Budgie has watery poop?

[Vilatus]

Hi everybody!

My budgie suddenly has watery poop. He just got into the sink in my hands, took a bath, and drank a bunch of water while doing so. Could this be why? He seems absolutely normal otherwise. He's eating, playing, chirping like crazy, etc. His weight was normal when I checked it last night. I haven't checked it yet today though.

Any ideas?

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[UlyBirb]

Birds' poop often gets a bit more watery if they have had lots of water or watery fruits or veggies! If he is normal and it's a one-off then nothing to worry about. Keep an eye on him just in case but he's most likely fine.

 

[EllenD]

It is most-likely due to the water he drank, if he drank quite a bit of it and enough time had passed that it would have effected his droppings...However, you never, ever want to just pass it off as just being due to something they ate or drank and then let it go, be sure to keep checking his droppings to make sure they normalize within 24 hours. If they don't, then something isn't quite right...If he shows any signs at all of be lethargic and not playing/moving normally, he starts sleeping more than usual. he goes to the bottom of his cage, looks unstable or dizzy, like he has lost his balance, starts breathing heavily, vomits, etc. then right to the Avian Vet or if it's after-hours to the emergency animal hospital, as Budgies hide their illnesses and pain better than any other parrot does, and unfortunately due to their size, it's often too late by the time they get to the Avian Vet. It's probably nothing, just the water, but watch him closely for the next 2-3 days...

 

[Vilatus]

It is most-likely due to the water he drank, if he drank quite a bit of it and enough time had passed that it would have effected his droppings...However, you never, ever want to just pass it off as just being due to something they ate or drank and then let it go, be sure to keep checking his droppings to make sure they normalize within 24 hours. If they don't, then something isn't quite right...If he shows any signs at all of be lethargic and not playing/moving normally, he starts sleeping more than usual. he goes to the bottom of his cage, looks unstable or dizzy, like he has lost his balance, starts breathing heavily, vomits, etc. then right to the Avian Vet or if it's after-hours to the emergency animal hospital, as Budgies hide their illnesses and pain better than any other parrot does, and unfortunately due to their size, it's often too late by the time they get to the Avian Vet. It's probably nothing, just the water, but watch him closely for the next 2-3 days...

I'll make sure to watch closely. Luckily he's never been truly sick, he seems to be fairly healthy.

Also another question while I'm thinking of it... have you ever heard of a budgie wheezing? He's had the wheeze the entire two years he's been with me, and even gone to the vet over it. They couldn't find anything wrong but gave him medication as a precaution. It's honestly like birdy asthma almost- it gets worse when he flies a lot.

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[UlyBirb]

My boyfriend's budgie has the same problem. They took her to the vet and it turns out she has a collapsed lung. May be the case for your little one.

 

[Vilatus]

My boyfriend's budgie has the same problem. They took her to the vet and it turns out she has a collapsed lung. May be the case for your little one.

Oh, that's awful... I don't think so for mine though, he's had this issue the entire time I've had him, which was shortly after he became independent from his parents. (2 years) isn't that an immediate life threatening condition?

Also on a other note, good news! He pooped before bed and it was normal again!

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[Vilatus]

My boyfriend's budgie has the same problem. They took her to the vet and it turns out she has a collapsed lung. May be the case for your little one.

Also in addition to my previous reply, my vet could barely hear the wheeze and said his breathing sounded fine. I might just be paranoid.

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[UlyBirb]

My bf's budgie has as well! She is perfectly fine otherwise though

If your vet isn't able to identify what's wrong and your budgie's doing fine, I wouldn't worry too much... if it becomes worse there's a reason to worry, but in the meantime sounds like he's doing okay :heart:

 

[Vilatus]

My bf's budgie has as well! She is perfectly fine otherwise though

If your vet isn't able to identify what's wrong and your budgie's doing fine, I wouldn't worry too much... if it becomes worse there's a reason to worry, but in the meantime sounds like he's doing okay [emoji813]

Oh, really? That's strange. I wonder if that's at all genetic. Perhaps like a predisposition to the condition. Does your boyfriend's budgie happen to be albino?

Ok, thank you. I'll try not to overthink it then. I'll absolutely take him in if something seems off, but he seems alright now, and has been!

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[UlyBirb]

She's not albino, no! Birds are very strange creatures. Who knows. If he's eating and drinking and is active, he sounds good!

 

[EllenD]

Have they done a plain-film x-ray on your Budgie yet?

Whatever the reason, the "wheezing" is not normal, even if he's had it since he was born it's not normal. The best way to diagnose a Chronic issue like this is by first doing an x-ray, and if that doesn't give you answers (which it likely will) then you do a full, routine blood panel, as he should have done anyway, so that you have his baseline results for future comparison.

I'd be getting an x-ray immediately if you haven't already. Again, even if he's been wheezing upon exertion since he was born, it's not normal, and there's a reason...

