Budgie : scratching his head and made it blead

[josaphine32]

We have a budgie that we rescued we have had him 2 years now, The owner did not want him any more and he was in a poor state when we got him, He had not been cleaned out in months and his pooh was nearly as high as his tail, Well we have looked after him well and he moults every 3 months but just lately he is eating not out of him bowl but prefers to eat from the bottom of his cage, Last week he loooked abit tatty and we know he is going through a moulting spell and is getting on for 9 years old but he kept scratching his head, tonight we noticed he had cut his head and his feathers were bloody, I do not like handling him as he has never been handled and he practically goes into cardiac arrest if you interact with him, we have tea toweled him and managed to bath it with salt water and i do not know if this was the right thing to do as i do not know alot about budgies, after i cleaned the area and got completely pecked and it hurt i then applied savlon, we will do it again tomorrow, is savlon safe or has anyone got any other idea of what is best the area where it is bleeding from is very superfical and not a big area at all

Thanks
jo

[wildwood]

My first thought is that the scratching means feather mites. You can get a spray especially formulated for birds from the pet shop. Follow directions.
Also have a close look at the feet and the cere (nose). If there is the slightest sign of scaling or crusting you bird will have a condition called 'scaley face'. The crusting is caused by a minute mite that lives in those areas. This is also easily remedied with a solution available from the petshop.

You've done the right thing by washing the damage with salty water.
The savlon, however safe, will have made a mess of the feathers.
To hold a budgie so that no injury occurs to the bird or holder, crock the index and middle finger and hold the neck between those and the body in the same hand - firmly but carefully. The index/middle finger can be slightly straightened so the space between the body and head in increased, making it impossible for the bird to bite. You'll soon learn to adjust your grip so that it can't bite you.

Nine years old is a fair age for a budgie that has been badly managed previously.
A well looked after one (mainly fed correctly and exercised) can easily reach 14 or 15.

Hope some of this helps.

[josaphine32]

Thanks wildwood. he seems alot better tonight and is not bleeding :-)