Swollen Nare/nostril

[Carebear]

Ack! Looked at Birdie today and one nare/nostril is slightly swollen and pinkish. It doesn't look horrible, but it is not normal and now I am worried. I couldn't immediately find anything online about one swollen nostril (juts a lot about nasal discharge, and there does not appear to be any). HELP??? Should I just keep an eye on her, or call the vet right away??

[Mustang99]

can you determine if there is a scratch of any sort that may be causing the swelling...if any signs of an infection or weird discharge appear, I would phone the vet right away.

[Pado]

Touchy one again because its always possibly a health issue and not giving a recommendation to go to the vet if anything happened and your bird got worse wouldn't be good. So its always best to go to the vet for a professional opinion if you are uncertain or worried.

That being said - in this case IF IT WERE ME (I'm not saying don't go to your vet here, this is just what "I" would do since there are no other symptoms)

If my bird was still acting completely normal otherwise. And I think I know my birds pretty well so I would be aware if they were acting any differently - but if all else was completely normal and it didn't seem to be bothering them and they were eating, drinking, playing, grooming, chatting etc etc "I" would check it closely and then keep an eye on it to see if gets any worst (even slightly worse I would go to the vet) But if it didn't get worse and the bird continued to act in a normal manner I would wait to see and keep checking.

As I said if it got any worse or the birds behavior changed in any way I would then take him to the vet immediately.

I'd figure he either scratched it while scratching himself - hurt it on a toy or the other bird did it - I'd figure it will probably heal on its own - but I'll say again I'd be checking the bird and the wound closely for even the slightest change.

Again thats what I would do - I'm not recommending this for you :)

[Carebear]

There are no visible signs of a scratch, and no discharge. She's acting perfectly fine -- she's chatty, playful, and she's eating (at least, she's thrown rice out of her treat cup all over the bottom of her cage!). I know these little birdies can go south quite quickly (no pun intended), so I will keep a close eye on her. She's getting really annoyed with me checking her nose every hour, but I will keep it up. Any other advice is greatly appreciated, and I will let you know if it doesn't clear up.

[Mustang99]

Please keep us posted and if you find what caused the swelling let us know. Hope Birdie is fine and the swelling goes away quickly.

[memmey]

I read something once about swelling in that area, maybe you should check. I forgot what it was I read but it was something that needs attention. What do you call that area is it cer??something. I can't remember. Where's catfish? He may know.

[Mustang99]

the one experience I just remembered with one of my budgies...my female budgie's cere actually formed an almost duck bill lip to it. This occurred due to hormones and probably what would be timing around breeding (although I did not breed the birds). She kept this "bill" for approximately 3 to 4 months and then one day, she rubbed it against a perch and it came off and her cere was normal again.

Not certain the age of Birdie but my budgie was about 4 years old when this occurred. However, this was a hard growth and did not necessarily have swelling just looked funny for a bit.

Just wondering if hormones could be a factor...may want your vet to take a look.

[catfish]

I looked up on the message board and some articles. The only thing I could find was abscess, allergies, and/or possible early signs of respiratory illness, but I wouldn't rule out trauma causing some inflammation.

I agree with Pado. Watch him and if you notice any sort of lethargy, decrease in appetite, increased/decreased thirst, or slightly unusual behavior, take him in for a check up and see what the vet says. If you feel nervous, then by all means take him in. It NEVER hurts to be safe then sorry.

If you want, post a picture, maybe that will help us narrow it down.

[catfish]

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There can be a cere abscess - "an extension of a rhinitis/sinusitis - often seen in budgies on a seed-only diet.
Opening it as you have is an important part of the treatment.
A culture would be useful to determine therapy, but Baytril (orally, not injectable) is not a bad choice.
Flushing the abscess and the nares with 1-2mls isotonic saline twice daily is important to remove debris wile it heals.

Sometimes you can be left with a crater in the beak where the abscess was."

[Carebear]

Well everything appears to be fine with Birdie. The swelling and redness is gone now. Hooray! I do worry about the possibility of mites, however. Does anyone else use those commercial 'bird protector' mite discs with their p'lets?

[Mustang99]

Carebear -- so glad to hear that the swelling/redness is gone. I had used the protector discs in the past with my budgies and right when I brought Kiwi home, I read something that advised not to use the protectors (link below) and I have taken them out of the budgie's cage and never used with Kiwi.

http://birds.about.com/od/birdcages/qt/miteprotectors.htm

If you have any indication that Birdie may have mites I would get to your vet quickly to start treatment. The one budgie that I rescued had mites and fortunately I caught it right away and it was before he joined the other parakeets. After observing him for a couple days, he would keep moving his feet as if he was tapping them on the perch...when I looked closer, his feet did not have the nice pinkish tint to them and were a bit rough looking. Sure enough he had mites. We treated him and for the feet as well as around his beak and have never had any other problems.

Hope this helps.

[Pado]

So glad to hear Birdie is doing well :)

I'd stay away from those mite disks - I hear they don't work and can cause more problems.