Fleury my Budgie. Bleeding chest?

[cham87]

Today I noticed blood on my fingers while handling Fleury my Budgie. I saw that the blood was coming from a spot on his chest.

It is not bleed anymore I used flower to clot the blood. I have seen him scratching that area with his beak though. Why would he be bleeding?

Self mutilation so young?

I wonder what the issue is I read online that if sleep schedule is not always the same they can get develop psychosis. I do not think that Fleury is on a regular sleep schedule, what should I do? What do you do?

[Michael]

Sounds like an injury more than anything. Could just be a broken blood feather. Monitor his feeding and behavior. If you suspect either going downhill, injury could be more than meets the eye. Take him to vet then. If nothing else happens, no more bleeding, normal behavior, normal weight, normal feeding... then don't worry about it.

[cham87]

Lol I wrote Flower.

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Mike the little guy has food in his bowl at all times. I wonder if it would be better to break it down to like feeding times. Give him food at a certain time in the morning then a certain time at dinner?

Also what about sleep schedule? What is the deal do I have to cover the cage at a certain times? Or can I just put it on the cage when I go to sleep and not the bird.

Thank you

[Michael]

Get a coin scale (measures to within .1 grams) like this and use it to keep track of the weight. This is important for health but also can be useful for training. As a pet bird (as opposed to one that is strictly used for shows), you are responsible for keeping it happy/healthy but at the same time some management of weight is not only good for training but also healthy. You definitely don't want to overdo it so learn all about it first and slowly ease your way into it (like over a month+ not overnight).

You are definitely safe leaving the bird without food for 3-6 hour intervals (unless it is sick/injured so don't do it immediately). This is good not only for training (and preventing overeating which isn't a terrible problem in budgies) but it also gives you visual assurance that he's eating. Since he missed food a little during that time, he'll go straight to it when you put it in. This helps you detect when someday something's off and he's not going over to eat.

Another way to tell if he's eating is if he's on a seed diet to look for remaining husks. After a previous feeding blow them off (into garbage bag) and next time you can check again.

12 hours of sleep is a good baseline so I'd recommend covering the cage from PM to AM like 10PM - 10AM, 9-9, or whatever works for you. A bit of routine and consistency helps make their life more manageable both for you and them. Good habits tend to develop. Not a bad idea to shake things up a little from time to time though so they're not absolutely reliant on sameness (not gonna be a huge factor on a budgie but to keep in mind as good operating practice).

[cham87]

Hmm. Fleury keeps going to his chest and scratching into the obvious wound. Any ideas? I am worried about it.


(see the hole in the feathers)

He was out on his perch and was really picking at it and my girlfriend suggested to put him in his cage and he stopped doing it. I wonder if I am doing way to much with Fleury. I literally spend hours with him interacting. Maybe it is too much? Is this the case for all birds or just budgies?

[Michael]

Yikes that looks serious. Probably needs vet treatment

[cml]

I think you are doing great with him, Fleury is lucky to have an owner as active as you!
Poor thing though, he might be "cleaning" the wound from some injury...Leroy did the same thing with his foot, he wouldnt stop picking at the broken claw for a couple of days.

[marie83]

I'm with michael, I would get him to a vet too. It may just be missing feathers making it look worse than it is but I wouldn't want to risk it.

[Michael]

Although with a budgie you can probably get away, it's generally better not to spoil a bird with attention early on more than you consistently expect to provide down the line.

[laducockatiel]

When in doubt, consult a vet