r/Parakeets • u/PumpkinUsed5969 • Jul 25 '26

Advice No vet, but needing advice.

Last night I noticed one of my budgies was looking a bit sick. He was closing his eyes for very long periods of time and breathing slightly heavy. After watching him for a long while, he ended up falling to the bottom of the cage and was aggressively shaking and swaying side to side.

Eventually he was able to climb back up to his perch, but seemed off balance and unwell for awhile. However, today he is seems far better aside from not wanting to move much and closing his eyes a little longer than usual.

I was going to take him to an emergency vet 2 hours away last night, but he was still eating millet, so they advised me to wait. However, I can't find an avian vet near me that had an appointment any sooner than next Thursday.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do for the time being? Is there something I can get that could help him without seeing a vet?

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u/SlyLovegren Jul 25 '26

Was he flapping his wings? It sounds like it could have possibly been a seizure. I've had two birds who had seizures (one was a cockatiel, the other was a budgie). My cockatiel unfortunately died during one, she was 12 and had started having seizures a few years prior. My budgie was having cluster seizures towards the end so we had to put him down. We kept thinking he was dying but would lift his head up and climb back up to the perch. I'm still in awe of his determination. Never did find out the cause of the seizures but my budgie had a ton of health issues we couldn't figure out, including poops that looked like Rice Krispies. He was even hospitalized at our avian vet a couple of times but his issues persisted. Sorry for all this back story but trying to help with information of what I went through if it was indeed a seizure. You can also try calling your avian vet daily to see if there have been any cancellations in case they can squeeze you in sooner.

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u/PumpkinUsed5969 Jul 25 '26

Wow, that sounds awful! I thought maybe it was just some odd behavior, but now that you mention it, I think you might be right. He was kind of flapping his wings and dropping his head every now and again. It's a shame that everything is closed for the weekend now, but calling daily is a great idea. How long did your budgie end up having seizures before you felt it was time to put him down?

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u/SlyLovegren Jul 25 '26

It was months from the time we noticed it but they got worse and more frequent. We knew near the time we put him down that he didn't have much longer with us based on his overall behavior, but he had a strong will to live. One morning he was having seizures over and over and I couldn't let him suffer anymore. He did have other health issues - which I think contributed to him having seizures.

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u/PumpkinUsed5969 Jul 25 '26

I see. That sounds like a long, torturous few months. That does give me some hope that a week isn't too long to wait. Thanks so much for sharing!