Free returns
Sign up to our newsletter
180-day guarantee
Once you are familiar with your budgies’ everyday behaviour, it will be easy to spot when something is amiss. You do not have to be an expert in diagnosing specific disease in budgies, as long as you can spot when the bird is acting out of character.
Budgie Health Check
If you keep lots of budgies in an aviary, it will be harder to spot individual problems, so always be on the lookout. Like many animals, budgies are frustratingly good at hiding illness until it’s far advanced. This makes sense in the wild, where an ill-looking creature will soon be spotted and picked off by a predator.
Once you’ve identified an ill bird, a trip to the vet should always be your priority, and you should never delay in the hope of saving money on vet’s bills. Think of it in terms of the costs of a family trip to the cinema or restaurant – surely not a high price to pay for saving your pet’s life!
The vet you use should be an expert in birds. If they ever try to tell you that small birds such as budgerigars cannot be treated, choose another vet. The assertion is untrue, but in past decades was often offered as cold comfort by vet surgeries more used to treating cats and dogs.
Health problems may spread in crowded cages
Examining a Budgie
There are a number of ailments that can afflict budgies. The rule of thumb is to keep an eye on your birds, and talk to a vet as soon as you spot any problem, from a broken wing to a dose of mild lethargy.
You can also gently examine budgies yourself, to check problems such as wounds and lice. A finger-trained budgie will be easy enough to coax onto your hand. Once there, grip him gently as described in Holding a Budgie, above. Make your examination as swift as possible to avoid making the budgie too anxious.
Comments
Mark, 2 September 2023
"Think of it in terms of the costs of a family trip to the cinema or restaurant." Would that this were so. The last visit to the vet for a very sick bird cost $2.500. That's some expensive movie ticket.
Leo, 5 March 2020
My female budgie’s sere has changed to blue. She had been ill for about a month, having what looks like wet head feathers and red rimmed eyes, sleeping a lot, has diarrhoea, but still eating and drinking as usual. She had this, recovered for a couple of weeks and is now like it again. She is apx sixish
Shane, 20 January 2020
Im no expert or anything but just got off the phone with my local vet. They normally charge $63, but since they are a local vet clinic and i am local the first one is free. it may be a long shot but call around your local vet office and see if they have a deal for new pets. Most do just to get you in and hope you return the favor by making them your pets vets. Also ive read, you should get birds to the vets right after buying to see what kind of health care the pet store you bought them from provided. I've also read having a regular vet for your birds can lead to better trust, and less stress on the birds. Take care of your pets, as if your were that pet. Also research your pets and right down any questions you might have for your vet. And by "local vet offices" i dont mean big corp. stores like petco. i mean a locally sourced or family owned vet office, that takes cares of birds.
Sandra, 31 October 2019
I think my budgie has got air sack mites he keeps squeaking and making funny sounds ,he is still eating and drinking but doesn't talk as much ,is there something I can put in his water
Sue, 2 October 2019
Hi my bird got abscess below eye.is it better to pop it all leave it