My new budgie is very sick with tremors. How can I help until vet?

Nutritional deficiency, liver or kidney disease, intestinal parasites or bacterial, viral or fungal infection are all possibilities. An exam with your veterinarian or an experienced avian veterinarian is strongly recommended to diagnose the exact illness or injury. The vet can administer supportive care if indicated. Offer a commercial pelleted diet moistened with warm water or a hand feeding formula to stimulate his appetite and get some nutrition into him. Keep him warm and as stress free as possible until he sees the veterinarian.

Potential causes include infection (bacterial, fungal or parasites), trauma/injury, toxicity or malnutrition. It is critical to have the underlying cause(s) diagnosed before an effective treatment can be administered. Until you do that, you're simply guessing and possibly wasting time. Millie needs to be physically examined by your veterinarian or an experienced avian veterinarian as soon as possible. In the meantime, keep her warm and as stress free as possible. Use a hand feeding formula and warm water to make a mash or paste that she may eat. You can also soak a pelleted diet in a small amount of apple juice to stimulate the appetite. Discuss payment plans or alternative financing options, such as CareCredit ( www.carecredit.com ), with the veterinarian or office manager. Ask friends and family to assist you financially if possible.

If your bird is sitting on the bottom of the cage, this is often a sign that your bird is too week to perch. Shaking the head might be a sign of nausea or regurgitation, or a sinus infection. A veterinary visit is recommended. But, providing heat support at home might help provide some strength to your bird. Most veterinarians will attempt to keep sick birds in incubators at 85-90 F. Take the perches out of the cage and provide a towel on the bottom of the cage for comfort. Place food and water bowls on the bottom within easy reach of your bird. Using a small syringe for administration of water could help with some dehydration. Good luck.

Those are all very general signs of illness in a bird. It would be a good idea to get Blue to a vet as soon as possible to try and determine what may be causing his symptoms. Until you can get to your vet, keeping him in a warm hospital cage with low/no perches and food and water that is easy to get in and out of may help.

Unfortunately, these symptoms point to illness. A visit to your veterinarian or an experienced avian vet would be recommended. Birds are quite adept at concealing illness, so by the time they are showing symptoms, they are already quite ill. For now, clean and sanitize the cage, bowls, toys and perches. Discard anything that cannot be sanitized. Use paper towels on the bottom and change daily. Keep the cage away from strong drafts and keep your budgie warm and as stress free as possible until she sees the doctor.

Reach out to the local humane society or animal rescue, as they sometimes have connections that assist people with veterinary bills. Contact your local vet and ask if something can be worked out. Borrow money from friends or family. If she is egg bound or ill for other reasons, not much can be done at home. Supplemental heat in the 80-85 F can give some comfort but is not a treatment. Offer water via a small syringe. Good luck.

If you think she is losing weight and malnourished then you should re-evaluate her diet. Birds do not do well on an all seed diet so, if seeds are the majority of her diet you need to change that. I suggest using Lafeber's foods. Pellets, Nutriberries, Avicakes. https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=lafeber+parakeet&crid=25UA8PCK2FUTD&sprefix=lafeber%2Caps%2C171&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_6_7 Lafeber also has excellent articles on their website regarding health, nutrition, training, how to switch diets properly, etc. https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/ Lafeber diets are perfectly balanced for birds but since she is under the weather now I would add in this multivitamin and a probiotic. https://www.amazon.ca/Nekton-201150-Nekton-S-Multi-Vitamin-Birds/dp/B0002DILTM/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=nekton+bird&qid=1588519306&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.ca/Nekton-208050-Nekton-Biotic-Bird-Probiotic-Birds/dp/B01CZUO7VK/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=nekton+bird&qid=1588519306&sr=8-9 Hope this helps. Best wishes.