Sick Budgie

[Doeyed]

Hello everyone, as you can see I have a semi sick budgie on my hands. She is one of my adoption birds and I do adore her but I haven’t been seeing a positive change in her. So when I took her in, I noticed that her feathers were pretty bad. They were growing in odd ways and she seemed a little frustrated when I would touch them. I assumed she might have plucked them do to stress but it’s been 5 months since taking her in and there’s no improvement. If I hold her to check them it’s almost like they fall out. They are deff carrying a vein though cause she had a broken blood feather the other day. I have a vet appt for Wednesday and think it might be PBFD but I worry about parrot fever. She has no band despite the owners telling me she was bought at a petco / petsmart..has anyone dealt with this before?

She’s eating / drinking.
She is around 1 1/2 years old.
She is fed a seed mix / vegetable mix daily

 

[ParrotGenie]

Get her tested for Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD). How does her beak and toenails look? It could also be Psittacine Circovirus Disease (PCD)? Either virus that can causes feathers to fall out and usually beaks and toenails to become misshapen.

 

[Doeyed]

Thank you for replying so fast. Her toe nails and beak look fine. No abnormal droppings as I can see. She is currently quarantined away from the rest of my flock.

 

[Laurasea]

Also could be mites. Good luck keep us posted

 

[Laurasea]

Or post a pic,ook under text box hit advanced and paper clip one in

 

[Doeyed]

This is my sweet girl Echo.

 

[Doeyed]

This is a better view of the feathers (sorry for the many posts I’m still new at this)

 

[Scott]

Welcome to you and Echo! She's a beauty, hope all turns out well.

Will she see a certified avian vet or equivalent? Many facilities treat "exotics" and lack comprehensive training, equipment, and experience.

Please keep us updated as able after the visit!!

 

[noodles123]

I am not saying that your bird has PBFD--- that is obviously just one possibility out of many---BUT it is a very important one to rule out with certainty. There are few (if any) viruses more difficult to contain...



I just did a PBFD test with my cockatoo and thankfully, it was negative. That having been said, birds can carry PBFD and have few (if any) symptoms--it also has an insanely varied incubation period (ranging from a few weeks to 10+ years). They can still spread it around through things like feather dust and it can still be deadly without all of the classic signs...SO, do get the test done, even though the beak situation looks okay...especially because you have other birds.



Testing can be tricky, because there can be false negatives, but the fact that yours appears to be showing some symptoms means that now would likely be a good time to test because (if it is PBFD) it is likely actively shedding at the moment. Get the blood test done and not a feather test.

 

[Allee]

Welcome Doeyed and Little Echo. Your budgie is adorable. Excellent decision to quarantine Echo until anything contagious has been ruled out, it’s the best way to protect the rest of your flock. As Scott and Noodles have mentioned a blood work up performed by a certified Avian Veterinarian is your best course of action. Please let us know how the appointment goes.

 

[Doeyed]

Welcome to you and Echo! She's a beauty, hope all turns out well.

Will she see a certified avian vet or equivalent? Many facilities treat "exotics" and lack comprehensive training, equipment, and experience.

Please keep us updated as able after the visit!!

Thank you so much! And these two vets are both considered exotic vets but the one I made an appt with specializes in parrots and I have worked with both before. I'm planning to get a blood test done and for him to recheck for mites.

 

[Doeyed]

I am not saying that your bird has PBFD--- that is obviously just one possibility out of many---BUT it is a very important one to rule out with certainty. There are few (if any) viruses more difficult to contain...



I just did a PBFD test with my cockatoo and thankfully, it was negative. That having been said, birds can carry PBFD and have few (if any) symptoms--it also has an insanely varied incubation period (ranging from a few weeks to 10+ years). They can still spread it around through things like feather dust and it can still be deadly without all of the classic signs...SO, do get the test done, even though the beak situation looks okay...especially because you have other birds.



