Accidental budgie owner

[littlebudgie]

Hi!
This is my first post here, I've been reading around and felt like sharing my story too and maybe get some tips and pointers

I work at a pet store, a week and a half ago our store got a shipment of new budgies. Turned out one of them were damaged during transport. Fortunately, it's rare that this happens and they're usually fine after being in a crate of their own for a day. This budgie however just got worse overnight at the store, it went from being "just" a hurt foot to not being able to drink or eat and legs just hanging under its body.

I decided to take her home with me to keep an eye on her until it was possible to take her to a vet. This was on a Friday night, so no vet possibilities until Monday. I took her home in a travel crate, fixed her some food and waterbowls that was accessible to her even though she was laying flat on the ground. The first night i stayed up with her giving her water through a syringe.

Saturday afternoon she was scooting around on the bottom of the travelcage, eating and drinking on her own. By Sunday she was chirping and flying around a bit. Her travelcage was small, i felt bad keeping her in there all day, so i let her roam on her own.

Monday finally comes, vet can't figure whats wrong, legs arent working, but they cant find any damage, no fractures, no bruising, no swelling. So she goes back to my home to see if she gets any better.

Wednesday this week she finally stands up on her legs, shes perching, singing a little bit, playing with things and being curious. One of her feet was still not working though. They're just there...she uses it as a hook when climbing, when she perches she can keep her balance with it, but it varies from being clutches up like a fist and kinda just dragging there.

On Friday, when there was no sign of improvement of the foot, she was deemed not fit for sales for the store. We can't keep them at the store, so the store owner said i could keep her if i wanted to, he also set me up with a cage of my choosing, toys and food.

So here we are! Accidental budgie owner... Didn't plan on getting another pet, i already have a dog, i'm not much of a bird person, but i couldnt let her be put to sleep just because her only flaw is that she'll need flat perches instead of round ones.

Shes a sweetheart so far, she bit me at first, but she stopped doing that yesterday, i can now pick her up without any fuss. She still freeroams all day im home since her cage wont arrive for another week or so. She seems to be very content with that, i set up some toys she can chew apart.

She's very young, bars all the way down to her beak, so i hope she can still recover fully.

If anyone has any tips on how to make her life a little easier, I'll gladly take any experiences or suggestions to heart.

 

[veimar]

Greetings from another accidental budgie owner - I just got two budgie babies as a free bonus to my lovebird this Monday. If she has a cage, correct food and plenty of attention she should be fine. What kind of vet did you go to? Was it an avian vet or just a regular one? I'd recommend you find a GOOD avian vet in your area and let him/her check this baby. She might get okay on her own, but maybe she needs some intervention… who knows. Anyway, bless your kind heart, and good luck!

 

[littlebudgie]

Greetings from another accidental budgie owner - I just got two budgie babies as a free bonus to my lovebird this Monday. If she has a cage, correct food and plenty of attention she should be fine. What kind of vet did you go to? Was it an avian vet or just a regular one? I'd recommend you find a GOOD avian vet in your area and let him/her check this baby. She might get okay on her own, but maybe she needs some intervention… who knows. Anyway, bless your kind heart, and good luck!

Congrats on your new budgies

It's an all-round vet with plenty of bird experience, he also consulted with an avian vet. There's no avian vets where I am, the closest one is about a 26 hour drive away. Which is the one he consulted with.

 

[veimar]

Oh I see… I need to think of becoming an avian vet - they are in such high demand! LOL So we just have to hope she's gonna be fine. Even with one foot she can make it if you keep her happy. If she was mine I would try gently to check on her foot myself when she would be comfortable enough with that.

 

[littlebudgie]

Oh I see… I need to think of becoming an avian vet - they are in such high demand! LOL So we just have to hope she's gonna be fine. Even with one foot she can make it if you keep her happy. If she was mine I would try gently to check on her foot myself when she would be comfortable enough with that.

Haha, yeah, the thought occured to me too, i shouldve become an avian vet. Didnt realize there were so few around here.

