Budgie Health

Budgie Health: signs of a healthy budgie, tips to ensure a healthy budgie, what to do in case of an emergency, budgie signs of illness, how to remove a broken blood feather, how to curb hormonal tendencies, info on egg-binding, how to assemble a budgie emergency first aid kit, and more.

Keep a close eye on your budgies health. A healthy budgie has bright clear eyes, a shiny non-flaky or crusty cere and beak, strong shiny bright feathers, will chatter and fly about happily. If your budgie is huddled and fluffed up on the floor of their cage - get them to an avian vet immediately. Budgies are prey animals and will conceal any sign of illness for as long as possible so they will not be cast from their flock or picked out by predators as weak. If they are showing signs of illness - you know it's very bad.
It is important that your budgie have a proper diet of seed, fruit/veggies, and pellets. See our Food section for easy healthy recipes that will get even the pickiest budgie eating their veggies and pellets! Budgies need plenty of out-of-cage time to fly around in order to stay healthy and fit. Be sure to weigh your budgie regularly as weight loss is the easiest way to know your budgie is sick.

When you bring a new budgie into the home and you already have birds, be sure to put the new bird in quarantine for a minimum of 30 days to be sure they are not carrying any illnesses that could be passed on to your current birds. Keep them in a different room and always wash your hands after handling them.

If your budgie has been caught by another animal (such as a cat or a dog) get them to an avian vet asap.

Emergency: If your budgie has:

ingested/inhaled poison
fallen into water (toilet, etc)
electric shock (biting electrical cords, etc)
stepped on
door closed on
hit by ceiling fan
flew into window
bitten/clawed by another pet
burned

or shows any of the following symptoms, get them to an avian vet immediately. Be sure to take your budgie to an avian vet and not your regular pet veteranarian as bird vets require special vet training.

Budgie Signs of Illness

poop change, runny/lack of droppings
poop stuck to vent
decrease talking/activity
picking/plucking at feathers (not regular preening)
feathers dirty/stuck together/ratty
discharge from eyes/nose/beak
abnormal breathing
dull/swollen/runny/cloudy eyes
falling off perch
hunched over
lumps/bumps/sores or swelling
weight loss
not eating
weak/fluffed up
tail bobbing
bleeding
convulsing
runny/inflamed cere
vomiting (not the regurgitation they do as part of bonding)

In a Budgie Emergency

Key: Stay calm.
Gently restrain bird with a small towel or washcloth.
If bleeding, gently apply pressure to wound with serile gauze square.,br> In case of broken/fractured bones - place bird in stockinette to keep wings still.
Place bird in small hospital cage with heating pad or hot water bottle under half of the cage. Cover cage with warm blanket.
When transporting bird to the avian vet, make sure the hospital cage is secure and covered for warmth and darkness.

How to Remove a Broken Blood Feather

Stay calm. Gently restrain the bird with a small towel, taking care not to restrict breathing by constraining around the chest. With a hemostat or tweezers, firmly grasp the broken bleeding feather at the base and pull in one swift motion in the direction of feather growth. After the feather has been removed, apply moderate pressure with a serile gauze pad to stop bleeding for one minute then apply flour or corn starch.

How to Curb Hormonal Tendencies

Every year around springtime budgies everywhere go mad with hormones. This can be a problem with female budgies especially as some will start laying eggs, which is very hard on a budgie body. They can become susceptible to egg-binding, oviductal prolapse, peritonitis, and deat. My budgie Skye has battled with this year after year. It is especially hard for her because we also have many handsome boy budgies that she wants to get busy with. She has had lupron treatment which didn't work because of her contact with the boy budgies. The only thing that finally worked was permanantly separating her from the boys and getting a spring Lupron shot. She has had thousands of dollars in vet care for the hormonalness and 2 egg-binding incidents.

Here are some ways to discourage hormonal budgies:

Less light per day. No less than 12 hours of dark. Springtime's longer hours of light signal breeding mode in budgies.
Take away any cage liners, newspaper, soft wood shreddy toys, or other nesting-mode-triggering toys and materials
No soft, moist food that reminds them of gurg (regurgitation)
Give them their food at certain times of day but don't leave a whole bowl out all day long. Having an abundant food source makes budgies think it's a good safe time to lay and raise a clutch of baby budgies.
Remove any toys or other objects they may be amorously attached to. This sort of behavior includes lots of head-bobbing, beak-pecking, kissing, regurgitation, and vent rubbing.
Move the cage to a different part of the room. Rearrange their cage toys more frequently. This will discourge them from feeling the cage is a safe place to lay their eggs.
If your budgie does lay eggs. Shake or freeze them but do not remove the eggs. She will simply lay more if you remove them and this is very hard on her body as it depletes her store of calcium.
Make sure your budgies don't have access to any dark, enclosed spaces. These are similiar to hollow tree cavities they nest inside of in the wild.
Make sure your budgie is eating a healthy diet rich in calcium and getting plenty of exercise and Full Spectrum Light. It is especially important that they be in peak health when going through the stress of hormone overload.
If none of these steps work and your budgie continues to lay eggs, talk to your avian vet about hormone injections. Our budgie Skye gets a Lupron injection each spring, in addition to having no contact with the other budgies, in order to avoid egg-binding.

Budgie Emergency First Aid Kit

Budgie First Aid Kit

styptic powder/flour/corn starch to stop bleeding (Quik Stop causes soft tissue damage) for broken feathers and nails
heating pad/infrared lamp
bandage/roll of gauze/gauze squares
hospital cage
avian vet number/hours
towel/washcloth if you have to towel them
bird nail clippers
tweezers
scissors
hydrogen peroxide
neosporin (creme not the oil-based)
charcoal capsules (to absorb toxins - only on advice of poison control)
grapefruit seed extract (anti-microbial disinfectant)
sterile saline solution (for cleaning wounds and flushing eyes)
pedialyte (for rehydration)
betadine disinfectant
aloe vera gel
wire cutters
masking tape
cotton swabs

First Aid For Birds: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet
In case of poisoning: call National Animal Poison Control Center Hotlines 1-800-548-2423 - $30 per case 1-900-680-0000 - $20 first 5 minutes, plus $2.95 per additional minute AND see your avian vet.

Avian Vets International Directory.