Is my budgie sick?

[MantisGirl]

She usually has free reign of the room that her cage is in (the cage door is open all the time) but recently she's been hanging around the back of her cage.
She breathing really weirdly - kind of wheezing - and her feet are really cold, but I don't know if the feet thing is relevant. She's squeaking to herself, very quietly, but it sounds kinda scratchy. Every now and then she goes into fits of short, high pitched sqawks, almost like she's coughing.
She's been like this about a week, but before she was coming out of her cage. Now she's not.
My mum is saying not to worry, but I like to think that I know my budgie and something seems off.
She's five years old.
EDIT: I've been looking up symptoms online, and a few websites say that the tail bobbing up and down in time with the breathing is a sign of illness. Is this true? Because hers is doing that.

 

[Deb60]

She usually has free reign of the room that her cage is in (the cage door is open all the time) but recently she's been hanging around the back of her cage.
She breathing really weirdly - kind of wheezing - and her feet are really cold, but I don't know if the feet thing is relevant. She's squeaking to herself, very quietly, but it sounds kinda scratchy. Every now and then she goes into fits of short, high pitched sqawks, almost like she's coughing.
She's been like this about a week, but before she was coming out of her cage. Now she's not.
My mum is saying not to worry, but I like to think that I know my budgie and something seems off.
She's five years old.

Sounds like your budgie should be seen by a vet as soon as possible.

 

[Dave Jay]

It sounds like a respiratory infection, very common in budgies allowed to roam, and in particular sleep wherever they want, some are just stupid about sleeping in a draught. While they can stand very low temperatures, draughts make them sick even inside. The common all wire birdcages are death traps imo, they are only usable if covered on the top and at least two sides, preferably all sides covered at night. Warmth is needed now, and absolutely no draughts. I would have a cage completely covered in a quiet part of the house with some form of heating. For me that is usually a desk lamp and a low wattage globe placed so that there is warmth on one side, where one end of a perch is. The budgie needs to be able to move along the perch to control its temperature. A heat matt could be used in much the same way.
You can add some glucose to the water, a good teaspoon in a cup of water. What has been popular for years now is using electrolytes, rather than the glucose alone sports drinks such as gatorade are diluted. I believe you can probably get a electrolyte mix for birds from a vet.
Colds are very common in budgies, with warmth most will recover if caught early enough.
Of course a vet visit would be best, and I can't judge the condition of your bird, but the advice I've given is what I would do as soon as I noticed sneezing, wheezing may mean it's reached the stage where antibiotics are needed.

*btw, the advice is handed down from my grandfather, I myself kept budgies for over 40 years, but there are no guarantees.

 

[Dave Jay]

EDIT: I've been looking up symptoms online, and a few websites say that the tail bobbing up and down in time with the breathing is a sign of illness. Is this true? Because hers is doing that.

Yes, the tail bobbing is not good at all, it's doing that because it can't get enough oxygen into it's lungs. If that is combined with a sharp keel bone (the breast meat has wasted away) it has been sick for quite a while and probably does need antibiotics in addition to what I described earlier. I don't really need to ask about its droppings, I can pretty much guess that they are sloppy and perhaps the black is green. If the whites are pink it's enteritis or coccidiocis. Both are usually fatal at that stage as the intestines or bowel are bleeding. If green and sloppy but not smelly (smelly = bacterial enteritis) you have a chance.
Unfortunately birds are very good at hiding sickness , in a flock it would result in them being attacked and driven off, so by the time they show obvious symptoms it's often too late to save them, it doesn't mean we don't try though.

 

[The Snark]

Sounds like Aspergillosis, very common, and vet time pronto.

 

[Dave Jay]

Sounds like Aspergillosis, very common, and vet time pronto.

Hopefully it hasn't gone that far but you're probably right
Being a fungal infection rather than a bacterial infection there's little to be done bar providing an environment conductive to the bird fighting off the infection itself in my experience. Tri-sulfur was used as a treatment at one stage, but it's not really that effective.
Things have probably progressed since I stopped keeping birds and a better treatment may be available.

 

[The Snark]

I understand they are developing respiratory assist devices for birds that can deliver various medications. And there is always the enriched oxygen chambers.

 

[MantisGirl]

Yes, the tail bobbing is not good at all, it's doing that because it can't get enough oxygen into it's lungs. If that is combined with a sharp keel bone (the breast meat has wasted away) it has been sick for quite a while and probably does need antibiotics in addition to what I described earlier. I don't really need to ask about its droppings, I can pretty much guess that they are sloppy and perhaps the black is green. If the whites are pink it's enteritis or coccidiocis. Both are usually fatal at that stage as the intestines or bowel are bleeding. If green and sloppy but not smelly (smelly = bacterial enteritis) you have a chance.
Unfortunately birds are very good at hiding sickness , in a flock it would result in them being attacked and driven off, so by the time they show obvious symptoms it's often too late to save them, it doesn't mean we don't try though.

I did try to see if she's too thin, but she struggles when you hold her so it's hard to tell.
Her droppings are green, a little sloppy, but not smelly.

 

[MantisGirl]

She's also sleeping a lot during the day.

 

[Dave Jay]

She's definitely sick, but how sick or what from is not clear, make sure her cage is covered tight against draughts at least. Keeping the cage clean is very important too to prevent re-infection. If you can't afford the vet I would advise that you set her up in a hospital cage situation as I suggested previously and let her rest and hopefully recover.

 

[MantisGirl]

We did have a look around on a hunch, and found a small patch of mold near her cage. It was hiding under a shelf, which is why we didn't see it before. We've moved her cage to a different part of the house, so hopefully that will make a difference? Could it have been the mold?

 

[Minty]

Sounds like your budgie should be seen by a vet as soon as possible.

This. Vet straight away. Sounds like a respiratory infection to me. I've had budgies exhibiting similar behaviour to what you've described and a trip to the vet sorted it out.

 

[MantisGirl]

We've had her on a cage covered on three sides, and we've been putting vitamin drops in her water. The wheezing seems to have cleared up, and I think she's on the mend.