budgies

[chezan]

We have had three budgies, the first two lived to a ripe old age, one was 15 and the other 17. However the last budgie we had was only 3 when she died, she had some sort of growth on her stomach. My question is - is there any way I can check a new budgie for anything like this, I found it really upsetting losing her so young and it is putting me off choosing another budgie!

[wildwood]

Other than checking for visual abnormality, it is going to be extremely difficult to ascertain if a pet is going to have growth on its stomach or anywhere else. Some diseases can be detected in blood tests, but we are talking big �s here.

Pet birds are very prone to growths of various nature. Some can be removed but anaesthetising a bird is very risky.

[doglady2]

Hi,we have budgies and cockatiels and they are all our pets,unfortunatly you cant tell or check for lumps and bumps on budgies , it is either there to see or not.
I had to take a hen to my vet ,we bred her from 3 yrs ago and she was in good health untill the beginning of this year.
They are all in a big aviary with inside and outside flight s so they have plenty of space to fly and develop muscle.However this hen got a lump underneath near her tail feathers.When i took her to the vet it was agreed it was a hernia (my vet had never seen this),budgies are prone to fatty lumps but a hernia was a surprise.It was operated on and it was success...however it came back and to add to this ,she had an egg (of which we didnt know about).We didnt breed from the budgies this year so we never paired them up ,they were all free to go in and out as they pleased.
Unfortunatly.despite giving her a calcium injection (helps to lay the egg) it didnt work ,she was stressed so i had to let her go.
It was either operate again on the hernia and risk her suffering or let her go without suffering so we let her go.

You just have to be carefull where you buy your birds from,if you manage to find a good breeder where you live thats better than going to bird auctions where people try and part with old birds or problem birds or simply birds that are in poor health etc.We have rescued many birds that have been taken to these sales ,ie,one footed,deformed beaks,.
Unless you have money to vet treat these poor little things,they can cost you a fortune.ON average i will sell a budgie (baby) for �10,this hen cost me �35 plus in vet fees.but we wouldnt do it any other way,as far as we are concerned if an animal/bird needs treatment they get it whatever it costs.Just be carefull if you do get another and try and find a local breeder,you could always get the cage and aviary mag,every thursday it is out.You may be lucky and see somewhere local to you

[chezan]

I'd like to thank the very kind people who replied with so much good advice to my enquiry. So sorry not to have responded earlier due to family problems - which have meant, instead of buying a new budgie - I have in fact "inherited" one!
This bird brings his own problems however, he is about two - three years old and has no flight feathers and a very short tail. I believe it is "french moult" according to some information I have read. We have taken him to the vet twice but there is little they can do. He is otherwise healthy, very lively and nosy - and noisy, a real chatterbox! He eats well, has lots of energy and loves to come out and play with various toys, just sit on our shoulders or "play fight" with us! He obviously has an urge, or need, to flap his wings and try to fly, and we have to get him on our finger, he clings on tight while we move our hand up and down he flaps his lttle stubby wings! He does look funny - but has such a lovely nature, rarely bites and is such good company! Theres one positive I suppose, he'll never fly away - bless him!