One of my budgies, Dolly, suddenly died today. She was fine less than 24 hours ago, but she took a turn for the worse this morning and died in my hands. I could tell she was going to die, so I kept her out and held her to keep her warm in her last moments. Moments before she died, she had a burst of physical exertion, like she was suddenly trying to get away from something that was chasing her. Then she was gone.

She was always rambunctious and outgoing, and her sudden death has left my apartment unusually quiet. I'm extremely saddened by her death. I can't help but think I've done something wrong, that I did something that killed her. She'd stopped eating last night, and I fed her using an eye-dropper and some unsweetened applesauce to keep her strength up. I fed her in this fashion only a few hours before she ultimately died. She'd been laying eggs recently, and I should've done more to discourage this, as egg laying except under the right conditions can pose problems. The last egg she 'laid' broke inside her, and I should've taken that as a sign that something was wrong. She still passed the egg normally and without any sign of it affecting her health. But she didn't display any signs of illness until less than 24 hours before she passed away in my hands. Her picture is attached.

I can hear her former cage-mate chirping and I wonder if she's calling out to her. They know something is wrong because one of them is gone.