Chapter 7 – For Better Health
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Although budgies are very hardy birds, they are subject to a variety of bacterial and viral illnesses. They may have genetic medical conditions, or they may be exposed to disease through interactions with other birds. Your budgie can develop nutritional deficiencies and metabolic problems if she is kept on a poor seed-only diet instead of on a pelleted diet that contains the range of vitamins she needs. If she is fed too much food and doesn't get a chance to exercise several times each day, she will become overweight, storing fat both under the skin and around her internal organs.
Although you will be able to control what your budgie eats and limit her exposure to birds who may be carrying disease, there are many illnesses beyond your control. And you may not be able to recognize these conditions without the guidance of a veterinarian trained to care for parrots.
Your first job as a pet owner is to make sure you select a healthy bird from the breeder or pet store. You can check for obvious signs of illness or injury, but have a veterinarian examine the bird as well. If the bird is ill, return her for a refund or exchange.
First Things First
Choose a local veterinarian experienced with birds before you bring your budgie home. Plan to schedule an appointment for your bird's first examination to occur as early as the day you purchase her, and certainly no more than three days after. This exam will confirm that you have purchased a healthy bird, and it is likely to be required by your pet store's written health guarantee. Any reputable pet store offers a written guarantee of some type, generally stating that, if within a certain number of days (usually anywhere from three to thirty days) a veterinarian determines the bird is ill, the store will replace the bird or refund the cost.
Because birds are so adept at hiding illness and only a qualified veterinarian can recognize many common problems, a pet store may mistakenly sell a sick bird now and then. Always ask the pet store about its guarantee process, and get it in writing.
Finding a Veterinarian
Many veterinarians have some experience with birds, but you should try to find one who is certified in avian practice by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP). These veterinarians have the title Diplomate ABVP--Avian Practice listed after their names, or they are described as board-certified avian veterinarians. You can locate one of these highly qualified avian veterinarians either by calling the ABVP at 800-697-3583 or by using the search tool on the ABVP Web site: go to www.abvp.com/finddiplomate.aspx, and enter your city and state. The requirements for ABVP certification and recertification are demanding, so there are only about one hundred veterinarians certified in avian practice. It may be difficult to find one in your area. In this case, select a member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV). Membership in this organization is a strong indicator of both a veterinarian's experience with birds and his or her interest in staying up to date on avian medicine. There are about three thousand members of the AAV worldwide, and they can be located through the AAV Web site at www.aav.org. Enter your city, state, zip code, or area code into the search tool at http://aav.org/search, or call 817-428-7900.
Another source for recommendations is the pet store where you purchased your budgie. Any reputable pet store will have one or more avian veterinarians on call, and they will probably know about other local veterinarians simply from talking with their customers. If your pet store sells Bird Talk magazine, it will either have on hand or will be able to order you a copy of an annual magazine called BIRDS USA that publishes a very thorough directory of avian veterinarians. You can go to www.birdchannel.com for more information.
Your budgies will depend on you to keep them healthy. In addition to giving them healthful diets, take them to the veterinarian for annual checkups.
Once you have found a few veterinarians to interview, don't be afraid to ask questions about their educational backgrounds and professional experience. Veterinarians who love what they do are happy to talk about their qualifications; and if they love what they do, it is a positive sign about the quality of care they will provide your budgie.
Your Budgie's First Exam
Your budgie's recorded medical history starts with the first checkup by a veterinarian. A bird's metabolism is very high compared with a human's (the normal body temperature commonly is over 102 degrees Fahrenheit and the heart beats more than 200 times a minute), and parrots as small as budgies can become ill quickly, develop few symptoms, and die before it is possible for a veterinarian to provide treatment. For this reason, your veterinarian will take blood samples during the first office visit, subject the samples to a variety of blood chemistry tests, and use this information to develop a baseline record of how your budgie's body chemistry works when she is well. This record makes it easier and faster to recognize problems that occur later.
