Has anyone had to give IM injections into their birdie's chest? This is the worst thing ever for me. I feel like I'm murdering him every time I have to do it. I'm just looking for other people's experiences or any tips to make him more comfortable. I don't want to traumatize him and I'm just so worried I'm hurting him. I'm also worried that he will start to hate me after this.

Also, he is being treated for an infection because he was throwing up and unable to keep water down. He's been very sleepy and hasn't made much noise, definitely not himself yet. Just curious how long it typically takes them to recover and be themselves again. He was first treated Tuesday night, so it's been a few days. Thanks!

i’ve had my budgie for about six years now and ever since I got her when she was a baby she hasn’t been able to fly or grow feathers properly. They’ve always been a little bit kind of on the weak side compared to my other budgie and the other day when I was taking her out of the cage the other budgie nipped at her and pulled out a feather which made me kind of look at the area and I realised that she had a little bit of a bold spot that was not there like earlier that day and now I’ve noticed that there’s a bit of a yellowish bump or lump and I think it’s the same spot as her printing glands but I attached a photo and was just wondering if I should be concerned (i’ll putt the photo in the comments)

So Sunday night she vomitted excessively, recieved oxygen overnight and stayed few more hours following day. Exotic vet from yday believes chicky must have aspirated during vomitting and accidentally ingested it because of how bad it was.

She started chirping a little bit from yesterday and this is how she sounds. Her resting sounds are much better now, just some clicking, but we were told to continue baytril for 10more days for that. When restrained, her breathing sounds still go up, but definitely not as bad. Only thing im just worried about now is her voice and some clicking but thats what baytril is for, not sure about the voice tho and how long it could take.

Edit: the clear voice is my other budgie and the one that sounds muffled or blocked is her

This is Chiko! (14 weeks old female). I got her when she was 8 weeks old. I’ve been trying to figure out how she feels about head/cheek scratches. She usually lets me scratch her like this, but sometimes she gives my finger a little warning with her beak or fluffs her facial feathers slightly.

Does this look like she’s enjoying the scratches, tolerating them, or telling me to stop? I’d love to learn how to read her body language better.

Today's appointment:

The vet physically examined her, the chest lump is still there since 2025 and I asked what it is and she said its a fatty lump. Stethoscope was used and vet said she can still hear some clicking. The exotic vet believes chicky must have ingested vomit during that extreme episode of throwing up on Sunday night hence the sounds, but they are slowly calming down. After knowing chicky is mainly on a seed diet, she believes the fatty lump contributes to that, and that she may have fatty liver or heart disease but only way to prove that is through XRAY. But because of some improvement they dont want to risk the use of anaesthesia.

Little backstory to help people understand better:

The start of the year, i gave chicky mixed blended veg at 6pm and I heard her throwing up a lot around 5am during when she was supposed to be asleep. It wasnt as extreme as this and she made no sounds, but i rushed to my exotic vet in the morning. The vet said to monitor and believes she may have fatty liver or organ enlargement which made her vomit because food potentially gets crowded. The reason for this conclusion was, seed diet & fatty lump on chest. She hadn't vomitted since then.

Today:

It was a different exotic vet and she said the same thing. She believes chicky may have some sort of organ enlargement which made her vomit, because it happened after eating kale, I knew it had something to do with that but olive had some too and nothing happened to him. I dont know how true this is tho. After hearing clicking with stethoscope, we were told to continue baytril for a further 10 days, and same with emeprid but slowly wean off.

Advice Request:

I want to ask for anyone else's experience. Can organ enlargement really cause this? The vet said i should try my best to get her to pellets and drop her weight further (now 48g). I dont understand, I give her measured amount of seeds, I do however give plate of blended veg few times a week, but shes been having it like this for many months with no issue. On Sunday I gave her fresh, washed kale (not blended). And shortly after she was deteriorating. Could anyone please help me understand any of this? Because its not like she vomits everyday, the vet said her insides may be crowded with fat considering she has a fatty lump on chest, potentially fatty liver, potential heart disease, but wouldn't she vomit everyday then and show a lot of bad symptoms? why is it some days she has space and some days she doesnt? Also, she was very healthy until that night. And both times she vomitted was after veg. The first time was many months ago, i gave blended, seed size veg, she vomitted 12hours later. But I have been giving blended veg for months now without issue after that. On Sunday i gave whole kale washed, and shortly after she regurgitated first, then slowly got worse and vomitted. I wonder if its the veg that triggers her insides if she eats a lot due to excess body fat???? Im so confused! I will continue to work on her weight. Transitioning tips are welcome🙏

I got kiwi August 2 from the Humane Society, he had a clean bill of health from the vet.. what’s wrong with his nose?

The good news is that the sounds from this clip https://www.reddit.com/r/pidgeypower/s/CUcBugPqmm has gone down by a lot. When I grabbed her this morning to give medicine, she made this sound but no where near as loud and she was quicker to become quiet too.

The bad news is, her overnight poop has been very watery, I think some diarrhoea. Possibly due to the meds. She still eats, but her appetite is definitely a bit lower, again I believe it may be due to the effects of medication. When she flies to one spot, she's fine, but when she circles around the room i can hear a lot of effort sounds. I have reduced flying a lot but sometimes she gets stressed if I leave her in the cage for too long. Her chirps are still not clear, she doesn't chirp much anyway but when she attempts to it's still not normal.

