Urgent: Severe Diarrhea in Lovebird - What to Do?

Section 1: Causes and Symptoms:

Many birds, particularly budgies, are prone to enteritis due to their delicate and sensitive gastrointestinal systems. There are numerous factors that can lead to enteritis in budgies, such as expired or spoiled feed, unclean conditions, exposure to cold, and infections caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses. Other potential triggers include sudden changes in climate, significant temperature fluctuations, environmental changes, consumption of contaminated water, being startled, or drinking excessive amounts of water.

Enteritis in budgies often develops rapidly, with affected birds exhibiting sudden symptoms like abdominal pain, hunching over, fluffedup feathers, decreased appetite, increased thirst, elevated body temperature, and diarrhea that may contain blood. Hemorrhagic enteritis, typically caused by parasites or bacterial infections such as tapeworms, coccidia, roundworms, and hemolytic E. coli, presents with blood and mucus in the feces, and the affected birds may die quickly.

Section 2: What to Do When a Budgie Has Diarrhea:

When a budgie experiences severe diarrhea, the primary treatment approach should focus on antibacterial therapy and preventing secondary infections.

Firstly, it's essential to move the budgie to a warm and quiet environment to prevent further cooling.

For simple diarrhea caused by exposure to cold or environmental stressors, you can provide the bird with a small amount of sugar water and saltwater. Mix 0.9% saline solution with 25% glucose and administer it using a syringe, without the needle, in doses of 15ml, twice a day, for a duration of five days.

In cases of diarrhea caused by food spoilage or other bacterial infections, you can give the budgie 10003000 units of gentamicin dissolved in 510ml of water, allowing the bird to drink it freely, once or twice daily, for three consecutive days.

Hemorrhagic enteritis requires a oneday fasting period for the budgie followed by gentamicin treatment, along with the administration of a sufficient amount of vitamin B complex to aid in the repair of the intestinal mucosa. In cases of severe dehydration, the budgie may require subcutaneous injections of glucose and saline solution.

For more detailed information on treating severe diarrhea in budgies, you can continue reading "What to Do When a Budgie Has Diarrhea?".