Blood chemistry also allows your veterinarian to detect whether the budgie is suffering from diabetes, has liver or kidney problems, and has certain types of cancers. Blood tests can identify the presence of a variety of dangerous illnesses, including bacteria and viruses the bird might be carrying without developing the disease itself. If your budgie is an asymptomatic carrier of certain diseases, she could spread the illness to other parrots (not just budgies) just by being present in the same room; some of these diseases are deadly.
In addition to taking blood samples, your veterinarian will conduct a complete physical examination of the budgie. This includes checking the eyes, mouth, nostrils, ears, legs, toes, and wings as well as looking at general feather texture and development. The vet will check the throat and crop for tumors and crop impactions (most likely in young birds). The vent and the feathers around it will be examined carefully for signs of diarrhea (such as dirty feathers), unusual swellings, or evidence of bleeding. The uropygial gland (the one that provides the oil the bird uses when preening) will be checked for tumors, which are not uncommon in larger parrots and are sometimes found in budgies.
Part of a regular veterinary exam is a complete physical inspection of the bird, including the wings and feathers.
The veterinarian will weigh your budgie and take note of how much fat is present under the skin of the chest. Obesity is a common problem in budgies and can lead to a number of diseases, so it is important to have this baseline measurement to later determine whether your budgie has become overweight. A young budgie often still has a layer of "baby fat" under the skin that will burn off in a few months. In an older budgie, excess fat may indicate that the bird has long been on a poor diet or has not had enough exercise (both easy problems to correct); but extra fat can also indicate a more serious problem. An adult budgie's weight should stay approximately the same--roughly an ounce or two (more for the largest English budgies)--throughout her life. For an accurate measurement, birds are commonly weighed in grams; twenty-five to thirty-five grams is an acceptable range for an American budgie.
Good Budgie!
No veterinarian wants to examine a screaming bird, and veterinarians certainly don't like being bitten, even by a small budgie who can barely draw blood. Your veterinarian will know how to handle your budgie and may use a towel for easy handling. Many breeders train a young bird to accept being wrapped in a towel just for this reason; check to see if your new bird has already been towel trained. If not, you can train her yourself. (See chapter 6 for information on towel training.)
Be sure you select a qualified avian vet before you purchase your bird, and take her in for her first checkup right away.
The veterinarian will also take a fecal sample (usually by passing a swab inside the vent as well as collecting fresh droppings) and check it for parasites. The sample is suspended in a high-density chemical solution that forces the eggs of tapeworms, flukes, and roundworms, as well as cysts of some protozoans and other parasites, to float to the surface. Then they are placed on a slide and examined under a microscope to identify and count them. Many vets send fecal samples to outside labs to be checked in more detail than is possible during the office visit. Serious parasitic infestations will be treated at the time of the exam.
The veterinarian can also confirm the sex of your young budgie through a simple blood or feather test (which is sent out to a special lab). In many cases, the veterinarian will be able to tell the sex of your budgie, once the bird is about four months old, by the color of the cere; but with some color mutations, the cere color does not indicate sex, and so a blood test is needed.
Yearly Exams In nature, a sick bird is the first to be noticed by a predator and killed. For this reason, birds have adapted to show no signs of illness until their final days, or hours, are near. This is why you must take your budgie to the veterinarian for a checkup once or twice each year. During the checkup, the veterinarian will repeat much of what was done during the initial exam, including checking your budgie's general condition, performing a fecal examination for intestinal parasites, and taking blood for any necessary blood work. (Most veterinarians recommend a full blood workup every one to three years.) Your veterinarian will also weigh your bird and discuss any changes that may be needed in your budgie's diet.
Birds are notoriously good at hiding illnesses. Closely watch for any changes in your bird's eating habits or general behavior which may signal a medical problem.
This is an excellent time to have the veterinarian check to see if the wing feathers need to be trimmed again. New wing feathers come in over a period of several weeks during the molt, not all at once; some new feathers can come in as often as every six months, and if you fail to detect that your bird is now flighted, she could escape.
