Common Digestive Diseases in Budgerigars
📝 Summary
Budgies often face enteritis, crop stasis, and constipation. Keep feed and water clean and boiled, watch for lethargy or a swollen crop, and treat early with glucose, oil, or the right drug - most are preventable.
1 Enteritis
Dirty food or water causes it: lethargy, frequent straining, sticky droppings on the vent, and in severe cases blood and weight loss.
Prevent with clean, regularly changed feed and water – never straight tap water, only boiled or filtered. Treat by moving the bird somewhere warm, dosing 25% glucose water with a pinch of salt (0.5-1 ml twice daily); add charcoal powder early, or furazolidone 0.2-1 ml for three days, then mix double the dose into its drinker, changing the medicated water twice a day.
2 Crop Stasis
Lost water or too much hard, dry feed lets food stall in the crop, swelling it with no appetite and a dull look; left alone it can kill.
Prevent with steady water and moderately textured feed. For mild cases, drop a little oil into the crop and massage downward to soften the food; severe cases need gastric lavage.
3 Constipation
Too little fat, greens, or water brings hard dry stool, fluffed feathers, and restless straining with nothing passed.
Prevent with a balanced diet. At onset, give 4-5 drops of oil or Epsom salt solution and watch; severe cases need an enema of sesame oil via a dropper in the vent.
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