The popularity of keeping budgies and various other types of birds as pets is slowly starting to rise each month and as the popularity of keeping budgies as pets goes up, the number of people reaching out and asking various questions about keeping budges as pets also increases.
We have seen a wide range of questions being asked about keeping a budgie as a pet recently but one of the more commonly asked questions we have seen is about a swollen budgie vent.
There is a large amount of misinformation about the causes and treatments of a swollen budgie vent on social media so we wanted to publish our own article to share our thoughts with our readers.
Our hope is that we will be able to help our readers keep their budgies vent clean and deal with any swelling no matter the reason as quickly as possible as a swollen budgie vent can actually be a serious problem depending on the cause.
We have added a table of contents to our article below as we see a number of different questions from the community about how to deal with a swollen budgie vent.
We wanted to add as many of these questions that we see people commonly asking to our article and the table of contents should make it as quick and easy as possible to navigate to specific sections as required saving our readers time.
What Should You Do If Your Budgies Vent is Swollen?
If you notice that your budgies vent is starting to swell up, you should initially check for any obvious blockages and clear anything you see.
If you are not able to see any blockages then you should seek assistance from a veterinarian as soon as possible as there are a number of potential causes of a swollen budgie vent with some being very serious.
There is usually no need to take your budgie to your local veterinarian as booking a quick, cheap, video call with a veterinarian is usually enough to help you get all the information that you require from a fully qualified vet.
They will be able to assess your budgie and tell you what they feel is the cause of the swollen vent as well as offer you the best treatment plan for moving forward.
Please keep in mind that some pet stores will feed their pet budgies a low-quality diet with the budgie living in unsuitable conditions and this can increase the chances of the budgies developing tumors that are untreatable and can cause your budgie excessive pain.
You are often able to get an idea if your budgie does have a swollen vent due to a tumor as it will often squeak in pain with each breath it takes due to the pain and euthanasia is often recommended by a vet but always have a vet confirm the diagnosis prior to taking any action.
What Causes A Budgies Vent To Swell Up?
The most common cause of a budgies vent swelling up is a blockage of some sort, second to that is a bound egg, with issues with glands and tumors usually being the least common causes.
Other than some specific types of tumors in your budgie, these all tend to be treatable and most healthy budgies should be able to make a full recovery.
Although some budgies can have their vent swell up due to infections, this is actually rarer than most people think and if your budgie’s vent does commonly swell due to a problem with a bacterial infection then there is probably something wrong with the setup your budgie is living in.
Once you fix whatever the issue is that’s causing your pet budgies vent to keep swelling up due to infection, it will usually stop happening though.
There are some very rare genetic issues that can cause your budgies vent to swell up too with this often being untreatable too and usually being a symptom of something more serious.
You will probably require the assistance of a vet to confirm this though and the vet will offer you advice on the best course for moving forward with your budgie.
How Do You Clean A Budgies Vent?
You are able to clean your budgies vent by dipping a cotton bud in some warm water and then gently wiping the area around your budgies vent including the feathers around it.
Once clean, dry the vent and the surrounding feathers with a clean towel to prevent any problems from the moisture flaring up.
Be sure to only use warm water with nothing added to it when cleaning your budgies vent to avoid irritation of the area.
Even a mild soap can be enough to irritate your budgies vent and cause it to start swelling up or end up blocked totally defeating the purpose of cleaning the vent in the first place.
Although some people will only clean their budgies vent if they notice it is blocked or dirty, regular cleaning at least once per month can be recommended in some situations. This can help to reduce the chances of your budgies vent getting infections and starting to swell up.
How Can You Treat A Swollen Budgie Vent?
You can usually treat a swollen budgies vent by cleaning the vent if you are able to see a visible blockage. If you suspect that your budgies vent is swelling up due to bound eggs or tumours then you will have to get advice from a vet on how to treat the issue.
Bound eggs and some tumours can be treated with relative ease but some tumours are not able to be treated and will usually cause your budgie a large amount of pain even simply breathing.
Seeking some advice from a veterinarian via video call so they are able to assess your budgie is usually the best place to start with this though.
If your budgies vent is swollen due to a bacterial infection then your vet will also usually give you a specific treatment to apply to your budgies vent.
In rare cases, a bacterial infection will clear itself up but this does tend to be rare and most will require a specialist treatment to clear the infection safely.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over what to do about a swollen budgie vent to an end. We hope that we have been able to help you better understand the more common causes of issues with your budgies vent as well as how you are able to treat them. You will sometimes be able to treat the condition yourself if the swelling is due to a visible blockage but the other causes will usually require the assistance of a veterinarian to safely treat.