Crossing Borders
When birds are imported from another country, they are required to undergo a period of isolation called quarantine. During this time--commonly forty-five to sixty days--the birds are closely observed for signs of several contagious diseases and are given tests to see if they are carrying psittacosis or other dangerous illnesses. Budgies sold in local pet stores are most likely bred in the United States, so quarantine is unnecessary.
Many budgies cross state borders, and import laws vary widely from state to state. Some states require a veterinary health certificate or a minimal quarantine period to observe the birds for symptoms of diseases that could spread to other birds, especially poultry. Outbreaks of poultry diseases can cost millions of dollars. If your bird was brought in from another state, there may be legal paperwork that should accompany her at the time of sale. Ask the store if your bird was bred locally or came from a breeder in another state.
It is almost impossible to carry a budgie legally across international borders. You might be able to carry your budgie into Mexico, but to get it back into the United States would mean paperwork, a period of quarantine, and high legal and care costs; the same applies to traveling to Canada. And remember that your budgie could easily pick up contagious diseases when transported into a new area.
If you are moving from one state to another, you may need to show your bird's health certificate to legally cross the state line. For a small fee, a veterinarian can provide you with a health certificate that is valid for a short period of time to cover your move. Make sure to have a new veterinarian awaiting you when you get to your new home, in case the stress of traveling makes your bird ill.
Veterinary Costs
Your budgie will live about five to eight years on average, but she could live as long as fifteen years with the right diet and regular veterinary care. If your budget is tight, don't be embarrassed to ask the veterinarian for an estimate of the cost of the exam first; you may be able to establish a payment plan. Each individual test done on a blood sample or sent to an outside lab has a price, so a full battery of tests can get expensive. To perform DNA tests on blood samples (sometimes necessary to determine the sex of color mutations who don't have obvious external differences) could cost twenty dollars or more per test. Although most veterinarians won't run unnecessary tests, you can still expect to spend from one hundred to three hundred dollars for each office visit, sometimes more if several lab tests are necessary.
Bleeding
Bleeding is probably the most common emergency situation in budgies. An actively growing blood feather can rupture, leading to bleeding on or under the skin. Sometimes a budgie catches a toe or nail in the cage bars or on a toy and pulls off the nail. If not treated, both problems can lead to serious blood loss. Styptic powder, sold in pet stores, will stop most minor bleeding. If that isn't available, try dabbing cornstarch or flour on the bleeding spot to help it clot. Head for the veterinarian immediately if clotting doesn't occur within a minute or so.
Emergencies
Keep a close eye on your bird's behavior and appearance, and note any changes, no matter how small. If your bird becomes quieter or noisier than usual, is more or less affectionate, ignores a favorite toy or snack, or stops drinking, consult your veterinarian immediately. There may be nothing wrong (although failure to drink is usually a sign of a serious problem), but it is better to make a phone call and at least talk to the veterinarian than to let a serious problem develop. Many illnesses can be fatal in one or two days from the time obvious signs first appear.
Always keep styptic powder or cornstarch on hand for small bleeding problems. Hold your bird firmly but gently, and apply the powder liberally to the wound.
For minor colds and other respiratory problems, you can take temporary measures the moment you notice sneezing or a runny nostril. Keep the bird warmer than usual, and move her to a smaller cage with just one perch set low near the cage bottom. You may want to move the budgie to a bathroom and run a hot shower to keep the room warm and moist. When you transport your sick budgie to the veterinarian, make sure that she can stay warm, is not subjected to any drafts, and is kept in a darkened or covered travel cage (preferably) to help keep her calm.
