Budgies Sudden Death

Question
QUESTION: Hi Leah,

This morning I got up as per usual and fed my budgie, and two canaries who live in the same cage, and I also provided them with fresh water. Before I left for work, all of my birds were fine, and acting normally. When I got home from work at about 4:30, I noticed my budgie was at the bottom of the cage in the corner, looking very ill; his eyes kept shutting as if he were tired, his feathers were fluffed up and he had a clear but thick fluid draining from his mouth, and it was almost like he was sneezing. Tango (my budgie) and both canaries were only living together for two weeks, but they seemed to get along just fine, and didn't fight at all. I took immediate action and removed the budgie from the cage, and put him on my pillow on my bed, he was very lifeless. As time progressed, he got worst, and I couldn't phone the vet because they know nothing about avarians, and the closest vet to me is two hours away, and they don't know anything about avarians either. At 6:10 PM, Tango started acting like he was having 'seizures' and he was running around in circles on my bed.. A few minutes later, he died in my arms.. What could have been the cause?

ANSWER: This is one of the reasons why you shouldn't put species together in a cage.  They can often transfer diseases to each other, even though the carrier has no symptoms.  Some species of birds are more vulnerable to things that are all but harmless to another species.  Because the newly infected bird wouldn't have adequate antibodies to protect itself from the pathogens, diseases, even little colds, can become fatal quickly.  

I'm sorry that your budgie didn't make it.  Once he got sick, there really wasn't anything you could have done, and a vet probably could not have saved him.  If there's anything that I can do for you, just let me know.

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QUESTION: Do you think the cause of death was because of living with the canaries? Or do his symptoms sound like something more serious? I know Tango always used to enjoy munching on the newspaper at the bottom of the cage, and he would even at times eat his own stool. Your help is greatly appreciated. I'm a real mess, as I'm grieving his loss. I would really like to know the exact cause of his death.. Your suggestions are of great help and if you could give me what you think was the cause of death, I could do more research and possibly come to a conclusion which could put me at rest.

ANSWER: He was eating his poop?  That could have had something to do with it.  Poop eating, or copraphragia if you want to get technical, is usually due to the bird craving certain minerals.  What was his diet like?  If they are only fed seed, they will sometimes eat the poop to try to get nutrients the seed doesn't provide. It won't give them extra nutrition really, but they don't know that and keep eating.  They can make themselves very sick by doing this.  My best guess is that he had pathogens in his body that he caught, possibly from the canaries, and they went through his system and he pooped it out without the bacteria hurting him.  Then he ate the poop, with the harmful bacteria that had reproduced in it, and that made him extremely sick.

To prevent this from happening to your canaries, you should try to get a cage that has a wire rack over the bottom so that they can't eat their poop.  You may also want to provide them with more fruits and veggies so that they won't crave it because they're lacking nutrients.

The only way to know the exact cause of death is to have a vet autopsy him.  When my bird died a few weeks ago, the vet offered to do one, but I just couldn't stand to have them do that to her.  Autopsies are however expensive and can be inconclusive, so even then you may not get an answer.

I hope this can give you at least a little closure.  I'll remember you and Tango in my prayers tonight

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QUESTION: My canaries love lettuce, but they dislike fruits, so I will continue to give them the lettuce. I really don't like to idea of an autopsy, so I'll settle for your advice. Tango's diet consisted only of seed.. and his, well, newspaper and poop snack.

Thanks for you help. Yes, please pray for my feathered friend and make sure you ask God to have a special cage for him : )

Answer
If they don't like fruits, you can buy vitamin supplement drops that you can put in water.  Lettuce is okay, but since it's not very nutritious, you should try to see if they will eat something else.  Just don't avocodo; most birds are highly allergic to them and it will kill them.

I'll pray for him, but I doubt that God would put him in a cage.  He'll be happy and free.