's not unwell with it and he's had it for ages which makes me think that its nothing too serious...hopefully!

 

thanks everyone for the help

aww Cheeky, its not serious if it is that, and its just a suggestion anyway :rip:

To test if it's an allergy to a type of seed, you can feed him each type of seed individually, and see what happens. However, try to do it over a period of time, so that his nutrition doesn't suffer

Good luck trying to figuire out what the problem is. It's certainly strange!

Let us all know how you get on with changing his diet.

will do! am having real trouble at the moment trying to find somewhere that sells the seeds individually. I've got a different mix from the usual trill - just has 3 types of millet so i'll try that and see how we get on.

cheeky ive just notest shadow does this is well!he seems happy and healthy and eats and is very energetic how is cheeky?

Rainbow used to do something like that, and another one of my males does it now after eating, but not every time. It smells a bit "cheesy" to me. My previous vet said it was normal and had something to do with regurgitation in males and not to worry. Apparently they don't always spit it out. Ew. It was a long time ago I asked and don't really remember details. So I didn't think anything of it when I noticed it in a different bird. If you are really worried I would call around to another avian vet and ask about it. Now that you've brought it up, I will ask my new vet when I take them in for their annual later this month, and see if I get the same answer. Health, eating, weight, singing, flirting, all that is fine just like you said. It's curious.

yeah he's perfectly happy!! still very cheeky and it doesn't seem to bother him!! I'm not really worried about it but it would be great to find out what your vet says. He doesn't regurgitate at all any more so you could be right!

 

Its good to know that i'm not the only one with a strange bird!

i hope its just redergitating!shadow does it alot heeeee loooovvves jjlol i wonder what he does when he meets kiwi the girl