Testing can be tricky, because there can be false negatives, but the fact that yours appears to be showing some symptoms means that now would likely be a good time to test because (if it is PBFD) it is likely actively shedding at the moment. Get the blood test done and not a feather test.

I'm assuming the worst and taking precautions as if it were that. I plan to get my whole flock checked after she and another adopted budgie go. I spoke to a budgie breeder who has dealt with these viruses before and she said it could more than likely be French moult. I've never heard of that before but after research it might very well be that. But I will still get blood tests done on both birds just to make sure. Thank you very much for the reply

 

[Laurasea]

I'm not seeing the weird featheres in either pictures??????????? She looks beautiful. I see that she is molting and grow or no tail featheres, is the problem limited to just the tail feathere.

 

[noodles123]

I didn't see that there were pictures!

In the picture, they look normal, but anytime you see a weird pattern of shedding etc (outside of a normal molt) it is best to make sure everythng is okay. It could be nothing, but it is better to catch "something" early, rather than later.

 

[Doeyed]

I'm not seeing the weird featheres in either pictures??????????? She looks beautiful. I see that she is molting and grow or no tail featheres, is the problem limited to just the tail feathere.

Thank you so much, yeah Echo is a real sweetie. Her feathers in those pictures look normal but they usually grow in odd directions and when they fall out they're extremely thin. Not a usual molt like I've seen with my other 14 budgies. So far in quarantine she's lost 7 primary feathers. Either way I still want to get her tested for parrot fever. I know companies like petco and petsmart do chlamydia testing on their birds before selling due to that outbreak that happened awhile ago but I don't know if her previous owners were being honest with me about buying her there

 

[EllenD]

Welcome to the community!

I'm glad you're getting her tested for PBFD, and make sure that they also run all of the "routine' blood-work as well and not just the individual tests for Avian Viral Diseases, because another huge cause of feather issues in captive/pet birds is malnutrition and/or some type of nutritional deficiency. We all tend to go right to the Avian Viral Diseases, and with good cause, but when it comes to captive/pet parrots, especially ones that you adopt as adults that have already been owned by someone else, you really have no idea what they were fed or what kind of environment they were kept in prior to you adopting them. And nutritional deficiencies develop over-time gradually...And of course with Budgies they are typically fed nothing but a cheap seed-mix that are usually very high in fat, low in protein, low in vitamins/minerals/amino-acids etc., and this can very quickly cause Liver and Kidney issues, as well as issues with their GI Tracts absorbing nutrition from the food that they do eat. And there are many, many health conditions and diseases that can cause a bird to not absorb nutrition from the food that they eat, and they include everything from Avian Viral Diseases like PDD to malabsorption conditions of the GI Tract.

In-general your Budgie does look extremely healthy in that photo...Her feathers are very bright and clean, they aren't chewed-up, at least not badly, her beak and toenails look very healthy, the color of her beak and skin on her feet looks nice a pink and does not show any signs of Anemia, and her weight looks good, she's definitely not underweight or emaciated, so that generally indicates that she is absorbing nutrition from her food. But being undernourished and being malnourished are two totally different things...The good news is that most of the very nasty Avian Viral Diseases also cause weight loss, either due to a loss in appetite/anorexia or malabsorption issues. And she doesn't show any signs of anything like that...

I'd have to agree with your friend who is the breeder that her feathers growing-in oddly/abnormally and falling out easily is most-likely the result of something like French-Molt or some other disease/issue with the feather-follicles themselves, which are extremely common in captive Budgies and Cockatiels as well. And while it's never good to have any type of health issues, this being a localized, non-systemic condition that is specifically effecting her feather-follicles is one of the best-case-scenarios when it comes ot a bird having feather issues...

Keep us posted on how she's doing and what the Vet says. Hopefully this Exotics Vet has a good amount of experience in diagnosing feather/skin issues in birds, and they know what specific blood-tests to run...