 

[Allee]

Hello, welcome to the forum. Thank you for sharing your story. Very kind of the pet store owner to set you up with a cage and toys. My mom rescued six parakeets from really sad circumstances a few weeks ago. One of the little guys was missing a toe and his leg appeared to be completely paralyzed. We cleaned the wound and put him in a cage by himself. He slowly regained complete use of his leg and remaining toes. Hopefully as your little one heals from his injury he will learn to navigate comfortably. Looking forward to pics and updates.

 

[hacatta]

i'm glad you took hr,and indeed nice of the owner to set you up with a cage and food.
Shows he too cared about the little birdie,doesn't happen a lot in pet stores as far as i know.
Hope to see some pics and a name^^

 

[DannyA93]

Maybe she has some damaged nerves?? If that's the only problem the body will figure out a way to go around that! Can we have pics and her name??

 

[Kiwibird]

My mom's amazon had a stroke several years ago. Just fell off his perch in the middle of the night. Vet diagnosed him as having had a stroke. Mind you, he is very old, but his feet took quite a while to recuperate before he could perch again. They just kind of dangled there for a while, even though the rest of him 'worked fine', which kind of sounds like your birds problem. Wonder if this little baby had a stroke over the stress of being shipped? Either way, I'm glad you took her in, and I hope she fully recovers. If not, she will overcome her disability and compensate for it. I will never forget on vacation once, we saw a wild pigeon who had no feet at all and was getting around pretty darn good on it's 'stubs'. Birds have an amazing resilient spirit about them

 

[littlebudgie]

Here she is, i got no idea if its really a female, but her cere is a very light blue with a hint of white rings around the nostrils, so im just assuming its a she for now

Her ruined foot is the one you see here, it changes from looking like that to be clenched like a fist. I really hope it gets better like it did for the previous posters here, she deserves it.

She has no name yet, i might not even give her a name, shes very independent so far. Like to sit on the opposite side of the room, she doesnt seek attention. I dont feel like i own her, i didnt buy her, i just happened upon her. She goes where she pleases, and we co-exist in peace
If she ever wants to start to partake in my daily life, i'll give her a name, until then, shes a free bird!

And yes, my boss is very caring for the animals in his store. Big cages with few animals/birds in each, lots of toys, food and water changed twice daily along with fruit and veggies. Even for the crickets. People drive for hours and hours to come to our store even when they got their own local store.

 

[Kiwibird]

Hearing it goes from semi curled to balled up makes me think even more it was *something* like a stroke. She may be trying to straighten it. Hope she recovers fully!

She's a pretty budgie IMO, she has to be called SOMETHING, so how about Miss Bird, since she hasn't let you in on her first name yet And sometimes things are just "meant to be" and it sounds like you were meant to have this special little sweetheart in your life.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

My grandma had a budgie with this exact same thing when she was growing up. It could fly but lets legs were useless. It used to 'perch' by balancing on the perch leaning against the cage wall. It was a happy, healthy, loving and well cared for little guy in every other respect and never knew it had a disability. Good on you for taking this little baby in. She can have a happy life even if her legs don't work!

 

[veimar]

Oh, she is so cute! Looks like my little boys, same colors. Hope she is gonna be well!

 

[BEWolf]

The reason that she is a bit stand offish is partially due to her problem, but the main reason is that she is in a new environment and hasn't had enough time to adjust to it or you. If you will just start talking to her she will get past this much quicker and begin to want to spend time with you. Just by doing this, she will eventually come to you on her own and either land on you or climb up on you.
A couple of cautions the first is that Teflon like on skillets and other heating appliances are toxic to her and kill her and I would be very careful of leaving her to roam free with a dog in the same space unsupervised.
Diet, I do hope you are aware that a seed only diet is not good for her and that you need to supplement it with fresh fruits and veggies.
You may also consider removing all perches that are dowel rods and replacing them with natural branches. Ones from a pine tree would be good, just wash them well and heat in oven at 450 degrees F. for 15 min. leave the bark on. The dowels can lead to bumblefoot and she has enough problems in that dept. already. And as you have already noticed a few flat spaces for her to perch and sleep on.

