Stuff in nostrils?

EllenD

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Aug 20, 2016
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State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
I need opinions on this as in the 31 years of budgie owning experience I have, along with the 21 years of budgie breeding and hand-raising experience I have, I have never seen this. And it's all 7 of my pet budgies so that's why I'm a bit alarmed.

I just noticed that all 7 of them have "stuff" in their nostrils. Not "stuff" like boogers or mucous indicating an URI, but what looks to just be white flakes or chunks of stuff. It's dry, there's no wetness in their nares or coming from them, just this white stuff. And it's in both nostrils of each of the 7 budgies. They aren't sneezing, wheezing, coughing, or acting sick at all, but we all know that this doesn't necessarily mean anything. I checked my other 4 larger birds as they all have their cages in my living room/dining room areas that are connected and open to each other, and their nares are clear with nothing in them. They are all very tame and will fly to me when I call them, so I've been trying since last night to see if I can get a piece of this stuff out to see what it is, but I can't seem to get any of it to come out. I tried a Q-Tip, both dry and then wet, but their nares are so small that I can't get enough inside to latch on to the stuff. And I certainly don't want to push it back in their sinuses (none of the 7 of them were very happy with me last night or this morning when I was trying to do this, I let them all out and they were flying around having fun, so I called them to me one-by-one and tried to get the Q-Tip to attract this white junk; they all looked at me like "WTH are you doing Mama? Sorry but I'm outta here!" and flew off of my finger and up on top of either the ceiling fan or the cupboards where I can't get them. Took an hour and a bunch of millet sprays to get them to come back down). I hate to towel one of them to try to get this stuff out, first because I don't know how or what to use to get it out, and also because I have been their parent since they were 2 weeks old and they're very well trained, big babies. The vet scared them to death. I love my avian vet, but his assistant or vet tech or whatever she is is an airhead. She didn't know they were tame the first time I brought them in (she was new and didn't know I was a breeder), but she didn't ask either. She wanted to weigh them each which would be no problem at all, so I opened their carrier and had the first one on my finger. I went to pass him to her, assuming that she would stick her finger out so that he could step up onto it, but instead she just grabbed him off of my finger with a HUGE bath towel! Not gently either, she smothered him! He had never been toweled before so he was just traumatized for hours. She told me she doesn't like birds, she was bitten by a Macaw once and ever since she hates birds....It's a little American/English budgie hybrid lady, that is as tame as any dog. Anyway, I hate to do that, I really wouldn't need a towel anyway, they don't bite at all, only beak a little if they are annoyed by something you're doing, but I don't know what to use inside their nares without hurting them or pushing the junk back into their sinuses. I just want to see what this stuff is...

Any idea on what it might be or suggestions on how I might get some of it out so I can look at it is appreciated. What a weird problem to have! Oye, I swear there is always something...At least it's not anything urgent, I don't think so anyway...

Here's their background and environment, diet, etc. Nothing unusual here, but I thought I'd list it since I don't talk about them much. I'll see if I can get a photo of this stuff, I'll have to get a close-up so this will be fun!...

First off, I have 7 pet budgies that were hatched between July and August of last year. I bred them and pulled and hand-raised them from the age of 2 weeks each. I decided to stop breeding last spring, so this was my last ever clutch. Since it was the last clutch I was going to hand-raise and I had not had a pet budgie in years I decided to keep them all. They all have lived together since hatching, first in the brooder, then a weaning cage, and finally in the large Hendryx-Prevue flight cage they live in, which is in my living room with my other larger birds (my 10 breeders are enjoying retirement upstairs in their homemade aviary that takes up an entire spare bedroom. They are very happy to not have any interaction with anyone else in the house, lol). So they've all been awesome little birds (6 boys, 1 girl) and have had no health problems. They had 2 well-birdy checkups last year with my avian vet, first one right before they each fledged and then again in November at 3-4 months old. I weaned them all onto Zupreem Natural pellets (slightly crushed for size, it's a pain), a small amount of KayTee Fruit pellets as a treat, a high quality, high protein Higgins seed mix for budgies (about a tablespoon a day per bird mixed with their pellets), and fresh greens daily (collards, mustards, kale, romaine, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, squash, peas) with apples, bananas, strawberries, etc. added as a treat daily before bed. They all have their wings just about grown completely in finally (I clipped them about a month after they fledged to help with training them, showing them their T-stands and where they can go, tricks, etc. then I started to let them grow back in). They all come out of their cage for at least 2-3 hours a day and have the run of the house while my larger birds are eating/napping in their cages. They have all been acting perfectly normal, happy, healthy, eating well, drinking, playing, flying, etc. No signs of illness or distress at all in any of them.



