Help Please..

[BishoLeo96]

Good afternoon to all bird parents,

I am worried that my budgie is sick and dying. My budgies beak is turning brown (not the cere). She is a female. I wanted to know if there was anything I can do on my end to fix this. Please and thank you.

 

[HeatherG]

Is it above the beak (the cere) that is turning brown?

If that’s the case, that just means she’s an adult female (girl) budgie. Bright blue shows an adult male.

Is that what you mean? If her whole beak is discolored that is another problem. Maybe you could post a photo.

 

[HeatherG]

Is it above the beak (the cere) that is turning brown?

If that’s the case, that just means she’s an adult female (girl) budgie. Bright blue shows an adult male.

Is that what you mean? If her whole beak is discolored that is another problem. Maybe you could post a photo.

Whoops. I see you write “not the cere”. Could you send a photo?

I have some ideas, but I would rather not guess. For example, birds can have a runny nose and get beak discoloration that way. If the beak looks bruised, that can indicate an injury or a clotting problem. Is the whole beak brown, or just a part? Is there any way this is pigment from fruit or food?

 

[BishoLeo96]

Whoops. I see you write “not the cere”. Could you send a photo?

I have some ideas, but I would rather not guess. For example, birds can have a runny nose and get beak discoloration that way. If the beak looks bruised, that can indicate an injury or a clotting problem. Is the whole beak brown, or just a part? Is there any way this is pigment from fruit or food?

hi, its not the whole beak, its almost like a line.

 

[BishoLeo96]

hi, its not the whole beak, its almost like a line.

 

[BishoLeo96]

Is it above the beak (the cere) that is turning brown?

If that’s the case, that just means she’s an adult female (girl) budgie. Bright blue shows an adult male.

Is that what you mean? If her whole beak is discolored that is another problem. Maybe you could post a photo.

hi heather, i attached a picture

 

[BishoLeo96]

Whoops. I see you write “not the cere”. Could you send a photo?

I have some ideas, but I would rather not guess. For example, birds can have a runny nose and get beak discoloration that way. If the beak looks bruised, that can indicate an injury or a clotting problem. Is the whole beak brown, or just a part? Is there any way this is pigment from fruit or food?

 

[BishoLeo96]

Good evening to all bird parents,

I am worried that my budgie is sick and dying. My budgies beak is turning brown (not the cere). She is a female. I wanted to know if there was anything I can do on my end to fix this. Please and thank you. I’m attaching some pictures as well.

 

[Terry57]

I'm not a budgie expert, but I've never seen any of my females change the color of their beak like that.
I'm hoping someone else will jump in, but if it were my bird I would take her to the vet to be checked out. I'm going to tag a couple of members who know more about budgies than I do. I'm hoping it's completely normal.

@𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖞𝕻𝖎𝖈𝖆​

@PippTheBananaBirb

 

[zERo]

I don't really see an alarming color on her beak, what concerns me is the stains above her cere, this can indicate several health issues, a sinus infection, or that she doesn't have enough vitamin A in her diet.
What's her diet like?

 

[BishoLeo96]

I don't really see an alarming color on her beak, what concerns me is the stains above her cere, this can indicate several health issues, a sinus infection, or that she doesn't have enough vitamin A in her diet.
What's her diet like?

she eats her regular seeds, and then i give her special snacks sometimes as a treat. i however do not give vitamin A. where can i find that for birds?

I don't really see an alarming color on her beak, what concerns me is the stains above her cere, this can indicate several health issues, a sinus infection, or that she doesn't have enough vitamin A in her diet.
What's her diet like?

 

[HeatherG]

she eats her regular seeds, and then i give her special snacks sometimes as a treat. i however do not give vitamin A. where can i find that for birds?

You find vitamin A In dark yellow and orange foods like squash and sweet potato as well as in powdered vitamins like nekton-s. If she’s on a seed diet nekton s or other vitamins would be helpful.

I don’t think the brown coloration on the cere and beak is a problem. The brown is on the oldest part of the beak; well, it does get dirty and old. but like zero I wonder if she’s got some discharge from her nostrils that stains the feathers above her beak.

I bet she would really like a shallow bowl of water to take a bath in. Birds need to take regular baths to keep their feathers nice.

 

[𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖞𝕻𝖎𝖈𝖆]

Good evening to all bird parents,

I am worried that my budgie is sick and dying. My budgies beak is turning brown (not the cere). She is a female. I wanted to know if there was anything I can do on my end to fix this. Please and thank you. I’m attaching some pictures as well.

Are you sure it’s not just food or crud build-up? That would be my first guess…

 

[saxguy64]

Honestly, I don't know as I've never seen this and I'm certainly no expert, but I'll throw this out there. Is it possible your girl has had a collision and this is bruising?

 

[HowdyDoDee]

How old is she? Has she had any dietary changes recently? Is she active? Is she eating and drinking normally? Preening herself?

Lethargy, and tail bobbing are two signs of medical emergency. In other words, sitting on the bottom of the cage, or shortness of breath.

I have a great book that I need to pull out of storage ASAP and I’ll refresh my memory about beak health when I do so, hopefully later today.

My intuition is this. Beak health is a good indicator of overall health. Are you feeding a variety of high quality foods? Does she have a mineral block, and a cuttlebone always? (I prefer an unflavored mineral block if you can find one. Who knows what they’re adding for color and flavor but I can almost guarantee it’s not found unadulterated in nature.)

Does she have perches, and other wood to use to maintain her beak and claws? Recently I discovered the Ole bird Kabob- my keets devoured it!

It’s controversial now, but used to be standard to offer mineral grit at the bottom of the cage. I use Higgins- with oyster shells in the ingredient list- and my three go for it occasionally. I keep it in a separate are food dish. I’ve recently added Kaytee molting and conditioning to it. My budgies do not seem to care for Kaytee mineral grit, and I am wary of it because it is a larger grain size. Maybe crushing it more with a mortar and pestle would help.

Can’t vouch for it yet, but I’ve also added a vitamin and mineral supplement to a 2 oz water silo. This is in addition to normal fresh water (for however long it stays ‘fresh’ lol).

Then there’s sunlight and vitamin D production that comes along naturally with sunlight exposure. You can supplement natural light with a ‘happy lamp’ designed for people who need additional full spectrum light during short winter days. A perch, or an Ole Kabob, hung near a sunny window might help too.

Of course, you know your birdie best, and these are only my ideas. An avian vet would be a priceless resource. I’m just a hobbyist.

Best to your birdie buddy and to you too!

Laura

 

[BirdyBee]

I'm not a budgie expert, but I've never seen any of my females change the color of their beak like that.
I'm hoping someone else will jump in, but if it were my bird I would take her to the vet to be checked out. I'm going to tag a couple of members who know more about budgies than I do. I'm hoping it's completely normal.

@𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖞𝕻𝖎𝖈𝖆​

@PippTheBananaBirb

I didn't get the notification! I think I turned it off in my notification settings. Thanks for tagging me!

 

[BirdyBee]

I would bring her to a vet to have it checked. Might be a deficiency of some sort.

 

[bonitabird59]

vet asap

 

[zERo]

Agree with the above, though if I were you I'd try and at least switch her to pellets as seeds are very lacking in many vitamins.

 

[Terry57]

Agree with the above, though if I were you I'd try and at least switch her to pellets as seeds are very lacking in many vitamins.

I agree about adding pellets, but budgies also need some seeds