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Zeb

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Posts posted by Zeb

  1. Posted

    Hi Gary

    I appreciate your reply to my question, unfortunately I lost him not long after posting. It was such a shame as he was booked in to go to the vets the following day as well. I suspect that it may have been coccidiosis but it’s so hard to tell. 
    Really miss the little guy. 
    Rest in peace Reggie ❤️
     

    Thanks again

  2. Posted

    Hi

    I was hoping someone here might have an idea of the potential illness one of my zebra finches might have. It seems to have come on in the past few weeks or so where he has started sleeping a lot and getting close to my other bird as possible. I thought this may have been because he was cold so there is now an electric radiator close to them for heat but he is still the same. 
    He is eating very regularly  and comes out for a fly where he seems more livelier but still seems to be cold. There are no other symptoms really but he is sleeping almost none stop. 
    is there something else I could be doing or is there a medicine that I could give to him at all?

    id appreciate anyone’s suggestions

    thanks in advance 

  3. Posted

    Thanks for the replies, it's greatly appreciated. After my first bird started vomiting I researched the possible causes and it looked most likely to be a protozoa infection like canker and I bought ronivet s 12% to try and treat it but after over a week of treatment there was little or no sign of improvement and he unfortunately died in the night. I'm now starting to doubt whether this is the right treatment to be using.

    I understand that taking them to an avian vet is possibly the best solution to illnesses in these little birds but I fear that the stress of it all will be too much for them.

    The things you mentioned to look for with air sac mites doesn't really correspond with my birds symptoms to be honest but it does sound a plausible suggestion after researching further. Would the air sac mites be restricting the air ways causing the birds to gag and vomit?.

     

     

     

  4. Posted

    Hi everyone,

    I recently lost one of my zebra finches after he developed an illness which I'm still not sure what it was and now another of my finches is beginning to get the same way. The symptoms are sleeping a lot, being fluffed up most of the time and the occasional times when she looks like she is trying to bring something up (gagging but not throwing up).  My finch who died was actually throwing up seeds after eating. Has anyone had experience of this and have advice on what I could do?

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Thankyou for the replies and kind words, it's good to hear from people who are fellow owners. I was thinking it could be a cold actually but wasn't sure if they could catch one. Even though he started sleeping a lot, it seemed to come about all of a sudden. I've read that they hide their illnesses well though.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Hi everyone,

    I have owned zebra finches for the past 5 years but this is my first post on this forum. The reason I'm posting now is because last night one of my eldest zebra finches (Jimmy), took a turn for the worst after what was a few days of constant sleeping and inactivity yet still having a normal appetite. He had previously lost quite a few feathers too which I read could be down to self plucking or by his partner but this had never caused any problems that I was aware of.

    I looked at various websites suggesting what it could be ranging from vitamin/ iodine difficiency to air-sac mites with the latter being fairly uncommon in zebra finches. So I brought them all an iodine block, vitamin fortified cuttlefish bone and vitamin drops for their water hoping it was just a difficiency of some kind and was going to see if there was any improvement after a week or so. Unfortunately they are a bit wary of new things and take a while to get brave enough to try them.

    Last night I noticed that Jimmy was struggling to fly after coming to the seed trough and appeared to be very week, I kept an eye on him but he stayed on the bottom of the cage for a while so I picked him up (which he normally doesn't let me do) and held him in my hands to try and keep him warm. This was when it hit me how unwell he was.

    His heart was beating unusually slowly, with his eyes barely ever opening. Then he began clicking his beak on every breath, every so often shaking his head, throwing a watery colourless liquid everywhere which I presume came from his nostrils. I made a hospital cage for him from a smallish box with holes in with cotton wool on the bottom for him to lay on and seed and water.  Barely ever moving but to breathe or shake his head now and again, he stayed in the box for what was half an hour until what seemed like a final struggle where a spot of blood appeared on the cotton wool near to his mouth. He then stretched his neck forward a couple of times and then up which seemed like he was taking a final look at me before he passed away not long before midnight New Year's Eve.

    Obviously im totally devistated as you get so attached to them but the worst thing is not knowing what it was that took him or knowing what I could do to help him. I have 3 other finches that shared a cage with him and all appear fine but if there is something that I can do to prevent this happening to them then I'd love to know what advice or experiences you have.

    Sorry for the long post, I look forward to hearing what this condition could have been