Garlic and Yoghurt

No, these are not new budgie names! :)

A week ago, our little Isla got sick for the first time. I noticed she was regurgitating a lot, but soon enough I saw that the "regurgitating" was actually more like "retching fits". At some point, she vomited once, but that was enough for me to go crazy. I started searching through my budgie books: could it be a crop infection? Psittacosis? Simply indigestion?

Image © toucanjam

I called the local veterinary and he came to our place to have a closer look at our bird. Isla doesn't like to be held, so she really bit his finger hard. The vet said that she had a few symptoms of Psittacosis, which made me go "aaaargh" and "noooo" but of course it's way too early to draw any conclusions. He added that it's more likely that Isla has some kind of infection in her crop, which often leads to retching.

So now they've been on antibiotics for a week - that's right, Frodo as well, because he has been taking such good care of Isla that he might be carrying the same disease now - and I can really tell there's a difference. Isla is living up again, she's getting more chatty and active than before. Frodo doesn't seem to be ill at all. He's too busy chasing Isla all the time!
Other than that, the vet gave me some tips that I never heard or read about before. But I can assure you it helps!

• mix a tiny bit of crushed garlic with the bird seed, and add a coffee spoon of yoghurt to each food tray. Make sure you get a nice, not too thick mix, so your budgies can still peck at the seeds.

As a result, you will get a nice, simple yet very healthy mix for your budgies. My budgies have been eating from it for a week now and they seem to really like it.

• I already mentioned apple cider vinegar before. The vet also mentioned it to me. A few drops a day in the drinking water should be plenty and it's very good for your budgies!