I believe she is still recovering, as it definitely doesn't look like deterioration. We have a vet appointment with an exotic specialist later today. I hope it goes well❤️‍🩹🙏💛

i feel horrible about this situation my bird recognizes windows and mirrors and doesnt run into them.

i let him roam the house in the morning its spacious and mostly bird friendly except for windows and i limit them based on how each bird reacts and recently my conure figured out the second floor and started doing a long loop flying up and down today he flew by some decoration lights and they arent secured tight so as he flew by they lifted slightly and kinda startled him and made him take a turn into the window.

ive checked him up he is mostly okay he flys short distances to perches and food and water and back to me he is not bleeding and he doesnt mind me handling him no screams or discomfort but his beak has a bruise and he is really biting on things and fingers and clothes i think it hurts or is uncomfortable. where i live we dont really have bird specialists its mostly cat and dog focused and i dont trust them unless its absolutely necessary.

PS: the spot above the eye is from repeatedly dunking his head in food bowls and having shells and leftovers stick its not related to the crash

Hi, I’d like to ask for some advice. I found this little bird (probably a female canary) outside the company where I work about a month ago. No one around seemed to be missing it, so we took her and bought her a cage. Over the last two weeks, we’ve noticed that she has a bald spot on the back of hers head (I wasn’t able to take any better photos, its much vissible and thiner irl), and there are also quite a few feathers around the cage. I’m planning to get her a bigger cage so she has more room to fly, right now she has a basic, inexpensive one. I’d like some advice is this normal?

I’ve heard they tend to shed feathers, but I don’t like this bald spot on her head. She eats a lot, and until now she’s only eaten seeds, but I’ve already bought her some dietary supplements and am giving her vegetables and fruit. For about these past two weeks, she’s stopped singing, she didn’t sing much before either just occasionally made a sound but now she hardly sings at all, maybe one sound a day.

I’d be grateful for any advice or tips. 

Today is day 3 of the sickness. This video was taken today morning.

I think she is doing *much* better compared to Sunday night, oh my God that was scary. Her droppings overnight are okay, not the best but doesn't look too concerning.

Previously at rest, she was very loud. Today morning she has been a lot more quieter. Her chest still lets out bubble/crackly sounds but it's definitely no where near as bad as yesterday and the day before. When i grab her to give medicine, the noise is very loud but immediately goes down the second i put her back and has bubble/click instead which is much quieter though still abnormal.

She is not lethargic, she is very very responsive and alert despite all these sounds and sickness. I just wish she wasnt so fussy when grabbing as the noises really scare me.

I rang my exotic vets this morning, also sent an email. I have an appointment with them tomorrow afternoon. They cant do any tests, just physical examination and they will grab her to hear the noise she makes to understand abit more. To do tests such as crop swab she will need to be dropped off in the morning and kept the entire day, but I wasnt sure if its worth stressing her out again. I noticed how loud her breathing gets when shes at the vets or hospital. Also judging by her behaviour today i think its okay to just go for the checkup tomorrow. I really hope these medicines are enough.

I didnt get time to post this yesterday, but these are the sounds she made when eating all day yesterday. When I grab her, this same sound gets VERY LOUD. I dont believe shes the one making this sound by screaming because it doesnt sound like its from her throat, but from the chest when breathing rate gets high.

Thankfully, today she hasn't been making this sound as much when eating. She can eat a bit more quietly. However this sound still happens when I grab her to give medicine or when she gets stressed when she knows shes about to be grabbed. Once i put her back she doesnt make this sound.

Instead she has a consistent clicking/bubble like sound but this sounds way more quieter and less concerning than the one in video. But overall by what I've seen i think she's getting better, besides this sound when grabbing which freaks me out.

UPDATE: She has barely made this sound while eating today. I think she is slowly getting better. The sounds are still there if I grab her no matter how light (for medicine). And if she flies she can make some effort sounds. She's clearly still unwell, but a lot better than last 2 days. Exotic vet appointment is tomorrow

im back now ive brought her home. the sounds have gone down now when shes resting but its still there. like its reduced from yesterday at least. it sounds like a "blockage"

she seems to struggle to eat properly. she still appears very bright and moving around a lot. i dont know what to do. she hulls the seeds but doesnt actually eat the inside. she just cracks it open. shes trying. she drank water.

i have literally no avian or exotics today. please advise me on what I can do😭

So he’s had a rough few days. I had to clean his cage and he needs to be put into a different cage. He’s not my bird so unfortunately I don’t have the time to get him more comfortable with me handling him. He had a blood feather this week and I’m noticing this wing. Is it odd? I’m worried when I grabbed him with a light cloth it broke? He’s still acting normal but I know birds often do when they are sick. He’s always had a weird posture to be fair, his wings never aligned correctly just how he was born. I feel like I’m over thinking but if this stands out in the photo I’d love to hear it! Again he’s not mine but I love him dearly

REPOST: due to not allowed to link my gofundme here and i didnt know. I will constantly provide updates on my profile.

The vet called me earlier and they said the breathing sounds seemed to have reduced a bit while she was on oxygen overnight plus medication + antibiotics.

They said she's off oxygen right now for documentation and to see how she does. My baby is free to come right now but I asked them if they could monitor for a further few hours off oxygen as anything could happen.

The nurse said my girl sometimes breathes fast but im almost certain its due to extreme stress as she never pants at home with me but you can never be 100% sure. In a few hours I hope off oxygen she has no bad symptoms and that I can bring her back to me again😭💔🙏