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SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
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Western, Michigan
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DYH Amazon
Sorry, did not read all of your Thread, but have had a like experience with Amazons from time to time and also from time to time darker color 'stuff'.

Answer: Nostrill Flush! My CAV does it, sorry did not see it so I cannot report on it. But she states it is fairly common from mid Fall to mid Spring and less so during the rest of the year!

Hope it helps!
 
OP
EllenD

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
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Here's a photo of Billy Idol, who has a good amount in each nostril. This is what they all look like but Billy seems to have the most pronounced amount of it in each nostril. I tried to take the photos while he was on my finger, but as soon as I held the camera up he turned his back to me...Little jerk! They are all camera shy, I swear they all immediately turn around as soon as the camera is pointed at them. These aren't too bad though, you can see it pretty well. It's just solid white, flaky, dry "stuff"...

cafb8f79e0d03da1f3544e416aa669ec.jpg


3c3c1d6b4a8b3647c529f74cf724b481.jpg


06ec3c084abe107614b9423cffa2e581.jpg


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itzjbean

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Jan 27, 2017
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Iowa, USA
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2 cockatiels
Sorry, did not read all of your Thread, but have had a like experience with Amazons from time to time and also from time to time darker color 'stuff'.

Answer: Nostrill Flush! My CAV does it, sorry did not see it so I cannot report on it. But she states it is fairly common from mid Fall to mid Spring and less so during the rest of the year!

Hope it helps!

Could it be a humidity thing? I know from that time --mid-fall to spring-- with the air being so dry there is more...blockage...than normal. Even with me in the winter I feel that I get like that lol. Just a guess though. It doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary in their noses, nothing runny or discolored.
 
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EllenD

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
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Sorry, did not read all of your Thread, but have had a like experience with Amazons from time to time and also from time to time darker color 'stuff'.

Answer: Nostrill Flush! My CAV does it, sorry did not see it so I cannot report on it. But she states it is fairly common from mid Fall to mid Spring and less so during the rest of the year!

Hope it helps!
It's good to know someone else has had the same issue, as I've never seen this before. I was going to call my avian vet anyway, so I guess that's the answer. I thought it might have to do with dryness in the air combined with molting. I noticed that 2 of them have pin feathers on the tops of their heads, so I thought it might be keratin flakes. It's just odd that they all have it in both nostrils and I clean their cage out completely once a week. Maybe a shower might help too, they get in the shower once a month with me, they don't all like it as much as the bigger birds but it might be time. Thanks.

Sorry for the length of my post, I always try to make sure I give all the pertinent information that people might need to help me out. I hate it when people ask questions but don't include all the info we need to answer them. As a result I ramble 😳...I'm sorry.

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EllenD

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
  • Thread Starter
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Sorry, did not read all of your Thread, but have had a like experience with Amazons from time to time and also from time to time darker color 'stuff'.

Answer: Nostrill Flush! My CAV does it, sorry did not see it so I cannot report on it. But she states it is fairly common from mid Fall to mid Spring and less so during the rest of the year!

Hope it helps!

Could it be a humidity thing? I know from that time --mid-fall to spring-- with the air being so dry there is more...blockage...than normal. Even with me in the winter I feel that I get like that lol. Just a guess though. It doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary in their noses, nothing runny or discolored.
Yeah, I'm assuming it has to do with the dryness in the air, my concern is only figuring out what the heck it is. If it's just dead skin, keratin from pin feathers coming in, etc. then it's no big deal, but God knows the minute you think it's not a big deal it quickly turns into an emergency, especially with these little guys. Really what concerns me the most is that my 4 larger parrots, who are in the same room as the budgies, don't have it at all. So I'm worried it's something in their cage or something coming off of one of them, you know what I mean...

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SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
10,008
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
Sorry, did not read all of your Thread, but have had a like experience with Amazons from time to time and also from time to time darker color 'stuff'.

