Twitching Budgie

[chappie]

I have an old budgie who has started twitching and trembling. It is not that bad that he can't perch, but he is not right.

I rang a bird care helpline, and they told me they thought it sounded like a calcium deficiency, and recommended some Calcivet, telling me to drop it directly into the bird's beak every two hours over a few days.

He has never been handled, and I am worried that the stress of holding him might just finish him off.

I have put some drops into his water, I know it will be diluted, but at least he will be getting something without the stress.

Any birdkeepers had a similar problem as this with their birds? Any advice would be gratefully received. I know some people would say take him to an avian vet, but the stress thing is stopping me from doing this.

[yelofox]

I recently went to the vets with my cockatiel - they said he had a calcium deficiency and gave me some powder to spinkle on top of his food. (sorry cant remember the name of it - I put it in a different container and threw the one it came in away)

You could go to the vets and ask for some - I dont know if is pescription or not tho.

William has really perked up since hes been getting it.

Also you could get some cuttlefish for him from a pet shop.

[chappie]

Thanks for that. I will try to get some of that powder. Was William twitching?

[what..the?]

Yes I understand what you mean about the stress, some people do not understand that the stress of a purely house pet that is not been handled by strangers or left the house could kill your beloved pet.

I have a cockatiel and can see the problem you are having, is there any food the bird likes so you can tempt him over and while he is there eating use a droper to put some on his beak. For example I would tempt my "niles' with some millet stem and then poke the droper in the bobs you uncle, then you don't have to touch him???

Also ...shot in the dark here but is there a toy he likes because couldn''t you attach say some cloth/feathers soaked in this stuff to the toy so when he plays with it with his beak he will transfer some to his beak??

Only a thought if you cannot get the powder, good look anyway tell us how it goes.

[chappie]

Many thanks for your helpful suggestions. I am going to ring round and see if I can find a pet shop that has the powder, I will also scrape some cuttlefish bone into the seed tray. He likes bread so I will drop some Calcivet onto the bread.

Good ideas, thanks again.

[lizzydrippin]

http://petcaretips.net/budgerigar.html
Hi Chappie, have a look here, it may be helpful.

[yelofox]

I went back to the vets today and bought some more of the powder -

Its called Avimix - a premix of Nutrobal and ACE-High for routine use as a dietary supplement.

The enhanced levels of calcium and vitamin D3 and the vitamins A, C and E used regularly help to meet the normal needs of birds and those encountered at times of special need such as growth, breeding, showing, moulting, stress and disease.

And William does sometimes tremble a bit.

Hope this helps.

[chappie]

Many thanks for your helpful replies. He likes sweetcorn, so I have dribbled some liquid calcium supplement onto the sweetcorn, haven't seen him nibbling it yet but hopefully he will.

It is always a problem to know what the right thing to do is - we used to have a great number of budgies at one time (rescued birds) and I took one to the vet, he gave it an injection and it died in my hand, I expect it was from the shock of being handled. Very sad, and frustrating that you don't know if you are doing what is best for the bird.

Thanks again for replies.

[amoobaa]

hi there,
how is your budgie doing? My budgie is ill at the moment- i took her to the vet and she had blood taken & two injections, a multi vit and 5 day anti biotics course... she is very tame (mainly with me) so she was ok afterwards. I'm getting the results tomoro... how is your budgie?
I saw this post and it caught my eye because it mentioned twitching, and my budgie has a strange head jerk or twitch, but i don't think its the same kindof thing, hope your budgie's ok!- Abi and Monkey (my budgie)

[chappie]

Hi Abi,

My budgie is still twitching but I can see an improvement since I have been giving him a calcium supplement in his water. He is a very old budgie and to be honest I am surprised he is still with us.

I am worried to take him to the vet, as I have taken budgies before (we used to take in rescue birds) with disastrous consequences.

It is good to hear that your budgie is doing well. Hope you will keep us posted and let us know how she gets on.

[amoobaa]

hi there chappie, this has turned into a rather long post! I'm glad that your budgie seems to have made progress! I completely understand how you feel about stressing your bird, unless they are tame, they can easily die of fright :(

My budgie ended up having to stay overnight at the vets. I was devastated, i was so incredibly worried that she would die of stress. She is very tame thought and made it through the tests and overnight stay, but she is only tame with me and bites anyone else who tried to handle her, which makes things sressful for everyone involved. It breaks my heart to see her ill, she is such a loving bird (she thinks i'm her mate it think!) and tries to attack my boyfriend, which doens't go down too well!

She had xrays and two lots of blood taken at the vets.. she has an enlarged liver and patchy areas in her lungs. So far she has had about ten days worth iof antibotic injections and i'm giving her pobiotics in her water to help her cope.

This morning she started twitching her legs.. almost like she is standing on a really hot perch, or trying to scratch her head but can't reach, it's very weird and i called th vet straight away. (I have seen her scratch her head, so i know she can do it, this twitch seems to be involuntary, besides that she seems quite active.) The vet said that was very strange and that perhaps the enlargment of the liver was putting pressure on the nerves to her legs and causing pins and needles? etc..

At this rate i'll have to give up uni to look after her!!

To be honest i don't really know what to do, i'll just have to see how her liver tests come out!

Hope things keep improving for you, i know how hard it is to make these decisions and to be looking after such little birds- Take care, -Abi and Monkey

[amoobaa]

dont know if anyones still watching this thread!... or if ill ever be able to find it again to see if anyones responded.. but just wanted to say i had my beautiful little budgie, Monkey put down at 9:30am on Christmas eve. she really was something special, i miss her terribly... ended up spending at lease a grand on her.. but id rather have gone hungry and homeless before i gave up on her. in the end i had to because i didnt want her to suffer :( i absoultely love her, more than anything.. hope everyone else is ok- abi

[chappie]

Hi Abi,

I am so very sorry to hear about Monkey, I know how you feel, as I have lost lots of budgies over the years, and it never gets any easier.

My twitching budgie is much improved since I have been giving him the calcium supplement. I did not hold out much hope for him, as he is very old, and I thought it was the end for him, but I am very pleased to say that he has come through it and he seems just like his old self - although nowadays he is happy just to sit and watch the world go by. When he was a young budgie, he never stayed in one place long enough to watch anything - he used to whizz around his cage like a budgie on speed! I expect old age has set in, and sadly that comes to us all in the end.

Many thanks for posting, and once again, sorry to hear about Monkey. Sincere condolences to you.