Anti-social budgie sneezing?

[ponytailofdoom]

Well my most recent addition to my budgie flock sneezes all of the time, we've had her for about 3 months. She is also anti-social, she bites harder then any of the other birds, when i open the cage up and let them out she just sits on one of the perches. The only thing i can get her to do is play with small tree branches i cut of and put in there cage for them to play with. Anyway back to the sneezing, Atleast once an hour i hear her sneezing (Well i assume she is sneezing, her head jerks up and she makes a sneezing noise) - None of my other budgies do this by the way. Also on the first day i got her i noticed her foot was damaged (two of her toes are flat instead of curved like her other toes. . . Or talons or claws or what ever) i fear she may have been abused before she reached the pet shop (Because im almost certain the petshop would not hurt them. They take good care of there animals there) All though it could be an accideant, but i think the toes are related to her being so anti-social, and she refuses to be-friend any of the budgies, the grey one ( i call Speedy cause she is so fast) is always trying to groom it and play with her. But the blue bird (anti-social) just bites her really hard. At night there all cuddled up together (My budgies and conures witch i've recently weened onto eachother) and the blue one just sits there alone. Any ideas on why she is sneezing (She has been doing it ever since i got her) or how to make her more friendly towards the other birds? (and my self for that matter ><)

Any help would be greatly appreciated :-) - I can pay with pretend hugs.

[Krazy Karen]

She could well have a respiritry infection and only an avian vet can adequately diagnose this.
Can't help with the anti-social behaviour unfortunately. When she wants she'll join the others, maybe she never will however you can't force her. I guess you could say there are some anti-social people who never want to mix with people, maybe her personality is a longer and that makes her happy?

[shosh]

I agree that only a vet can deduce whether the sneezing is significant or not...I'd take her in.
As for the social aspects..... could it be that little blue just feels overwhelmed at being thrust into a cage with so many cagemates? Birds can bite out of fear as well as aggression and perhaps her personality is not lending itself, right now, to as easy and quick a blend as you might like.
Could you separate blue into a different cage and allow her/him to get used to you and the other feathery inhabitants of your home in his own time frame? This would also afford you the opportunity to work with him on becoming more tame and more friendly.
Too much unwanted attention could be exacerbating blue's behaviour. If he isn't ready to be touched/handled/preened by others,( whatever the reason...maybe he isn't used to other birds...maybe he just doesn't like them...maybe there are TOO many for him to handle so soon) his behaviour may only get worse before it gets better.
I'd try putting him on his own for a while. Maybe even put him in a different room for a few weeks so you can try and get him used to YOU first....then move the cage back into the room with the other birds and allow him to get friendly with them when he's ready from the safety and security of his OWN cage first.

[Tinker]

I'd definitely schedule her for a vet check up. She may need a course of antibiotics in her water or by injection to clear her cough up. Only a vet can find out what's wrong, and you never know, it may be related to her antisocial behaviour.

[ponytailofdoom]

Alright, thanks for the input everyone.

I'm gonna take her to the vet on sunday.

As for the to many budgies to handle, when i bought her she was in a cage with about 20-25 i dont think most of them were related, now she shares with 7 other budgies and two green cheek conures. Anyway, i'll clean out my old conure cage (Lots of room in there for her) and keep it near the other cage. I'll keep everyone updated on her in this thread. Worst comes to worst, should i buy a 9th budgie if its a loner, i mean for the benefit of speedy. I read somewhere its good for them to be in pairs (And his first partner flew away, she was out of sorts for awhile when it happend)

Thanks again everyone :-)

[shosh]

She may have been in a cage with that many budgies because she had no choice...she may not have liked it then either. And the green cheeked are quite a bit bigger....it just sounds like there might be a crowding issue irrespective of the cage size ( which I am hoping is quite large given that you've got 10 birds in there!!!)

When you brought home the new budgie, did you isolate her from the others before you put her in with them? If she came from a pet store ( not that breeders are exempt but petstores are worse) she should have been kept on her own anyway for several weeks to make sure that she didn't pass any unknown illnesses on to your other budgies. Given their current living situation, I would say that putting her in a separate cage and going to the vet are now imperative, given her sneezing.

[ponytailofdoom]

Yeah maybe she hated it, didn't really think about that >< Well i suppose this is how ya learn. The cage size is pretty large (Made up of old tank parts or something :P. . . Its pretty old as well). I did use to have a couple of Galahs comfortably living in there and i could have fit maybe 2 or at most 3 more, all though im currently saving to up-size there cage, bigger the better. And most of the time the cage door is open (Unless im out of the house or i'm entertaining or cooking . . . Wouldn't want a burned bird . . . Or pooped all over food) My green cheeks arne't to much bigger. The cinnamon is almost as small as the others. All though i see how my non-mutant could be a bit of a shock, he always wants to cuddle up with the budgies.

I isolated her, but not for as long as i should have, about a week and a half or so. I havn't seen any of the other budgies sneezing. At first i didn't think it was a big deal, it must have just been cold. . . Is what i assumed

I've got her in the old conure cage now and still got the vet booked for sunday. She has been screeching at the other budgies from the room though. So i guess she misses them? I've been thinking about moving her cage back into the room. But on the other side of the room so she can see them. But i think if she was going to spread something it would have taking place by now? Or i would have noticed the others sneezing or something. Either way im going to the vet.

I'll update when i know something new, probably Sunday (Maybe Saturday in the states) Hopefully my assumption was right and its just sneezing cause its cold and all is well - I probably should have examined her and the other budgies closer before i bought one from that cage, or that shop in general.

[shosh]

Well, no use beating yourself up or something that may or may not have made any difference. It's good that she is screeching to the others....And you are probably right...if there was any passed, she would've done it by now.
I would still keep her separate to help her get used to her surroundings and, especially, to you. ( that is, if you want her to bond to a human and not just the others.---are your others tame?)
You can let them play outside the cage together so they can socialize with each other at a comfortable pace and soon, hopefully, they will all be able to be together.

[ponytailofdoom]

Yeah she is still seperated for the moment. - I would like to get her to step up on my finger and stuff, but most of the budgies were a few months old when i got them and not hand raised. I've made progress with 4 of them, but the other 4 are still scared of me. I'll let the blue one out of the cage to,

She has been playing with some toys (but she is mostly intrested in the branches i cut for her as perches) - Will see if she wants to leave the cage or not.

[Krazy Karen]

I've got 2 tame female budgies and they only step up when they feel like it - which unfortunately when I have to get 1 back into her cage is not very often.
Please do keep this thread updated with how she goes with the vet. Would be very disappointed if she has an illness that she may have passed onto your other birds.
For future reference, a 60 day minimum quarantine period is recommended.