And please do your bird(s) a favor...NEVER allow any vet to give them a prescription medication, such as an Antibiotic or an Antifungal unless they find a specific reason to give it to them...Many vets think that Baytril is a cure-all, but what often happens when it's given "Just In Case" or "As a Precaution" is not only does it do no good unless the bird has a Bacterial Infection that it specifically treats, BUT it often results in the bird developing a Secondary Fungal Infection throughout it's GI Tract/Crop/Mouth. There is absolutely no reason at all to give a bird/reptile/dog/cat etc. an Antibiotic "Just In Case". The same thing is going to happen that happens to people, they eventually become resistant to Antibiotics helping when they actually do need them.

 

[Vilatus]

Have they done a plain-film x-ray on your Budgie yet?

Whatever the reason, the "wheezing" is not normal, even if he's had it since he was born it's not normal. The best way to diagnose a Chronic issue like this is by first doing an x-ray, and if that doesn't give you answers (which it likely will) then you do a full, routine blood panel, as he should have done anyway, so that you have his baseline results for future comparison.

I'd be getting an x-ray immediately if you haven't already. Again, even if he's been wheezing upon exertion since he was born, it's not normal, and there's a reason...

And please do your bird(s) a favor...NEVER allow any vet to give them a prescription medication, such as an Antibiotic or an Antifungal unless they find a specific reason to give it to them...Many vets think that Baytril is a cure-all, but what often happens when it's given "Just In Case" or "As a Precaution" is not only does it do no good unless the bird has a Bacterial Infection that it specifically treats, BUT it often results in the bird developing a Secondary Fungal Infection throughout it's GI Tract/Crop/Mouth. There is absolutely no reason at all to give a bird/reptile/dog/cat etc. an Antibiotic "Just In Case". The same thing is going to happen that happens to people, they eventually become resistant to Antibiotics helping when they actually do need them.

They have not. I'm unsure if my vet offers that actually.

I'll see what I can do to get him into the vet ASAP. Honestly I think I might need to find a different vet, as the one I go to has recommended that treatment multiple times for when I've had a concern about my birds health...

Thank you for sharing this with me! Do you happen to know a resource I could use to study up on health issues for my birds? I always feel as if I know a fair amount and then something like this happens...

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[EllenD]

I don't know of a "specific" resource, like one website that is better than another, but this forum is probably the best source you'll find anyway, as it's full of experienced bird owners who have gone through these things and know first-hand about them, or in my case and the case of a lot of others, we've bred birds for years, or we went to school for some sort of Animal Health/Biochem/Medicine major...

It sounds to me like the vet you've been using is just your very typical "Exotic Vet", which unfortunately in the United States only means that they are a General Vet who is WILLING to see animals other than dogs and cats. An "Exotics" Vet in the US can call themselves that without ANY additional education, training, or experience, they just see any animal who walks through the door usually. So your Vet sees a Ferret, then sees your bird, then sees a Bearded Dragon...that doesn't bode-well for any of their patients, as they know no real specifics.

As far as just handing out Antibiotics like they're candy without even taking a culture, this too is unfortunately very prevalent with Exotics Vets, and I think the reason for this is basically time and money. They want to see as many patients as possible, a lot of them don't have a lot of money, so they hand out Baytril like it's the best thing since sliced-bread...and this is why Baytril is starting to not work against any Bacterial strains at all in Birds, Reptiles, Rodents, etc. It's ridiculous. Think about human doctors today; hardly any of them will just give-out a prescription for an Antibiotic without a culture, blood test, x-ray, etc. anymore like they used to do, because look what happened, we have a ton of what used to be very effective Antibiotics that no-longer work for anything...And that's why. So now they are scared to death to give anyone Antibiotics without absolutely knowing if they need one, and that's how it should be...Look at MRSA and how difficult treating it is. That's what is going to happen in the Veterinary world soon because of exactly what your vet and many others do every day. Plus, they hardly ever suggest a Probiotic along with many doses of Antibiotics to protect against a Secondary-Fungal Infection in the bird/reptile...it's frustrating...

If your vet just doles-out Antibiotics to your bird without confirming a diagnosis, you need a new vet. That's the lazy, irresponsible way of practicing medicine, and if the truth be told you don't need a vet to do that, you can order Baytril online without a prescription from many, many different retailers. If your vet isn't confirming what's wrong with a Culture, X-Ray, Blood Work, etc., then why in the world pay them $100 to look at your bird, literally just look at him, maybe weigh him, and give you a bottle of Baytril that you can buy online for $30? I'M NOT TELLING YOU TO DO THIS, LOL, JUST MAKING A POINT!....

