A couple weeks ago we noticed that Lera was not doing well. Usually she is very active – climbing all over the place (usually upside down), playing with toys, asserting her alpha status and zipping around the room.

Lera was very still, just sitting on the grapevine perch with her eyes shut. We weren’t too alarmed at first, because she was still eating and drinking and wasn’t fluffed up. We put the divider in the cage, so she and her boyfriend Godie could have some undisturbed quiet time. Then she began having balance issues. She could barely move without looking like she was going to fall off the perch, so off to the vet we went. We took Gordie, too, for moral support.Our vet examined her (she was a trooper) and thought maybe she had been traumatized in some way. Perhaps by another budgie? We hadn’t noticed anything like that happen, but then again, we’re not with the budgies 24/7. Because she was eating and drinking, her droppings looked normal and she wasn’t fluffed up or vomiting, he recommended that we just keep her quiet and bring her back in if things got worse.

The next couple days were difficult. We moved Lera and Gordie to the quarantine cage. We kept it covered on three sides and lowered the perches and food and water dishes. I kept some millet on the bottom of the cage so she wouldn’t have to climb to eat. I also added a drop of apple cider vinegar to her water. Lera stayed at the bottom of the cage, she still had balance issues (it was really alarming) and was “stargazing” (head tilted back and looking up). Harry and I spent a lot of time on the internet looking up her symptoms to see what could possibly be wrong. We thought that perhaps she had an ear infection, as it seemed to fit her symptoms. Meanwhile, Gordie was being a wonderful boyfriend, feeding and grooming Lera and snuggling up with her on the bottom of the cage.
After a couple days, Lera started to recover. She climbed up to the bottom perch and was more active. She continually improved and was soon playing with the paper on the bottom of the cage and climbing the cage bars. She was still a little “dizzy” so we kept her separate until her balance returned.

Lera seems to have recovered completely from her mystery illness. It really is amazing – she looked like she was at death’s door. After scaring the crap out of us, she’s back with the other birds, flying around the room and playing with the toys. We’re so lucky that we had a positive outcome. I’m hoping for only healthiness and happiness for our budgies (and yours) from here on out!