Neurological Problems

Okay, so my suspicions have been confirmed. Rumi is definitely suffering from some sort of neurological disorder. Saturday, she was flying around, destroying stuff, and being her usual self. On Sunday, she was at the bottom of the aviary, no longer able to fly. She's only maybe a third as strong now. She's still able to eat, drink, preen, and get around, but I've had to put her in a cage in the aviary since she can't fly. The door's open so her mate and friends can visit her, but it's definitely a sad situation.

Just last week she could shred a mahogany pod in less than three minutes, but now she can't even do it in fifteen. And when I handle her, she just puts her beak on me instead of making blood squirt everywhere. She's still with it and is aware of her surroundings (and is still quite aggressive with Lara), but she's definitely weaker and is quite aware of that fact. I've been weighing her since Wednesday, and she hasn't lost any weight. I've been giving her stuff to shred, and she definitely appreciates it, but it's sad to see how weak her beak has gotten.

Everyone is excited about a cage being in their room again, so she's been getting a lot of company. And no, despite the vicious rumours you may have heard about budgies, none of her flockmates would ever hurt her or bully her.

All I can say is that albinos and yellow budgies are prone to health issues. Any recommendations on exercises or physical therapy for her? I already took her to a clinic that's quite experienced in caring for birds a few months ago, but they didn't want to do any testing because she's a budgie. And as we all know, budgies can't receive the same care as larger parrots because they're small and die from the slightest amount of stress. Obviously I'm being sarcastic, but this how budgies are viewed in the medical community. A different vet talked me out of having Charlie x-rayed or having his abdominal fluids analyzed because of his age and species. I really wanted to have the tests done, but she said he was old and that he was probably dying and that they wouldn't be able to do anything even if they knew what was causing his abdomen to fill with fluid. She said there was a serious risk of him dying from stress if they performed tests on him. Because he was a budgie. Instead, my sweet boy who was displaying obvious signs of heart disease was prescribed a medicine that is known to be lethal for those suffering from heart disease. He died less than two months later from congestive heart failure. He was in so much pain and was so scared .

So, I'm not taking her to the vet unless she loses weight.

I'm going to be taking courses only for a certificate in Animal Training and Enrichment, and one for Wildlife Rehabilitation. I'm also going to see about taking courses in avian medicine.

I am of no help, but we are here with you!

Like Fl says, we're here with support.

I wonder if maybe she bonked her head during some of her antics.

Anyway, best, best, best of luck.

Gee, I wish the Rickeybird would let me have a flock of budgies.

Wish I had some advice to help Teddscau, but I really have never dealt with this situation. Here for support though. Good Luck to you.

good luck, I hope she can recover.

Teddscau said:

Okay, so my suspicions have been confirmed. Rumi is definitely suffering from some sort of neurological disorder. Saturday, she was flying around, destroying stuff, and being her usual self. On Sunday, she was at the bottom of the aviary, no longer able to fly. She's only maybe a third as strong now. She's still able to eat, drink, preen, and get around, but I've had to put her in a cage in the aviary since she can't fly. The door's open so her mate and friends can visit her, but it's definitely a sad situation.

Just last week she could shred a mahogany pod in less than three minutes, but now she can't even do it in fifteen. And when I handle her, she just puts her beak on me instead of making blood squirt everywhere. She's still with it and is aware of her surroundings (and is still quite aggressive with Lara), but she's definitely weaker and is quite aware of that fact. I've been weighing her since Wednesday, and she hasn't lost any weight. I've been giving her stuff to shred, and she definitely appreciates it, but it's sad to see how weak her beak has gotten.

Everyone is excited about a cage being in their room again, so she's been getting a lot of company. And no, despite the vicious rumours you may have heard about budgies, none of her flockmates would ever hurt her or bully her.

All I can say is that albinos and yellow budgies are prone to health issues. Any recommendations on exercises or physical therapy for her? I already took her to a clinic that's quite experienced in caring for birds a few months ago, but they didn't want to do any testing because she's a budgie. And as we all know, budgies can't receive the same care as larger parrots because they're small and die from the slightest amount of stress. Obviously I'm being sarcastic, but this how budgies are viewed in the medical community. A different vet talked me out of having Charlie x-rayed or having his abdominal fluids analyzed because of his age and species. I really wanted to have the tests done, but she said he was old and that he was probably dying and that they wouldn't be able to do anything even if they knew what was causing his abdomen to fill with fluid. She said there was a serious risk of him dying from stress if they performed tests on him. Because he was a budgie. Instead, my sweet boy who was displaying obvious signs of heart disease was prescribed a medicine that is known to be lethal for those suffering from heart disease. He died less than two months later from congestive heart failure. He was in so much pain and was so scared .