Definitely get your Budgie to a Certified Avian Vet/Avian Specialist, and tell them that he's been wheezing ever since you've had him, that the other vet did a Culture but found no Upper Respiratory Infection, but that they never even did an X-Ray, let alone blood work. Tell them that it gets worse upon exertion, and tell them you're concerned about it. The first thing they'll most-likely do is a regular x-ray, which doesn't cost much, and they'll most likely recommend a regular Nebulizer treatment, depending on what is going on. He may have a Congenital Disease of his lungs, he may have fluid in his lungs, he may have a growth, you don't know. All that you know is that it's not a Bacterial Infection in his Upper Respiratory Tract, which I could have told you anyway because if it were an Infection he'd be dead by now from it...

 

[Vilatus]

I don't know of a "specific" resource, like one website that is better than another, but this forum is probably the best source you'll find anyway, as it's full of experienced bird owners who have gone through these things and know first-hand about them, or in my case and the case of a lot of others, we've bred birds for years, or we went to school for some sort of Animal Health/Biochem/Medicine major...

It sounds to me like the vet you've been using is just your very typical "Exotic Vet", which unfortunately in the United States only means that they are a General Vet who is WILLING to see animals other than dogs and cats. An "Exotics" Vet in the US can call themselves that without ANY additional education, training, or experience, they just see any animal who walks through the door usually. So your Vet sees a Ferret, then sees your bird, then sees a Bearded Dragon...that doesn't bode-well for any of their patients, as they know no real specifics.

As far as just handing out Antibiotics like they're candy without even taking a culture, this too is unfortunately very prevalent with Exotics Vets, and I think the reason for this is basically time and money. They want to see as many patients as possible, a lot of them don't have a lot of money, so they hand out Baytril like it's the best thing since sliced-bread...and this is why Baytril is starting to not work against any Bacterial strains at all in Birds, Reptiles, Rodents, etc. It's ridiculous. Think about human doctors today; hardly any of them will just give-out a prescription for an Antibiotic without a culture, blood test, x-ray, etc. anymore like they used to do, because look what happened, we have a ton of what used to be very effective Antibiotics that no-longer work for anything...And that's why. So now they are scared to death to give anyone Antibiotics without absolutely knowing if they need one, and that's how it should be...Look at MRSA and how difficult treating it is. That's what is going to happen in the Veterinary world soon because of exactly what your vet and many others do every day. Plus, they hardly ever suggest a Probiotic along with many doses of Antibiotics to protect against a Secondary-Fungal Infection in the bird/reptile...it's frustrating...

If your vet just doles-out Antibiotics to your bird without confirming a diagnosis, you need a new vet. That's the lazy, irresponsible way of practicing medicine, and if the truth be told you don't need a vet to do that, you can order Baytril online without a prescription from many, many different retailers. If your vet isn't confirming what's wrong with a Culture, X-Ray, Blood Work, etc., then why in the world pay them $100 to look at your bird, literally just look at him, maybe weigh him, and give you a bottle of Baytril that you can buy online for $30? I'M NOT TELLING YOU TO DO THIS, LOL, JUST MAKING A POINT!....

Definitely get your Budgie to a Certified Avian Vet/Avian Specialist, and tell them that he's been wheezing ever since you've had him, that the other vet did a Culture but found no Upper Respiratory Infection, but that they never even did an X-Ray, let alone blood work. Tell them that it gets worse upon exertion, and tell them you're concerned about it. The first thing they'll most-likely do is a regular x-ray, which doesn't cost much, and they'll most likely recommend a regular Nebulizer treatment, depending on what is going on. He may have a Congenital Disease of his lungs, he may have fluid in his lungs, he may have a growth, you don't know. All that you know is that it's not a Bacterial Infection in his Upper Respiratory Tract, which I could have told you anyway because if it were an Infection he'd be dead by now from it...

Ok. I'm fairly active here even if I'm just reading rather than posting so I'll keep it up.

Ah, yes... unfortunately that's who I have to see. I'm going to look again but I don't think there's any avian specific vets in my area. If I can find one within a reasonable distance I'll take him there. Vet trips will just have to be a bit more planned.

Thankfully, the vet has only given me an antibiotic once. It was probably baytril, but it's been over a year so I couldn't tell you for sure. I'll look into getting a new vet, absolutely. They are extremely caring with my families dogs, unfortunately now dog, so we assumed they would be our best bet for the birds as well. They don't just pump patients in and out without taking time which is nice, but if they aren't properly equipped to handle exotics then that's just how it is. Lmao, going to go on Ebay and buy me some baytril in bulk!! Definitely not a terrible idea.

I'm going to look for avian vets now. Hopefully I can get him in soon. I just hope this hasn't been an issue that's been causing him any pain. In the past I've asked some other people about this and they had no clue what to even say, so thank you for telling me all this. Google hasn't been helpful either.

At the least right now, the issue I made this thread about is solved! Also, would you mind if I PMed you with some questions? I have a couple other random health questions.


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