To make a very long story short, Birdo, who's been incredibly healthy his entire life, probably has something called brown hypertrophy, which is a skin overgrowth on his cere (nostrils) that is caused by an increase in estrogen. In male budgies, this means that either their diet is too high in fat, or it means that they have a gonadal tumor.
We've put him on a diet, and we think it's helping (yay!) but Birdo is pretty much on a hunger strike at this point because he doesn't want to eat his pellets (aka "his veggies"). It's incredibly upsetting because he'll crawl on the floor of his cage or the actual floor, trying to find uneaten seeds; he won't eat his pellets or any fruits or veggies or snacks we give him.
We're making an appointment with the vet this week, but I'm very stressed out and upset. I've been crying every night since he started hunger striking. I've also been putting lotion on his cere to help heal the lesion, and it looks like it's working, but just getting a hold of him to put the lotion on is upsetting for all of us (he screams and tries to hide; sometimes, he hurts himself trying to get away from me).
Thoughts and good vibes would be very much appreciated.
now with ~* INCREASED SASSINESS *~