So, I'm not taking her to the vet unless she loses weight.

I'm going to be taking courses only for a certificate in Animal Training and Enrichment, and one for Wildlife Rehabilitation. I'm also going to see about taking courses in avian medicine.

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It is very possible that your Budgie has suffered a Stroke.

I have heard that Budgies are easily stressed, but not seeing an Avian Vet at this time makes no sense to me at all. If my Budgie, I would have been at the Clinics door first thing Monday last.

I hope you can find a different vet! Where are you located? Your vets sound horrible.


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Any change with Rumi today? Best outcome would be a temporary "stunning" from an impact, but anything else might be more pervasive. If she is eating and not deteriorating further that would be a fair sign.

I am not familiar with Budgies, so cannot evaluate the wisdom of taking her to a vet.

Hey, thanks everyone. Rumi's doing a lot better. I think. She hasn't lost any weight, and she's very active. Her balance and coordination have greatly improved, and she seems to be regaining her strength. She's being OCD about shredding mahogany pods, so I've been stringing some up above her perch.

Based on my personal experience with strokes, there's not a whole lot that can be done, except physio and cognitive therapy (no clue if that's what it's called). Additionally, from what I understand, even experienced avian vets aren't sure how to treat neurological problems. The only medical treatment birds typically receive in such cases is for underlying conditions causing their issues, such as renal problems, vitamin/mineral deficiency, poisoning (zinc, lead, etc.), or vitamin toxicity. That, and pain management, and perhaps antidepressants.

Normally, she would've been at the vet first thing in the morning, but since I know there isn't any underlying condition causing her neurological problems, I kept her at home and made her comfortable. I think I might start extending and retracting her wings a few times when I weigh her to help keep them from atrophying. I hope she takes a chunk out of me when I weigh her later!

Wow, nice to see improvement! I'm out of my league and have nothing to contribute from experience. Hope Rumi continues to amaze!

Ok, I'm going to try and make some suggestions here, as I have been a budgie breeder since I was 16 and have dealt with MANY a budgie health problem/medical emergency. I also currently have 7 pet budgies of my own that I bred and hand-raised myself from 2 weeks old (English x American budgie crosses), and they are every bit a part of my family as my green cheek conure, Quaker, cockatiel, and now Senegal, so we spare no expense and take no excuses from anyone about them "ONLY BEING BUDGIES". That's a bunch of bs...just my opinion, lol.

So first of all, I don't know where you live, but I have a wonderful certified avian vet that absolutely does treat budgies, and does not treat them any differently than he would treat a Macaw or Cockatoo. He once told me that there are a lot of avian vets that don't feel comfortable treating budgies or even lovebirds and cockatiels because of their size, but in general most certified, experienced avian vets will treat birds down to the size of an American parakeet. The only time I've ever been told a budgie was too small was when a newly hatched baby English budgie I bred stopped gaining weight even though he was eating the same amount of formula he always did. They told me he had to be fully feathered, so I had to use my pre-med/animal science degree and just plain experience combined with a prescription antibiotic/antifungal connection I have, and I did end up saving that baby, who is the 7th baby budgie I have now as a pet. My point to this ramble is that you absolutely can find an avian vet that will treat your budgie just as they would treat any other bird, but you may have to drive a bit. If you tell me where you live I can certainly find the closest budgie avian vet to you, though it may be a 7-8 hour drive one way, or it may be an hour away. You never know unless you try, and that would obviously, without a doubt be the first thing I would do in your situation, regardless of how old your budgie is.

That out of the way, how old is your budgie? I know you said he's either albino or Latino, but is he an American budgie or an English budgie? And when did these symptoms start? Was it something that just appeared one day out of the blue, or something that you noticed getting worse over time, and weren't sure of a problem even existing at first? Since she is a female, has she been bred before, and even if not, does she lay unfertile eggs? What is her regular diet, and how is her appetite? I know you said she hasn't lost weight, which is good, so I'm assuming her appetite is regular, however I'm trying to make sure she is still eating her regular diet and you aren't compensating her weight by feeding her fatty "junk food", like tons of millet. I've had clients that have purchased babies from me have weight gaining issues and they've done this and not told me, so I had no idea their bird stopped eating it's pellets. And finally, how are her droppings? Are they normal color and consistency?

