Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Wow, where to begin. About 5 or 6 years ago, I bought a half dozen young budgies from a very reputable local bird store and put them in a large aviary (it's about the size of a big refrigerator), where they have lived quite happily and healthily, with very few problems. They were intended to add ambiance in my study, and not be six pets that are handled. On the advice of the dealer, I got six males, or so I thought.

One of the birds' ceres turned brown soon after I got them, but some research and advice from others said that this is a condition that can happen from time to time and not to worry. So things went on their merry way. The bird with the brown cere always seemed a little less healthy than the others, but not to the degree that raised concern---it ate well (and they have a balanced diet of seed, protein and greens) and had a favorite toy that got plenty of wear.

This morning, I noticed some red fleshy tissue at the cloaca and what seemed to be an egg protruding from it. I was shocked by the egg, though I was familiar with cloacal prolapse, and took the poor thing immediately to the vet. Well, it was an egg and he has always been a she! The vet reversed the prolapse, removed the egg and gave her an antibiotic shot.

I took her back home and replaced her in the aviary, putting a water dish next to the perch she seems to have gravitated to. She seems a bit woozy and I am keeping the aviary warm. A couple of the other budgies have come over to her, it seems to "visit." I decided against putting her in a hospital cage or medicating her by hand because these budgies are not used to being handled and I don't want to stress her. She also has a tumor on her breast that may or may not be serious, so, given her age, the best thing might be to leave her alone.

Any advice as to what else I should do for now?

And, assuming she recovers, do I need to worry about the fact she is the only girl in the neighborhood?

I wonder if she should be considered lucky after all these years as the only girl, or I should feel sorry for her. The vet recommended against installing a nesting box at this stage. Is that right? This whole thing stumps me.

What also surprises me is that I never noticed any unusual behavior by the other budgies toward her---for example, I also keep turtles, and let me assure you, you can tell that the boys are hot and bothered over the girls and that the girls don't always appreciate that! And, I never saw any broken eggs at the bottom of the aviary when cleaning it.

Well the not separating her can work both ways. Yes it could cause stress to her to separate her because she is not used to humans and would be away from her flock, but then again the males may gravitate towards her at this time and with her having just had egg laying problems and the prolapse it is possible this could cause even more stress. I guess on that you just have to continue to do what you think is best.

I would definitely not install nest boxes as it could actually cause the males to fight among themselves besides putting more stress and pressure on the female. Usually males won't fight but if you have one nest box and one female it could cause fighting.

Budgies can be surprising we have had aviaries of budgies through rescue that had both male and females in it, we have never put a nest box in them and don't breed them. In one aviary we have never had an egg layed and never had any problems. In one smaller aviary we have two females that will lay eggs from time to time. They do not seem to have a regular season and they do not lay eggs constantly or regularly but maybe once every couple of years. We have cockatiels who will continuously try to mate with each other no matter who is around or what time of day but they don't lay eggs. The budgies on the other hand have never shown any mating behavior while anyone is around to see it and there is someone always around them until lights out. So in actuality I am not sure if they do not show true breeding behavior unless or until a nest box is available.

If you decide to leave her in with the others to try and lessen the stress you might make sure that not only is water right beside her but also a food dish so she doesn't have to go far. You might also add a couple more rope or feathery type toys for the males to "love on" if the feeling persists, LOL! Since they are used to other birds being around you might even try placing a few plastic budgies or mirrors in again to distract attention away from her until you are sure she is doing better.

Thank you so much for that thorough response. I went into the office for a few hours and upon return she seems to be doing better---has moved from her original spot on a bottom perch and is actually back to beating on her favorite toy.

There are a zillion toys in the aviary already, including mirrors, bells and phony birds, a whole bunch of perches and swings, so do I really need to add more?

I did put a separate water and seed dish by a lower perch in case she wants to be alone---should I do so elsewhere? There are already two main water and seed dishes each, in addition to millet and fresh greens.

I noticed one particular bird paying a lot of attention to her, but I can't really tell if he is consoling her or bothering her.

It's very odd that their mating behavior is so unpredictable and difficult to see. It's so obvious with so many animals. Again, thank you!

It's been two weeks since the prolapsed cloaca incident with my little blue hen. She seems to have bounced back quite well, but I am still keeping an eye on her.

As for food, I think I am feeding them a very well balanced diet: quality seed mix with about 1/4 being those little protien granules, millet, various greens every day (though they are partial to romaine), oyster shells, cuttle bone and mineral block, plus vitamins in the water.

Now that I've been watching the hen, I do notice one particular cock that seems to be her "boyfriend" in that he seems to be most attentive to her, but not in an overbearing manner. The other four appear to ignore her and spend most of their time entertaining each other.

She has a small tumor on her breast, which I know can happen (now that I know she is a female, it makes sense to me), but she appears to be doing just fine.