Answer: Nostrill Flush! My CAV does it, sorry did not see it so I cannot report on it. But she states it is fairly common from mid Fall to mid Spring and less so during the rest of the year!

Hope it helps!

Could it be a humidity thing? I know from that time --mid-fall to spring-- with the air being so dry there is more...blockage...than normal. Even with me in the winter I feel that I get like that lol. Just a guess though. It doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary in their noses, nothing runny or discolored.
Yeah, I'm assuming it has to do with the dryness in the air, my concern is only figuring out what the heck it is. If it's just dead skin, keratin from pin feathers coming in, etc. then it's no big deal, but God knows the minute you think it's not a big deal it quickly turns into an emergency, especially with these little guys. Really what concerns me the most is that my 4 larger parrots, who are in the same room as the budgies, don't have it at all. So I'm worried it's something in their cage or something coming off of one of them, you know what I mean...

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I had just came-off creating a huge Post and with your excellent detail could speed read the hot points and get back with you! Thank-you, for the detail!!! You are so correct! (example: Help my Bird is dying, what should I do?) :D

Anyway, the way my CAV explained it was that the low humidity this year has her her busy flushing more than normal! The dryness causes everything to have an electric charge and what moisture is in the nostril causes stuff to stick that would normally get washed out of flicked out by the Parrot!

My Amazons will have a natural structure there and I always have to double check that it is not what I am seeing, but what is building up on and around it. Do not believe yours' do.

Love your Threads and Posts!
 
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EllenD

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
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Both of my budgies have that, and so did my past 3 budgies. I never thought much of it.


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My only issue with it is that in 30 years of having budgies I've never seen it before, and all of a sudden all 7 of them have it.

I have an appointment at 3 today with my avian vet...I have to pack all 7 of them up because he's doing a 7-for-1 deal. While I'm happy about that, this is going to be interesting. His secretary passed me to his vet tech and she told me to not worry about bringing them all, they can just hang out on the play stand in the exam room. She said she remembers how nice my budgies are, and that the parakeets they usually see are not tame. Once I told her they all have their wings and can fully fly she suddenly didn't sound so enthusiastic, lol.

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EllenD

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #10
Could it be a humidity thing? I know from that time --mid-fall to spring-- with the air being so dry there is more...blockage...than normal. Even with me in the winter I feel that I get like that lol. Just a guess though. It doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary in their noses, nothing runny or discolored.
Yeah, I'm assuming it has to do with the dryness in the air, my concern is only figuring out what the heck it is. If it's just dead skin, keratin from pin feathers coming in, etc. then it's no big deal, but God knows the minute you think it's not a big deal it quickly turns into an emergency, especially with these little guys. Really what concerns me the most is that my 4 larger parrots, who are in the same room as the budgies, don't have it at all. So I'm worried it's something in their cage or something coming off of one of them, you know what I mean...

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

I had just came-off creating a huge Post and with your excellent detail could speed read the hot points and get back with you! Thank-you, for the detail!!! You are so correct! (example: Help my Bird is dying, what should I do?) :D

Anyway, the way my CAV explained it was that the low humidity this year has her her busy flushing more than normal! The dryness causes everything to have an electric charge and what moisture is in the nostril causes stuff to stick that would normally get washed out of flicked out by the Parrot!

My Amazons will have a natural structure there and I always have to double check that it is not what I am seeing, but what is building up on and around it. Do not believe yours' do.

Love your Threads and Posts!
Lol, I love the "Help, I think my bird is dying. Should I take him to the vet or just wait and see?"...oye

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ParrotLover2001

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Dec 20, 2016
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In my parents house
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A cockatiel, a bourke, and three budgies
My only issue with it is that in 30 years of having budgies I've never seen it before, and all of a sudden all 7 of them have it.

I have an appointment at 3 today with my avian vet...I have to pack all 7 of them up because he's doing a 7-for-1 deal. While I'm happy about that, this is going to be interesting. His secretary passed me to his vet tech and she told me to not worry about bringing them all, they can just hang out on the play stand in the exam room. She said she remembers how nice my budgies are, and that the parakeets they usually see are not tame. Once I told her they all have their wings and can fully fly she suddenly didn't sound so enthusiastic, lol.

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Please tell me when/if you find out what it is.


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