***Something that you should mention to your Vet and ask them to also do is to take a culture/swab of your bird's skin, make a smear/wet-mount of the swab, and look at it under their microscope right there in the office, as this can be and often is caused by a topical Fungal/Yeast infection of the bird's skin, and if it is then lots and lots of Yeast will be easily seen on a slide of a skin-swab. That would be best-case scenario, and would be easily cleared-up with an oral or injectable Anti-Fungal medication like Nystatin. This is very, very common in pet parrots, and I've seen topical Fungal Infections cause everything from feathers falling out, feathers growing in incorrectly, feathers not growing back-in at all, to actually causing long-term plucking and self-mutilation issues...This happens because the topical Fungal Infections are extremely itchy so the bird starts over-preening itself, which turns into the bird plucking feathers out to relieve the itching. And what happens is that when a bird plucks a feather out it immediately releases endorphins in their brain, and it feels good and creates what we would call "a high', sort of like a 'runner's high" or a rush that feels very euphoric, just like opiates or other drugs cause. And as a result, even after the Fungal Infection is diagnosed and treated with the proper medications and is totally gone, the bird continues to pull their feathers out because they literally become addicted to the euphoric "high" that they get from the endorphins that are released every time they pull out a feather. So after the Fungal Infection is fully treated and gone, then they have to address the addiction to pulling feathers out, usually with an anti-anxiety drug such as Haldol or Valium, or with some type of anti-depressant drug...You Budgie obviously isn't plucking herself badly, but you did mention that she may be over-preening or plucking a bit, and that could very well be an indication that the issue is an external, topical Fungal Infection...So be sure to request that this vet take a culture/swab from her skin and look at it right then and there in the office, it shouldn't need to be sent-out to a lab just to diagnose a topical Yeast Infection; I've looked at skin swabs under a regular compound-light microscope like they have in Vet offices, and you can immediately see tons and tons of Yeast all over the slide if that is the issue.

 

[Doeyed]

Welcome to the community!

I'm glad you're getting her tested for PBFD, and make sure that they also run all of the "routine' blood-work as well and not just the individual tests for Avian Viral Diseases, because another huge cause of feather issues in captive/pet birds is malnutrition and/or some type of nutritional deficiency. We all tend to go right to the Avian Viral Diseases, and with good cause, but when it comes to captive/pet parrots, especially ones that you adopt as adults that have already been owned by someone else, you really have no idea what they were fed or what kind of environment they were kept in prior to you adopting them. And nutritional deficiencies develop over-time gradually...And of course with Budgies they are typically fed nothing but a cheap seed-mix that are usually very high in fat, low in protein, low in vitamins/minerals/amino-acids etc., and this can very quickly cause Liver and Kidney issues, as well as issues with their GI Tracts absorbing nutrition from the food that they do eat. And there are many, many health conditions and diseases that can cause a bird to not absorb nutrition from the food that they eat, and they include everything from Avian Viral Diseases like PDD to malabsorption conditions of the GI Tract.

In-general your Budgie does look extremely healthy in that photo...Her feathers are very bright and clean, they aren't chewed-up, at least not badly, her beak and toenails look very healthy, the color of her beak and skin on her feet looks nice a pink and does not show any signs of Anemia, and her weight looks good, she's definitely not underweight or emaciated, so that generally indicates that she is absorbing nutrition from her food. But being undernourished and being malnourished are two totally different things...The good news is that most of the very nasty Avian Viral Diseases also cause weight loss, either due to a loss in appetite/anorexia or malabsorption issues. And she doesn't show any signs of anything like that...

I'd have to agree with your friend who is the breeder that her feathers growing-in oddly/abnormally and falling out easily is most-likely the result of something like French-Molt or some other disease/issue with the feather-follicles themselves, which are extremely common in captive Budgies and Cockatiels as well. And while it's never good to have any type of health issues, this being a localized, non-systemic condition that is specifically effecting her feather-follicles is one of the best-case-scenarios when it comes ot a bird having feather issues...

