Vomiting seeds

[EleriDragonfly]

Last week I heard Wheatley throwing up in his cage, it was around 11pm and I heard seeds falling. I watched Wheatley spitting out seeds. I took him to the vet and she checked his heart and weight and she said everything was ok with him.
Just now I heard him vomiting yet again. I watched him as he bobbed his head and started spitting out seeds. They seemed to be whole and came ou in smallish clumps.
I'm going to be taking him to the vet again, is there any reason for this? On Thursdays I do give my budgies a treat of a fruit stick. Sugar hasn't thrown up, so I'm not sure why Wheatley is.
Could there be a reason? Should I not give them the treat sticks anymore? I've given them to Wheatley in the past and he's never vomited before. Or spat them out.

[sidech]

What kind of vet did you take your bird to ? Regular cats and dogs ? This seems to me like perfectly normal breeding season behavior from male. Males regurgitate voluntarily to feed their females while they are nesting and cannot leave the eggs to go get food for themselves. It doesn 't matter if the bird is all alone in his cage, some birds will do it to their toys, their own reflection, or just about anything. You need not to encourage it, ie no attention when this behavior is going on, and it should resorb or at least not escaladate.

You should find an aviary vet for when your bird is really sick !

[EleriDragonfly]

The vet I take him to treats all types of animals, if I needed an avian vet I'd have to drive nearly 3 hours.
I know males regurgitate food, I've seen him feed Sugar many times but this seemed different. He regurgitated them, but just shook his head and splattered the seeds all over he cage. He wasn't feeding Sugar, just spitting them out onto the floor. He's done it twice and always after I give them a treat stick. I'm thinking I'll have to lessen this treat to maybe once a month.

[Eric&Rebecca]

The 3 hours might be worth it because even vets that treat all types of animals aren't great with birds. If he's vomiting and NOT regurgitating as a mating action then this is serious and does need an avian vet even if that is 3 hours away.

The alternative good be regurgitation which is a sexual thing. This will require behavioural adjustments, is there a toy or another bird or object he could be particularly attracted to? What other symptoms is he showing, is there any weight loss?

If the vomit smells sour you need to go ASAP.

[marie83]

I would make the drive personally. These are the things we take on as responsibilities when we decide to take on pets I'm afraid.as for if it is mating behaviour or not then I don't think you would be questioning it if it was normal behaviour for your bird. Abnormal behaviours should be checked out. G ood luck

[Pajarita]

Vomiting is not regurgitating. One is a involuntary physical reaction while the other is a courtship behavior and they don't even look the same. With vomiting, the bird spews all over, even on himself - with regurgitating, he 'brings back' the food with movements of his head and throat and is always neatly deposited somewhere.

Vomiting whole seeds is BAD. It's a symptom of PDD -same as pooping whole seeds. Please take him to an avian vet and have him ran tests on him - thankfully, there is now a test that tells you if the bird has ABV (the virus that develops into PDD).

[EleriDragonfly]

It didn't smell sour to me, and as far as a favourite toy I've seen him play with all the toys I give them.
I've had Sugar for about a month now and they're both very friendly, they feed each other and preen each other. As for any favourite toys, he seems to play with all the toys I have for them.
Also I don't know what PDD is.
He's been acting normally since Thursday, he hasn't vomited and is eating and playing normally. As I said the vet checked his chest and weight and he hasn't lost any.

[marie83]

Sorry to bring it up but I think it was you who lost a budgie a very short time ago? I can't remember the exact ins and outs of the situation though. I can't stress enough to you that sometimes animals can be sick with very very little in the way of symptoms if any, some animals can carry a disease without ever getting sick but still pass it on to others and there are other things that wont cause the exact same symptoms in every single bird.

You've been on the boards and owning birds long enough that you should know all this, that you have seen the people come and go asking what to do when their birds appear sick. Please get your poor budgie to a proper vet, hopefully everything will be fine but its senseless playing Russian roulette with Sugars life.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but I think a lot of us or maybe all of us at one time or another hasn't done enough in one way or another.

[Pajarita]

A vomit with whole seeds would not smell sour as the food has not been digested at all. And, if you only had him for one month, how is it that he is already feeding a female? Didn't you quarantine the new bird at all?

Now, I realize that budgies are so very cheap that most people would figure why pay so much money for an avian vet consultation and tests when I can easily replace the bird if it dies? Unfortunately, the greatest majority of people feel this way but companion animals' health should not be a matter of bottom line.

[EleriDragonfly]

No no, Wheatley is the one who was throwing up seeds, I've had him for 19 months.
Sugar is the newest budgie, I've had her for just over a month now and I did keep them in seperate cages. The quarantine was over just a little over a week ago so I put them in the same cage. They're both getting along famously.
And yes I did loose a budgie a few months ago, Amaterasu died from a head trauma. She liked hanging from the cage and toys, she was a ball of energy.
I've done another search for a closer avian vet, and I may have found one but seems they also specialize in horses and animal dentistry. I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what they have to say.