Cere problem

[Billie]

I am wondering what to do about my budgie Minty. I posted before when he had scaley face which was succesfuly treated last year. Well he is full of beans and chatting up every thing in the cage, eating and drinking normally but I have noticed one of his nostrils is blocked. He looks like it is sort of healed over it is a bit dry looking but it doesn't look like it did when he had scaley face.

They have fresh veg every day and there is a tray of sand in the base of the cage as well as grit cuttlefish and iodine block so he should be ok mineral wise. I am trying to decide wheather to catch him and try and wipe it with a warm damp cotton bud to see if its is just go covered in something that will wipe off, any ideas.

Also Harry my other budgie has a bit of a flakey looking beak, i put it down to him climbing around a fair bit but the beak looks dry and not nice and glossy like the others.

Any ideas faithful flock

Very worried

Billie

[avril]

Just to make sure treat them for Scaley Face as that is what it sounds like.

The treatment should have parafin in it and that will loosen anything that is stuck to the cere or beak.
The next day wipe the and you will see the scale easily come off if that is what it is.

Do not rub hard as you can cause bleeding and distress in the budgie.

Hope this helps and all the best

Avril

[Billie]

Poor chap has been a bit sneezy and I noticed yesterday evening when they had all settled for the evening that he sounded a bit snotty like he's clearing his throat so I'm keeping a close eye on him. He is lively enough and flies all over the cage like a budgie helicopter.

Blesss

Billie

[buuzbee]

Hope all goes well. maybe a trip to the vet is in order?

[Billie]

Well....today I decided to give Minty the benifit of the doubt and wipe his snotty nose for him. I had a bit of a game catching him and he got a bit indignant but was very good once he'd calmed down a bit. I had a couple of cotton wool discs (like you take make up off with) soaked in warm water then squeezed out so they were only damp and I bathed his cere. He now has a clear nose and hasn't been snuffling or wiping it on every available surface since . I think it might just have been a case of getting it blocked with snot or dust and then couldn't shift it himself.

Minty looked a bit scruffy by the time he went back in the cage but had a shake and a preen and I gave them some broccoli to make up for the upset and to my surprise all of them took it from my hand even Minty, who last time I had to catch him for a vet trip avoided me for days. He is charging around happily as if nouthing has happened. I didn't look like it did before with the scaley face so I thought a quick wash was worth the risk.

All is well now. As for Harry the dry look of his beak looks nouthing like the graze effect he had when he had scaley face so for the time being I'm just keeping an eye on it. They are all as horney as anything (if I can post that, please delete as required) so it might just be teenage hormones.

Billie

[avril]

Great news Billie.

Just keep an eye on them incase, it might be the start of Scaly Mite.

They are cunning little devils, you never know something is wrong until it is nearly too late, they hide illness real well.

[Billie]

I don't know what to make of all this. During the day Minty charges around just fine, eats drinks preens. Then when they have settled for the evening he gets sneezy and then coughs and splutters, last night after a really good sneeze he had watery 'snot' on his nose. Then this morning he is fine again, I'm watching them like a hawk. My intial thought is to go to the vet in case he has something wrong with his respiritory system but given that he shown almost no sypmptoms other than an occassional sneeze I'm concerned that the vet will charge a fortune to tell me I'm a paranoid owner.

On one hand he seems fine and doesn't sound wheezy but on the other hand if I wait 2 weeks to see what develops by the time he does get wheezy it would probably be too late. I've never been to the vet with birds till Taz and Tilley and now these have only been with us since June and have been twice. You expect it when they are old but these are only 8 months old.

What do you all think, vet to be on the safe side or wait and see. He's in the same cage as the others as the alternative cage would be quite small for a bird used to a good fly round and I think the exercise is good for him, I'll seperate him if he gets any worse but I think the stress of putting him on his own would be unkind.

Billie worried again

[buuzbee]

is it possible the heating is going on at night and its drying him out and making him sneeze, then get snotty?

[Billie]

Thanks Buzzbe your comment has confirmed a niggling worry. Although the heating doesn't come on at night it is on constantly set to 22 degrees coz I'm always cold. Well I posted before that the budgies were on a constant moult which we considered was due to the heating so if this snotty sneezing could be due to it as well I'll definately turn it down for a week and see what difference that makes.

Trouble is I'm also bad about not opening windows, so they rarely get good fresh air circulation, thier cages are right next to the window and I worry that they will be in a draft but their isn't anywhere else the cages can go.

I'll open the window more even if its only for te minutes or half an hour and turn the heating down. Thanks for the advice.

Huggs

Billie

[Berserka]

My Boris sneezes a bit a night.
Usually she waits until you are about to give her a kiss and sneezes all over our face! YUCK!!
Our house is pretty dusty & she is outside for alot of the day so it is probably the dust for my girl anyway.

[Billie]

The extra fresh air has done them the world of good, they get all turbo charged and rush about like loonies. No more snotty noses.

Talk about true love, Minty's other half Sky is always preening him (even though he rarely returns the favor) and I noticed she was giving his nose a good clean for him. Now thats what a call love!!!!!!

Thanks everyone, sorry for all the fuss I'm such a worrier.

Billie

[Berserka]

Better to worry over nothing than not to worry and something be amiss.