Please Please help

Im posting this for my boyfriend who is on the other side of the world right now. He has a bird that is about 10 years old. it falls off its perch and runs around its cage frantically with its head on the ground. he tweets constantly and screams. there are no emergency vets near that are open as it is very late there. Any suggestions please.

I have a video of him I could show. Although it is very sad to see.

This situation sounds very concerning and abnormal behavior. However without medical care from a vet there is not much we can do. We are not veterinarians.

The best we can do is get an idea of what may be happening.

- What is his diet?

- How long has he been exhibiting these symptoms?

- Did he only fall off the perch once, or has he done this multiple times?

- Can he lift up his head at all, or is it just limp under him?

- When was his last vet visit?


If you could answer these questions, we can get a better idea of what may be going on. But nothing will be better than medical care from a Certified Avian vet. Where is your boyfriend located in the world?

I hope the little bird is okay. Posting a video would help A LOT!

What kind of bird is it? If it' a budgie/parakeet, some don't live to be 10. I had a cockatiel once that exhibited that kind of behavior for a couple weeks, but perked up and lived for years afterwards. I put her under a heat lamp before I knew anything about birds. Anyway, it seemed to work.

itzjbean said:

This situation sounds very concerning and abnormal behavior. However without medical care from a vet there is not much we can do. We are not veterinarians.

The best we can do is get an idea of what may be happening.

- What is his diet?

- How long has he been exhibiting these symptoms?

- Did he only fall off the perch once, or has he done this multiple times?

- Can he lift up his head at all, or is it just limp under him?

- When was his last vet visit?


If you could answer these questions, we can get a better idea of what may be going on. But nothing will be better than medical care from a Certified Avian vet. Where is your boyfriend located in the world?

I hope the little bird is okay. Posting a video would help A LOT!

Click to expand...

His diet is bird seeds for budgies. His head is basically limp only moving it left and right. He has fallen off multiple times his last vet visit was two months ago to shave down his beak. My Boyfriends family is caring for him for a sick old man who basically mistreated the poor bird. He just began exhibiting these symptoms about three hours ago. My boyfriend is currently in Germany.

hope this video works

I am sorry, but this sounds very serious.
I guess I would try to bundle him up to keep him warm and keep him from moving around too much.
get him help ASAP.

good luck.

The video is not showing. You can post on Youtube and link the url here?

Move him to a smaller carrier, pad the bottom with towels to prevent further injury/ concussion. Make sure water and seed is accessible. Water not too deep to prevent drowning. Is he able to see? If he is tame, can you handle him, let him rest on you while you get him to drink / eat? Make sure he's nourishing himself.

Please contact an avian vet so he can be looked at. Sending you good vibes. Thanks for caring for him.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBvI-RDiMJc"]blue - YouTube[/ame]

Welcome, I am sorry you have joined under these circumstances.

The video is heartbreaking and clearly shows your bird in distress. Impossible to diagnose without a skilled avian vet. You mention there are no emergency vets; can you locate a certified (or equivalent) avian vet for tomorrow morning? If you locate one and know what time they open, best procedure is to call and state the case is emergency. I would be waiting at the door as most practices will immediately triage and evaluate for treatment. Meanwhile, keep him in a secure cage at a comfortable temperature.

Good luck, please let us know how things are going when you have the chance.

If you need assistance finding a cetified vet: https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
https://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803

My first thoughts are liver failure (poor diet will do that) and neurological issues (seizures?). I'm not a vet though, so I can't tell you that this is in fact the issue.


I would honestly hope that the bird passes away soon or is helped along as I'm not sure there is any chance of recovery... I had a bird that suffered head trauma and if I thought she could recover and live a normal life, I would have fought for her life without a moments hesitation! But knowing that she was an older bird, had health issues, and her health just wasn't up to par... I hoped that she would pass peacefully on her own... but when I checked on her several hours after noticing the head trauma, she was still alive... so I made the unfortunate decision to let her go with medical help from a vet. My vet, who fights as much as she can for the rights of the animals, had to agree.


I don't wish the death upon any beloved pet, but if they are in pain or suffering over something that meds can't help, it's inhumane to keep them alive.



I'm so sorry. :smiley2:

I agree Monica, my son's budgie recently flew into a window and showed similar signs, the vet tried with steroid injection but to no avail. Im not one to allow suffering to continue, especially with an older bird. When I was around 10, I had to make the decision with Joey, my childhood pet budgie, I was heart broken but when the time is up, its up.

Im so sorry......

I've got an update. He took him to the vet and the doc gave him a cortisol shot. Unfortunately it hasn't seemed to work..

Do you know if the vet is avian certified or equivalent? I hope a reasonable diagnosis can be made to assist you with making the best decision.

Did the vet take an x-ray or do blood work? It looks to be a neurological issue or an injury to his spine/head/neck. He needs an x-ray to rule-out a fracture, tumor, etc.

Budgies can live into their 20's, 10 years old is not at all "old" for a Budgie if it is fed a healthy diet; average lifespan in captivity if they are well taken care of is around 15 years or more, so this isn't a situation where you should just assume that the bird is "old" or "elderly" and that's what is going on. This is a common misconception, a lot of people buy Budgies thinking they will live to be only 5 or so years old unfortunately. My point is that though you don't want the bird to be in pain and suffering, you do want to make sure that an experienced Avian Specialist (hopefully), or any vet available, does the appropriate tests, the first of which should have been a regular x-ray. That way you can make an informed decision about what to do...If it's not a compressed-nerve, bulging disc, or any other condition caused by inflammation in his spine/neck, then the steroid isn't going to help, which is why they should have done an x-ray first...Hopefully they also gave him some pain medication, like Metacam, as he's obviously in tremendous discomfort...

Is the bird allowed out of his cage, or was he out of his cage prior to him acting this way? Did you hear any commotion inside of his cage prior to this? It really does look to be some type of acute injury....I hope that you can get more answers from either a different, more experienced vet, or can take him back to the same vet and request an x-ray before anything else to hopefully get a picture of what is going on, otherwise it's impossible to make an informed decision. If it's something due to inflammation or a pinched nerve, etc. that will resolved itself then you need to know that, versus it being a growth/mass/tumor that has been slow-growing and finally put pressure on his spine/neck/nerves and is not treatable.

Rip Blu..He no longer suffers. Thank you all for your help

I'm so sorry for your loss of Blu. Fly free, little one.

Rest in peace, Blu. I'm sorry for your loss, Bella. Thank you for taking care of Blu in his last moments.