Keep us posted on how she's doing and what the Vet says. Hopefully this Exotics Vet has a good amount of experience in diagnosing feather/skin issues in birds, and they know what specific blood-tests to run...

***Something that you should mention to your Vet and ask them to also do is to take a culture/swab of your bird's skin, make a smear/wet-mount of the swab, and look at it under their microscope right there in the office, as this can be and often is caused by a topical Fungal/Yeast infection of the bird's skin, and if it is then lots and lots of Yeast will be easily seen on a slide of a skin-swab. That would be best-case scenario, and would be easily cleared-up with an oral or injectable Anti-Fungal medication like Nystatin. This is very, very common in pet parrots, and I've seen topical Fungal Infections cause everything from feathers falling out, feathers growing in incorrectly, feathers not growing back-in at all, to actually causing long-term plucking and self-mutilation issues...This happens because the topical Fungal Infections are extremely itchy so the bird starts over-preening itself, which turns into the bird plucking feathers out to relieve the itching. And what happens is that when a bird plucks a feather out it immediately releases endorphins in their brain, and it feels good and creates what we would call "a high', sort of like a 'runner's high" or a rush that feels very euphoric, just like opiates or other drugs cause. And as a result, even after the Fungal Infection is diagnosed and treated with the proper medications and is totally gone, the bird continues to pull their feathers out because they literally become addicted to the euphoric "high" that they get from the endorphins that are released every time they pull out a feather. So after the Fungal Infection is fully treated and gone, then they have to address the addiction to pulling feathers out, usually with an anti-anxiety drug such as Haldol or Valium, or with some type of anti-depressant drug...You Budgie obviously isn't plucking herself badly, but you did mention that she may be over-preening or plucking a bit, and that could very well be an indication that the issue is an external, topical Fungal Infection...So be sure to request that this vet take a culture/swab from her skin and look at it right then and there in the office, it shouldn't need to be sent-out to a lab just to diagnose a topical Yeast Infection; I've looked at skin swabs under a regular compound-light microscope like they have in Vet offices, and you can immediately see tons and tons of Yeast all over the slide if that is the issue.

I was deff gunna ask them to do a swab culture as well. I didn't even think of a possible fungal infection because her feathers weren't yellowing but I'll mention that to my vet as well. This is so helpful thank you so much!

 

[Doeyed]

Okay so a little update for everyone. Echo and another budgie Toki were taken in today. The vet doubts it is PBFD. She thinks her feathers are growing in weak due to past bad nuitrition and or genetics. She wants me to bring in a sample of her feathers and recommending me elsewhere for blood work cause she doesn’t feel comfortable taking blood from a budgie. Now I noticed my other female budgie, Ghost has a bald patch between her wings. I only just noticed this today...after I came home from the vet. She has some pin feathers in that area so I’m not sure if these two have related problems or she’s having a bad molt/someone plucked them. I’m going to be keeping a very close eye on her and will call an avian vet Monday when they’re open.

 

[noodles123]

Glad she gave you a referral for blood.
I am guessing she is going to test the feathers for PBFD, but that test is less accurate than the blood test (maybe she has a different analysis in mind). I know that she thinks that their symptoms don't look like PBFD, but considering birds can have it and not show symptoms, I am not really sure she can say that without testing...so, I would still do that blood test.

 

[Doeyed]

Glad she gave you a referral for blood.
I am guessing she is going to test the feathers for PBFD, but that test is less accurate than the blood test (maybe she has a different analysis in mind). I know that she thinks that their symptoms don't look like PBFD, but considering birds can have it and not show symptoms, I am not really sure she can say that without testing...so, I would still do that blood test.

I still plan to get blood work done on her and my other female Ghost. I would still like to do the feather test just to be reassured. Just kinda sticks not knowing how to help right away. I’ve gotten them some supplements in the meantime.