parakeet help :(

Ever since I got my parakeet a few weeks ago he just hasn't seemed normal. The first day I brought him home he was just fine, a slender, gentle little guy. Once in a while, I have found him with his feathers all ruffled up and just acting sick, then he goes back to normal. Today I noticed it to be a bit more strange than normal. He is all ruffled up, he's sticking his chest way out, and he isn't very active. He ate and drank this morning. He is talking a little bit. He is trying to get around once in a while. He usually flies over to me in the living room about 15 feet away and he tried today and only made it about 2 feet. When he's sitting there, his eyes are closed. Also ever since I got him his butt has seemed very dirty. He gets his poop stuck to his behind every single day and I have to pick him up and wipe it off. It looks completely normal and is not runny or anything it just sticks back there. not sure why that is but I've never had a parakeet that was that messy.

Now, I have called 3 vets in my area all of which told me they cannot see him until monday!! I told them all the circumstance and each office only had 1 vet which saw birds all of which were heavily booked until monday. So I'm asking, in the mean time is there something I could do to help him out? He is the most amazing little guy and so gentle, he lets me do anything to him, but he's not looking good at all right now.

You don't have a emergency vet clinic near by? You must tell your vet its urgent! At this stage he sounds pretty sick already. He needs vet care right away!!!!

Once they get to this stage it is very hard to turn them round.

Get him warm, under a heat lamp or heat pad or even a hotwater bottle straight away.
Soak his vent in warm water and wipe away with tissue paper.
You could snip off some vent feathers to prevent it building up so much.
Get some electroytes or sugar water ( only if electroytes are not available ) into him.
Make sure he has plenty of food and water on all levels.

Woke up this morning and he is seemingly back to normal. No ruffled feathers, he's more active and singing. Like I said, he has done this before, seemed soo sick one day and the next he's back to normal. I am thinking he needs a fecal sample, can they tell much from that? and is it strange that his poop sticks to his bottom all the time even though its no runny? Something just seems weird about it. I have had parakeets before and none ever acted like this.

Like what Ratsy mentioned, it is generally what you do when they are sick. But when they're unable to fly and closing their eyes plus runnung poop, that's a problem that only a vet can diagnose them problem causing it, he might be a carrier of a virus that can be passed on to your other birds. They can get sick and die rather quickly and it can spread pretty quickly as well, best to know for sure.

Take him in anyway.
Birds do their best to hide the illness until it's too late. Plus it probably will have already spread to your conure, unless you are still quarantining.

Listen to what Ratzy said! Learn from my mistake years ago when I almost lost my whole flock due to a virus breakout. Even though I took them to the vet right away, it took them awhile to diagnose the problem and my birds were dropping one by one within a 24hr period. It's very harsh to watch when there was nothing I can do until I get the meds to care for them which I eventually did, but I had 4 casualty through the process.

birdie probiotic, unflavored pedialyte, and a uvb bulb will help his immune system recover.

BuckbeakTheCaique said:

birdie probiotic, unflavored pedialyte, and a uvb bulb will help his immune system recover.

Click to expand...

This thread is from 2011

FYI, putting your bird under an artificial UVB light is not only unnecessary, it can actually be quite harmful and do permanent damage to your bird's eyes, skin, and feathers depending on the type of UVB bulb, the strength, and the UVB output...And it certainly will not increase their immune system health...Only natural sunlight will aid the health of captive birds, as they do not require extra UVB light in order to manufacture Vitamin D3 and absorb Calcium, Phosphorous, etc...The bottom-line for birds is that as long as they are eating a regular, daily diet that fortified, low-fat, and varied, and has a healthy "staple" food that is supplemented by fresh veggies and dark, leafy greens, there is absolutely no need at all for any "artificial lighting" that can actually do great harm to them...They are not reptiles nor amphibians, nor do they have the same anatomy or physiology...

Poop sticking to vent is very much a BAD sign. Plan for a trip to the vet and DO NOT wait...By the time symptoms start showing, you have a very sick bird on your hands (birds are masters at hiding illness, as weakness gets them killed in the wild).

This thread is from 2011!!!!