14/07/2021
ബഡ്ജിയ്സിനെ ബാധിക്കുന്ന അസുഖങ്ങളെ കുറിച്ച് ഒരു ചെറിയ വിവരണം.
കടപ്പാട്
𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀:
Budgerigars are relatively robust creatures, but can still fall victim to a wide range of ailments. You should always rely on a veterinary expert to make the diagnosis. Your task as a budgie owner is to recognise illness in general terms, using the points listed in Budgie Disease Symptoms, above.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 (𝐀𝐆𝐘) 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
Also known as macrorhabdiosis, or megabacteriosis, this highly contagious infection is frustratingly difficult to spot in the early stages. The AGY incubates and proliferates in the bird with no outward sign of trouble. The first thing you might notice is that your budgie loses weight, in spite of eating with his usual gusto. This is because the AGY impedes digestion. You may then spot undigested food in his droppings, or the bird may vomit food and mucus. He will also become listless.
Until 2004 the cause of the disease was thought to be a bacteria, but it has now been identified as a yeast, Latin name Macrorhabdus ornithogaster. The misdiagnosis came about due to bacteria, including Streptococcus, taking advantage of the budgie’s hammered immune system and spreading secondary infection. The combination of the yeast and bacteria attack leads to a condition called wasting disease(sometimes called “going light”).
Your vet will be able to administer a drug to combat the AGY, and will recommend a healthy diet to aid recovery. This usually involves omitting all yeast-feeding sugary foodstuffs.
You will still need to keep a close eye on your birds, as AGY has the horrible habit of lying fallow and then blooming again a few weeks later.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐢
This is another yeast infection. Candida, the organism responsible, is a form of thrush (the virus, not the bird!), and can bloom anywhere in a budgie’s digestive system from the crop downwards. Some of the symptoms are similar to AGY infection – listlessness, vomiting and loose droppings. The vomit will have a nasty smell, and the bird’s crop may swell up, due to gases produced by the Candida yeast. In advanced cases the budgie will suffer loss of balance and shaking fits.
Candidiasis can only be cured with drugs that kill the bacteria, so a trip to the vet is essential. The cure takes about one week, during which the budgie’s diet should be closely controlled to avoid the ingestion of yeast-feeding sugars.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐩
This condition has more than one cause, but all the suspects are members of the yeast family. The symptoms are a swollen crop and sour-smelling vomit. Once again, it will take a targeted drug to kill the infection.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐒𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠
Sneezing, or coughing, is a symptom of a cold or similar virus in the budgie’s upper respiratory tract. There will be an accompanying runny nose, or the cere will be caked in dried nasal discharge. A budgie sneeze is unlike a human’s, but it’s a noise you won’t have heard him make before, and that will alert you to the fact that something is wrong.
The sneezing/coughing will be accompanied by other symptoms such as listlessness, panting, and spending a lot of time on the bottom of the cage. The bird may be short of breath, and may sometimes grip the sides of the cage with his feet and beak, stretching the neck in an effort to get more oxygen in. His breathing may be noisy: it will sound like a finger being rubbed on glass.
Various bacteria are involved in these budgie colds, and unlike a human cold they will not simply disappear after a few days. You can use a tissue on a tamed bird to soak up some of the nasal discharge, but you still need to get the bird to the vet as soon as possible.
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 (𝐏𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬)
This is the bird-borne disease most people have heard of, due to it being transmittable to humans (see Can Humans Catch Diseases from Budgies?, above). Chlamydophia psittaci is the organism responsible for the condition, and it is estimated that 1% of wild birds harbour the disease, a figure that rises to 30% in captive budgerigars. Most of these are carriers, showing no symptoms themselves, but passing the disease on via their droppings and saliva. Keeping cages clean is therefore the best way of preventing the disease from spreading.
A bird that succumbs to parrot fever will display most of the symptoms described in Budgie Disease Symptoms, above – listlessness, ruffled feathers, breathing problems, loose green droppings, gummed up cere, etc.
The ill bird will need to visit a vet to verify his condition. Isolation is then vital, and the cage the bird came from will have to be disinfected. Monitor your other birds for symptoms, and remove any that you think may have succumbed. The vet will prescribe drugs, or may recommend that it is in everyone’s best interest to have the bird humanely killed.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞
Also known as Papovavirus, this is caused by the Psittacine polyomavirus virus, which kills the young birds before fledging. It does not affect adult birds, although there is the possibility that they may be carriers of the virus. In a milder form, the virus produces a condition known as French moult.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬
Any wound on a bird can become infected and lead to septicaemia (blood poisoning). This will finish off a small bird like a budgie very quickly. If you see any traces of blood on the birds or in the cage, make a visual examination to spot the wounded party. It could be a case of feather bleeding (see above), but is more likely to be an injury. Any flesh wound should be referred to a vet for antibiotic treatment.
