What to Do If Your Budgerigar Has Diarrhea? A Guide to the Correct Treatment

The budgerigar (budgie) originated in eastern Australia and, through artificial breeding, has become a cage bird kept worldwide. It has high ornamental value and is deeply loved by people. Although budgerigars rarely get sick, they do occasionally develop diarrhea. Let's take a look below at what to do if your budgerigar has diarrhea!

What to Do If Your Budgerigar Has Diarrhea

1. Budgerigars infected with chlamydiosis will develop diarrhea. At the same time, they also show symptoms such as listlessness, reduced eating, sticky purulent discharge from the eyes and nose, dehydration, and weight loss. For this, keepers can use penicillin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline antibiotics for treatment. If a large number of budgerigars are infected with this disease, you can add 0.4 g of chlortetracycline or oxytetracycline per kilogram of feed, stir well, and feed continuously for 1 to 3 weeks; the treatment effect is very obvious.

2. When you are not sure what disease the parrot has. The keeper can first feed it some garlic water, then place it in the cage. Note that the bird cage needs to be kept warm and protected from drafts. Persist for 1 to 2 days to first help the budgerigar recuperate and monitor its condition. If the diarrhea has not eased, you can give it an appropriate amount of oxytetracycline, one quarter of an oxytetracycline tablet in the drinking water, glucose powder mixed into the bird food, etc. Moreover, at this time you should ask a veterinarian to diagnose the budgerigar, and then carry out the next step of treatment.

Common Nutritional Diseases of Budgerigars

1. Obesity

[Cause] It is caused by long-term excessive feeding of oily feed and lack of exercise. Too much fat accumulates in the bird's body. How do you judge whether a bird is overweight? You can hold the bird, blow air with your mouth, part the feathers on its abdomen, and see whether a large amount of yellow fat has accumulated under its skin. An overweight bird will have a rounded abdomen, a rather hoarse call, and may suddenly die during flight or jumping!

[Prevention and treatment] Reduce oily feed and control the total amount of feed. Make sure it experiences short periods of hunger every day. Increase its amount of exercise and time spent active.

2. Feather-pecking disorder (non-bacterial or psychological)

[Cause] It is caused by a lack of essential amino acids, salt, minerals, vitamins, etc. in the feed. Or insufficient living space, with several birds crowded together, can all cause mutual pecking habits, resulting in feathers being pecked off and a very unattractive appearance.

[Prevention and treatment] Reduce stocking density, feed more sulfur-containing protein, or add a trace amount of natural gypsum to the feed, or mix in a small amount of feather meal.

Respiratory Diseases of Budgerigars

1. Colds

[Cause] It is mainly caused by wind-cold, and recent research has also found that it can be triggered by viruses. The sick bird appears listless, stands still on the perch, breathes rapidly, and has ruffled feathers. In severe cases, the nostrils become blocked by mucus and the bird breathes with its mouth open.

[Prevention and treatment] First place the sick bird in a warm place and avoid drafts. Add egg yolk powder to the sick bird's feed, and add long-acting sulfonamide to the drinking water, 1/10 tablet per 10 ml of drinking water, changing it twice a day. If the nostrils are blocked, you can roll toilet paper into a thin strip, insert it into the nostril and twist out the mucus, then dip a paper strip in some vegetable oil and insert it into its nostril to make its breathing smooth.

2. Pneumonia

[Cause] Failure to pay attention to keeping warm and providing timely treatment after a cold, or being exposed to wind-cold for a relatively long time, can all cause the bird to develop pneumonia. The sick bird looks dull, often tucks its head under its wings, has ruffled feathers, and its body takes on a round ball shape. Breathing is rapid, the body rises and falls with breathing, there is no appetite, and the mortality rate is high!

[Prevention and treatment] Move the sick bird to a warm, dark place as much as possible, and be careful to keep it warm. Drop-feed 25% glucose water, 0.5 to 1 ml each time. Add 2 to 4 mg of oxytetracycline to the glucose water, twice a day, feeding continuously for 5 days to complete one course of treatment. If detected and treated early, it can be cured.

Digestive Tract Diseases of Budgerigars

1. Enteritis

[Cause] It is caused by unclean feed or drinking water. Generally, after infection, the bird becomes listless, frequently assumes a defecating posture, and the droppings are sticky and adhere near the vent. In severe cases, bloody droppings may appear, and the sick bird rapidly becomes emaciated and loses weight.

[Prevention and treatment] Pay attention to the cleanliness of daily feed and drinking water. Feed and drinking water should be replaced every day, and the grain container and water container should be washed every day. The drinking water should be boiled or purified water; never use water straight from the tap. Move the sick bird to a warm place, and be careful to keep it warm. Drop-feed 25% glucose water with a small grain of salt added to the glucose water, twice a day, 0.5 ml to 1 ml each time. For a bird in the early stage of illness, you can add 10 to 20 mg of medicinal carbon tablet powder to the sugar water; for a seriously ill bird, add 0.2 to 1 mg of furazolidone, and after feeding continuously for 3 days, if the sick bird can drink water on its own, increase the amount of the above two medicines by two times and dissolve them in the water container. The medicated water must be replaced twice a day, and stirred frequently to reduce the settling of the medicine. You can also feed the sick bird a small amount of minced garlic every day to treat enteritis, feeding two to three times a day. In summer, using black tea instead of drinking water can also reduce the occurrence of digestive tract diseases.

2. Food impaction

[Cause] Due to an interruption in drinking water combined with eating too much coarse hard feed and dry powder feed, the feed stagnates in the crop and cannot pass down. Or when hand-feeding a chick, failing to notice that there is still residual feed in the crop and then feeding new feed causes the residual feed to deteriorate and harden. The sick bird will show an enlarged crop, loss of appetite, and a dull appearance; severe cases or prolonged delay can cause the sick bird to die!

[Prevention and treatment] In mild cases, vegetable oil can be dropped into the crop, supplemented by massaging the crop downward with the hand, to soften the food so it enters the digestive tract. In severe cases, gastric lavage can be used. Slowly insert a soft medicinal rubber tube into the crop, connect the other end to a syringe filled with diluted artificial salt solution, slowly inject the salt water, then draw out the liquid mixed with undigested matter. Repeat the steps until no residue remains in the drawn-out liquid. Then inject 2 ml of glucose water to replenish the sick bird's depletion.

3. Constipation

[Cause] Long-term lack of oily feed, fruits and vegetables, or an interruption in drinking water, among other reasons, can all cause constipation in birds. An affected bird will already have very dry, hard droppings before the disease onset, and will show ruffled feathers, restlessness, and frequently assume a defecating posture, yet no droppings are passed.

[Prevention and treatment] Pay attention to giving the bird a balanced diet in daily care. If constipation is found in its early stage, you can directly administer 4 to 5 drops of vegetable oil or artificial salt solution. If the condition is severe, you must use a dropper inserted into the sick bird's vent to administer castor oil as an enema to save it!