 

[littlebudgie]

Hearing it goes from semi curled to balled up makes me think even more it was *something* like a stroke. She may be trying to straighten it. Hope she recovers fully!

She's a pretty budgie IMO, she has to be called SOMETHING, so how about Miss Bird, since she hasn't let you in on her first name yet And sometimes things are just "meant to be" and it sounds like you were meant to have this special little sweetheart in your life.

Hehe, Miss Bird it is for now then.

My grandma had a budgie with this exact same thing when she was growing up. It could fly but lets legs were useless. It used to 'perch' by balancing on the perch leaning against the cage wall. It was a happy, healthy, loving and well cared for little guy in every other respect and never knew it had a disability. Good on you for taking this little baby in. She can have a happy life even if her legs don't work!

Fortunately her legs work now, they recovered, its just her foot thats not playing nice right now, so shes moving pretty normally and can perch

So sweet of your grandpa to take care of the little budgie!

The reason that she is a bit stand offish is partially due to her problem, but the main reason is that she is in a new environment and hasn't had enough time to adjust to it or you. If you will just start talking to her she will get past this much quicker and begin to want to spend time with you. Just by doing this, she will eventually come to you on her own and either land on you or climb up on you.
A couple of cautions the first is that Teflon like on skillets and other heating appliances are toxic to her and kill her and I would be very careful of leaving her to roam free with a dog in the same space unsupervised.
Diet, I do hope you are aware that a seed only diet is not good for her and that you need to supplement it with fresh fruits and veggies.
You may also consider removing all perches that are dowel rods and replacing them with natural branches. Ones from a pine tree would be good, just wash them well and heat in oven at 450 degrees F. for 15 min. leave the bark on. The dowels can lead to bumblefoot and she has enough problems in that dept. already. And as you have already noticed a few flat spaces for her to perch and sleep on.

Yes, i understand shes not tame yet, and it takes time, so im not rushing it, letting her do this in her on pace. Shes landed on me once on accident, she didnt find anywhere else to land, so apparently im ok for an emergency landing, so at least im not THAT horrible to her.

Kitchen is upstairs from the floor she gets to hang out on with a door closed in between, so shouldnt be an issue. The dog isnt alone with the bird, i got a velcro dog, so as long as im in the house hes right next to me.

When it comes to fruit she gets options every day, she has no interest in them right now, but she came here very young, so im guessing she just hasnt discovered the joys of fruit yet and isnt eager to try anything new until shes more comfortable. But the option is there, along with a mineral stole with extra calcium since she might be a lady bird.

Aaaand the perches ive bought are natural wood branches, they vary in thickness along with a few flat wooden perches. She cant use all of them yet since she doesnt have a cage, the cage i picked up doesnt arrive until next monday. So shes pretty much a free bird til then and pick her own places to perch around the room. She has her travel box for night time and when im out, but, other than that shes out and about.
Which i think works very well, so im probably going to just leave her cage door open during the day when she does get her cage.

 

[DannyA93]

Budgies usually take more to veggies rather than fruits have you tried giving her any?? And I'm so glad she's already doing better! My budgie will only sit on my finger in his cage if I don't make any major movements so congrats on getting a landing!! lol! What a lucky lil birdy miss bird is

 

[littlebudgie]

Budgies usually take more to veggies rather than fruits have you tried giving her any?? And I'm so glad she's already doing better! My budgie will only sit on my finger in his cage if I don't make any major movements so congrats on getting a landing!! lol! What a lucky lil birdy miss bird is

I've tried carrot sliced thin enough that its easy for her to eat it, cucumber, broccoli, so far she only pays attention to her seeds, i'm sure it'll pick up as she gets more comfortable : )

My dog has been giving her toys all day, and shes enjoying those, so shes relaxing a bit.

Have you had your bird long?

 

[littlebudgie]

They're becoming quite the friends. Fun to watch, and the dog is so careful with it too.

 

[littlebudgie]

She grabbed my finger with both her feet today!

 

[Kiwibird]

She grabbed my finger with both her feet today!

So is her injured/limp foot working better then? Glad she's making some progress. She knows you mean her know harm and is starting to trust you. Congrats!