Prevention is the best cure for this problem. Make sure the cage is free of sharp or pointed objects that could lead to wounds.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐭
This is a condition that affects chicks who have been squatting on a flat nesting box floor while their leg bones develop. Setting up your nestbox correctly should prevent the problem from occurring (see Budgie Breeding Boxes, below). If the legs are splayed, the condition can be remedied by taping the legs together between the ankle and the knee for a few days, with enough slack for the bird to move around. Consult an expert before attempting to do this, though.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬
You will be able to spot feather-related ailments far more easily than bacterial or fungal ones. Any permanent untidiness in the budgie’s coat, or feather-loss that results in bald patches, is a very visible sign of trouble.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐲𝐬𝐭
Cysts occur when a feather fails to break through the skin. It will continue to grow beneath the surface, producing a lump on the budgie’s skin. The primary wing feathers are the most commonly affected ones. Cysts won't disappear without surgical intervention.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭
Feather loss could be due to one of five things: moulting, parasites, self-plucking, French moult virus, or Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease. These are all dealt with elsewhere in this guide.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠
If a budgie starts plucking his own feathers, there’s an underlying health problem. Unfortunately, it’s not obvious which of the many possible ailments is to blame. It could be parasites, an allergy, low air humidity, lack of fresh air, stress, boredom, mating hormones, liver disease, cancer, bacterial or fungal infection, malnutrition, heavy metal poisoning, or simply a bad habit.
A trip to the vet’s is necessary to see if the underlying problem can be diagnosed, and if it turns out to be an environmental problem rather than disease, there are a few things you can do to get to the bottom of the plucking mystery:
Watch your budgie closely, and see if you can spot a pattern or trigger. Is he plucking when angry, bored or stressed? Is another bird or object involved in the incident that leads up to a bout of plucking? Does it happen after he’s eaten? Is he fine when you’re around – i.e. does he only pluck when he’s lonely?Assess the light, air and humidity situation. Is the budgie getting a 50/50 balance of light and dark through the 24 hour day? Can you do something about his centrally-heated, moisture-free environment to dampen things down a bit? Does moving the cage to a different location help?Swap the budgie’s toys around, if you don’t do so already. Make another stick perch to give him something novel to perch and nibble on.Is the bird in need of a bath? A simple case of itchy, dry, grubby skin could be the issue. Like a reluctant male teenager, if he’s not in the habit of bathing, he may not realise that he needs one. A wide-nozzled spray (not a fine mist one) will get him wet and washing. The shower should induce the budgie’s natural preening instincts, rather than his plucking ones. Don’t overdo it, though, if the dousing is making the budgie panic.Check your food offerings against the list of good foods given in this guide. Try some new ones, to see if you can plug a difficult-to-pinpoint nutritional gap.Do you often stroke the budgie on the back or belly? This can stimulate mating hormones in the birds, which sometimes inspire feather-plucking.
Sadly, diagnosis is not the same as cure. Many budgies keep on plucking when the original stimulation has been identified and removed.
If all angles have been covered and the budgie still plucks himself, you’ll have to resign yourself to a semi-bald bird. Some contrary individuals simply get into the habit, and nothing you can do will persuade them to desist.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫
This is a variation on the plucking problem. A budgie who is plucked by his cage mates will become very stressed, and can even die as a result. Isolating the perpetrator is the best short-term solution; but you will also have to assess the problem and see if you can resolve it in the long term. The guilty bird may have been frustrated – these issues are often sex-related. Providing a nest-box or a choice of potential mates may divert the bird’s frustrations away from plucking. Making sure there is more than one feeding station might help, too.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠
When a budgie is growing new feathers during the moulting season, or when young birds are producing their adult plumage, feather bleeding can occur. A new ‘pin’ feather contains blood vessels, without which the full feather would not be able to grow. If these are damaged during the early days, they will bleed like any other wound.
A patch of blood on an adult bird’s coat is most likely to be one of these pin feathers. In extreme situations, the damage can result in the loss of so much blood that the budgie can actually die. The larger pin feathers – those associated with primary wing and tail feathers – bleed the most if damaged.
Once spotted, the bleeding must be addressed at once. The budgie must be caught, and the broken end of the feather must be held tightly for ten minutes. (Note: the pressure should be exerted on the feather itself, not the bird’s body – squeezing the budgie can cause suffocation.) Once the bleeding has stopped, arrange a trip to the vet to have the broken pin feather removed.
Pin feathers above the cere and nostrils can easily break, but the bleeding involved here is minimal and soon stops. Budgies often damage these pins in a violent ‘kissing’ bout. A lone budgie will often bash himself against his ‘friend’ in the cage mirror and damage the new feathers. Once the blood has dried, it will leave a small stain above the cere which may remain until the next moult.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫
Feather Duster Syndrome is a genetic condition, often a sign of inbreeding. The unfortunate afflicted birds – sometimes called Mops – have feathers that grow in random directions, and keep on growing. This gives them a ‘feather duster’ or mop-like appearance. Sometimes the beak and toenails grow abnormally long too. The budgies cannot fly or walk, and there are no plus sides to this genetic defect – the unhappy bird is unable to fend for itself, and has a weak immune system, with so much of the bodys energy going towards endless feather growth. Such a bird will need a fortified diet. Even so, most of them do not make it beyond one year, and euthanasia is the humane option.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐭
French moult is a virus that affects some juvenile birds, a mild form of the fatal Budgerigar Fledgling Disease. It causes secondary wing feathers and tail feathers to fall out, rendering the budgie incapable of flight. In severe cases feathers fall out across much of the bird’s body. There is no surefire cure, but a trip to the vet for formal diagnosis and advice is recommended.
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞:
Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD), or Psittacine Circovirus Disease (PCD), is a virus that causes feathers to fall out and beaks and toenails to become misshapen. There is no single pattern to the symptoms, which can range from a bedraggled-looking bird to a completely naked one. Skin sores and blemishes may appear too. The virus is passed on through drippings, and there is no cure. This makes it vital that you isolate the affected birds, and get a proper diagnosis from a vet.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞: 𝐨𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐭.𝐜𝐨𝐦
