Expert: RK - 3/15/2008

Question
Let me start from the beginning... I just rescued two budgies, Poofy and Duke about four months ago (LONG story) but they came to me ill with airsac mites and a fungal infection, so after giving them medication four times a day for three weeks, they have recovered from their illness. They were both under-weight so I had been mixing flavorless pedialyte in their drinking water several times daily to ensure they maintained their electrolytes.

Poof has fully recovered, put on substantial weight, and is the healthiest bird I've ever seen.

Duke still hasn't gained much weight and his balance seems to be off. He bites at his feet often, though there are no signs of mites or scaly face/feet or anyt injuries that would prompt this. He tries to jump from one perch to another and isn't strong enough to land, so he falls to the bottom. He can perch normally, but he doesn't maneuver well. He also loses his balance when he preens. He's never fallen off of his perch while preening, but he's clearly unsteady. I've put a towel with paper towel over it on the bottom of the cage so that it's a soft landing for him and so his nails don't get caught in the terry cloth. His wings were partially clipped when I got him. I let my birds have free flight, so his are growing in. They seem to be growing evenly, so I don't think it's the clip that's throwing him off.

His droppings are normal as is his appetite. I've been giving him 1.5ml pedialyte by syringe every 2-3 hours today and will continue until he sees the vet on Tuesday. Also, his crop looks swollen. I'm not sure if that's because it's actually swollen or if it's because he's so underweight.

Have you ever heard of this? If so, what can I ask the vet to test for?

I'm desperate for answers, so any help you could give me would be VERY VERY appreciated!

Thanks so much for your time and thought!

Karen & Duke

Answer
Hi Karen,


I know Poofy and Duke are probably happy together but until you really find out what is wrong with Duke i recommend that you separate the birds, if Duke is still unwell it will spread to poofy again.

I have had similar symptoms in one of my birds, the weakness, loss of balance, loss of weight and Pecking at his legs but nothing to do with his crop. He turned out to have a nervous system problem and a mass of preen gland tumours i got him put down but from what your telling me i don’t believe Duke is that unwell.

With Dukes crop there could be a few things wrong to try and rule out two possibilities if you can pick him up and gently feel if the crop is it hard and heavy or puffy and full of air? If his crop feels like its full of air he could have a blockage caused by sour crop its usually seen in chicks being hand fed but can still happen with older birds. Are you giving him the pedialyte cold in the syringe? If so this could have caused slow emptying of his crop causing generalized weakness eventually the food wont empty at all then the food ferments and gases start to swell the crop I would cut down on the pedialyte because he might be having a reaction to it. If the crop isn’t making it hard for him to breath or topple over wait till you see your vet so he can help.

It could also be a benign tumour or cyst on the Brest bone which would be heavy and cause him to be unbalanced. Your vet will probably lance a cyst to release pressure and then he will give you a cream or medication to give Duke then it will clear up and that should go away.

Unbalance can also be caused by a nervous system problem, weakness from being unwell, or if he has been unbalanced from the day you got him the previous owner has clipped his wings from an early age and he has never learnt to balance properly. any of the young birds that i have taken in with clipped wings can't hold food with their feet or preen without losing some balance. You need to be careful letting him out of the cage when he is unbalanced because he could break his neck and if he lands heavy on his chest that can cause a cyst.

Birds can also get vertigo or middle ear infections which could explain unbalance in an otherwise healthy looking bird so you could ask your vet if that's a possibility also ask about a cyst or tumour.

If he is pecking at his legs all day with no sign of mites it means he is in pain or getting some kind of sensation in his legs that he's not liking, He could have an allergy to his perches if they are a type of wood that's not suitable for birds but he would have sores on the pads of his feet, check his whole body and make sure there are no lumps it could be a tumour giving him pain because he has no other symptoms and i can't actually examine the bird with my experience this is all i can suggest to you.

I would also try to build up his strength with hard boiled egg and millet would be excellent to put some weight on him but introduce it in little bits so it doesn’t upset his digestive system.
If you've just been giving him seed that could be making him loose weight they need way more nutrition that just seed they need carrot, apple (without the pips and skin), lettuce celery, grass and sprouting mung beans are high in vitamins.

Hope all goes well at the vet
Rosie