Trimming Wing Feathers
As mentioned earlier, the decision to trim the wing feathers of a budgie is a personal one. Trimming the wing feathers makes sense if you often allow your pet to roam about on your shoulder, explore the outside of her cage, or spend time on a playgym. (All these activities provide exercise and enrichment, so they should be part of your budgie's daily routine.) Any bird can become excited and haphazardly take flight in a panic, injuring or killing herself by flying at full speed into a window, mirror, or wall--or escaping out an open window or door. Trimming the wing feathers doesn't hurt the bird, and the procedure is not difficult to do once you've learned how. Some owners let their veterinarian do the trimming at the yearly exam, but this won't be frequent enough to keep your bird safe. Remember that wing feathers are replaced over an interval of several weeks and certainly more than once during the course of a calendar year. If you don't pay attention to the condition of the wing feathers, your supposedly trimmed bird could fly away when you least expect it. Trimming is a grooming chore you'll want to be able to do yourself.
Once the feather is fully formed, it no longer has a supply of blood and can safely be trimmed.
Trimming your budgie's wing feathers is just like cutting your own hair. No bones or muscles are cut--just feathers, which grow back. Have a veterinarian or bird breeder show you how to do it the first time so you know which feathers to cut and which to avoid. You should never trim a blood feather; blood feathers are new feathers just starting to emerge from their protective sheaths under the skin of the wing. They are liberally supplied with blood during this stage of growth, and cutting them could lead to serious blood loss. Keep styptic powder or cornstarch on hand in case you accidentally trim a blood feather, and be prepared to take your budgie to the veterinarian if the bleeding doesn't stop.
There are several ways to trim wing feathers, but the safest technique involves cutting the first five to eight primary feathers--the long flight feathers. A strong budgie may need to have eight feathers cut, whereas a weak budgie may need only five trimmed. Start with five, and let your bird take off from your hand from about a foot off the floor. If the bird quickly gains altitude instead of gliding to the ground, trim one more feather on each side, and try again. You want her to be able to gain some altitude to prevent crash landings, but a budgie shouldn't be able to fly more than a couple of feet into the air.
In the past, some pet bird owners trimmed just one set of wing feathers, but this left the bird off balance and resulted in uneven flight and uncontrolled landings (and injury). Trim the same number of feathers from both wings.
Keeping your budgie's wing feathers trimmed is a year-round job. Caged budgies in the United States generally molt in the late spring, but the process can happen at almost any time of the year, depending on light, temperature, diet, general health, and age. Typically, an old primary feather at about the middle of each wing is shed first, and then other primaries are shed in an alternating fashion on either side of the middle primary; at no time are all the primaries gone. Budgies are relatively quick molters, but the process may take several weeks for the wings and tail. Remember that all the feathers of the body are molted at some point during the year, which explains the constant presence of one or two little body feathers on the cage floor.
Trimming the Nails
Your budgie's nails will grow quickly and can become twisted if not trimmed. Twisted nails easily catch in the bars of the cage or even on your clothing, and a long nail can be broken or pulled out and bleed. Your veterinarian can show you how to trim the nails, which is much like trimming the nails of a dog or cat. Just remember that the base of the nail (called the quick) is supplied with blood and must not be cut. You will typically need to trim the nails every two or three months, although diets high in protein cause faster nail (and feather) growth. Use a pair of small clipping scissors designed for pets (available through your veterinarian or a pet store) or a small set of human nail clippers. (The more complicated guillotine-type cutters are generally too large for a budgie.) Cut only the very tips of the nails, which consist of dead tissue similar to your fingernails; don't trim too far back, or you will cut into the quick. Keep styptic powder on hand to control any bleeding from those little accidents that can happen when a budgie flinches.
Diseases and Disorders
There are several very dangerous and deadly parrot diseases, but the likelihood of your captive-bred bird catching them is pretty rare, especially if you take certain precautions. Some diseases can be picked up in a pet store or by visiting another bird, can be passed on through the droppings of a pigeon or sparrow flying over an outdoor cage, or can even be caught through close contact between birds at a pet bird show. Regular visits to your veterinarian will help detect such diseases before they progress too far. However, you still may find it helpful to know the symptoms for some common diseases.