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| Got hints or good suggestions about curing a budgie? Put them in the guest book and I may publish them here. Don't worry, I'll be sure to give you the credit!
My budgie is acting strange, what should I do?
The first thing to do is STOP and observe. Don't let your bird know your there, watch it quietly. The reason you need to do this is that in the wild budgies try very hard not to look sick, because that makes them an easy target of prey, they do this in captivity too. So when your budgie sees you it'll try to look like its not sick. But don't be fooled. If your budgie is sitting almost horizontally on it's perch, all fluffed up, breathing heavily and sort of half closing it's eyes, it's sick. The best thing to do is keep
your budgie warm and quiet. If your bird is with another budgie separate them. You don't want the other bird getting sick too. Put the sick budgie in a box (cardboard is fine) with a towel in it for warmth. Put food and water in too.
Then get another cloth and cover the box with it but leave a hole for air. If you have an infrared light or a very warm light shine it on the box. Make sure it's only on one half of the box so the bird can get out of the heat if it needs to. If you don't have a light put a heating pad on the bottom of half of the box. Make sure it has a towel over it so the budgie's feet won't get too warm. When you see your bird getting better, slowly move the lamp or heating pad away from the box so the temperature drops gradually. If your budgie does not get better in a few days go to the vet. DO NOT USE THIS TREATMENT ON BIRDS WITH A BROKEN OR SPRAINED WING OR LEG. IT CAN HARM THEM.TAKE A BIRD THAT HAS BREATHING PROBLEMS TO THE VET RIGHT AWAY I.E. THE BIRD IS HANGING FROM THE CAGE SO IT CAN BREATH AND/OR YOU CAN HEAR IT GASPING OR WHEEZING. |
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| QUESTIONS THE VET WILL ASK
What did you first notice when the bird became sick
Has the bird been sick before?
When and what medication/treatment did you use?
What kind of bird seed and fruit/vegetables does your budgie eat? ( bring a sample of seed)
How old is the budgie?
SOURCES OF LEAD
Many birds die because their owners don't know that their pet is chewing on lead. For instance I heard of a person whose cockatoo got very ill from zinc poisoning. It turns out that the bird liked to sit on top of the metal shower door while the person took a shower, and had been nibbling at the flakes. Lead poisons budgies too, so read this list so you can prevent your budgie from getting poisoned. It was sent in by Chris. Thanks Chris!
Antiques (collapsible tubes, other lead items) Lead frames
of stained glass windows, doors, ornaments, or Tiffany lamps Weighted items (plastic toy penguins, ash trays) Weights for draperies, fishing, scuba Boat supplies requiring weights Batteries, solder, bullets, air rifle pellets Old pain, sheetrock, galvanized chicken wire, hardware cloth. Some foil from champagne or wine bottles Mirror backing, linoleum, some zippers, costume jewelry, base of light bulbs Dolomite and bone meal products. Chronic exposure to leaded gas fumes. Also, some zink buttons.
Another source of metal poisoning, not necessarily lead, is costume jewelry. Not real gold or silver, but stuff that looks like gold or silver. So be careful about letting your bird chew on your necklace, earrings, or rings. I got this information from a board certified avian vet. 
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