Honestly, without getting the answers to these questions, I'd say that just going off the symptoms you've listed that it could be any number of things, though I don't know her age. If this is something that suddenly showed up one day, then it's typically much easier to diagnose, and usually does indicate some type of neurological event, such as a stroke (common in older budgies), aneurysm, or a head/spine injury...if it's something that you've seen developing over time, it's much harder to pin down without blood work and fecal smears, which is why an avian vet visit is really important in your situation. It sounds a lot like heavy metal poisoning, Teflon poisoning, etc. Poisoning with either something the bird is eating or breathing shows up slowly just like this (unless it's a massive dose of something they are suddenly exposed to), and since none of your other birds are having symptoms, I obviously lean towards heavy metal poisoning, or something she is ingesting. This is why BLOOD WORK IS IMPERATIVE, AS IT IS EASY TO DIAGNOSE POISONING, AND JUST AS EASY TO TREAT IN MOST CASES! You may be able to treat and reverse this rather quickly with blood work to diagnose and medication to treat! You just never know!

The other possibility is a nutritional deficiency or tumor of her endocrine or reproductive system, which is why I asked about her breeding history and egg laying history. It's quite common for these two problems to cause neurological deficits over time. In fact, I have an aunt who had a young male cockatiel that started exhibiting similar symptoms, and it turned out that he had a tumor on a testicle.



"Dance Like Nobody's Watching"

Thank you for a wonderfully informative post!!

Hey everyone ! Rumi is doing great! She's been hanging out with the others in the aviary, and has regained much of her strength. She can sort of fly now, and she only really goes back in the cage at night. Ooh, and she's lost weight since her last vet visit (not due to illness)! She was 48g, but now she's 37g (she's staying at 37g).

Sorry, Ellen, just saw your post now. Rumi's a four year old yellow American female (not lutino) that I adopted a year ago late August. Lutinos are yellow with red eyes, right? She hasn't laid any eggs since I adopted her. Anyways, I noticed for last winter that she seemed to have something wrong neurologically, but I wasn't sure. She seemed a little absent minded sometimes, and was sometimes a little sleepy, but I wasn't really sure because her behaviour was barely noticeable even by someone as observant as me. One day, last winter or spring, she had this weird episode that lasted five minutes at most, where she was standing on a perch, looking kind of dazed, while her mate was poking her and was in her face. I thought her jaw was broken because it was just hanging open, farther than what I thought was possible. She just kind of stood there, wiggling her tongue once in a while, not moving, with an absent or confused look on her face. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, she snapped out of it and started moving around again. After that, I noticed she seemed perhaps more docile, and maybe it bit more tired, but I couldn't be sure.

She had been eating pellets (Goldn'obles III), seed, veggies, and birdie bread, but I've had to put them on a restricted diet because it turns out they're allergic to certain foods, hence the vomiting (Samantha and Ju) and lethargy. Turns out they're allergic to sweet potatoes, and it took them over a week to get that sweet potato birdie bread out of their systems. I'm only really feeding them pellets at the moment, but I'm carefully reintroducing different foods and checking for reactions. It's a pain because it takes at least two days after ingestion before they become ill. Her poop's looking okay.

She had been poking at some duct tape a few days before becoming ill, so I have replaced it with vet wrap (it was being used to secure a UV lamp. No, it wasn't giving off fumes due to heat, as the UV bulbs don't produce heat, which I can attest to). I was actually telling a friend about how frustrating her problems were as they could be symptoms of all those things you mentioned. I don't think she has cancer, but two of my others do. I've been putting dandelion root extract in their water, and Lara's tumour has shrunk right down.

Ellen... thank you for the budgie-cational post!
I love the little guys... GEE I wish the Rb would let me have a pair!

Man, I freaking love budgies! They're the least parrot-like of the parrots, in my opinion, and they're usually cheerful and outgoing. If you want constant action, I'd go with a pair of males, as the girls tend to rein them in. Actually, the boys can actually get out of hand, so it isn't a bad idea to have a mix gender pair...

Agreed... fabulous little guys. Amazing mimicry, too, after you figure out what to listen for.