FINCHforum

I went to the pet store today to buy some more pellets for my zebras and saw that they were having a Small Business Saturday sale on everything! They had two pairs of finches--some orange cheeks and bronze mannikins. It was so hard to decide, but I bought the orange cheeks! I brought them home and got the cage ready, but one of them didn't make it... I guess the shock of the move was too much for it. But I called the pet store and the owner offered to give me a refund or the mannikins for $10, which I decided to go for. He says since the mannikins and waxbills have been together all their lives, they might be good together. What do you all think? I have an extra cage I could put them in, if necessary.

The other guy looks so lonely... I wish I could have helped them somehow.

Sorry for your loss. The bird probably wasn't in the best of health to begin with. I find OCW's to be extremely hardy if kept in good condition and I doubt that just a move would stress one to death. I move my cage all around the house to clean it and have even had my dogs and cats get right in their faces to check them out. Possibly pretty scary stuff for a little bird if you ask me. I've had them going on six years now. I would wait a while to be sure that the survivor is healthy and get another OCW in the future. Bob

I'm so sorry for the loss of your OCW. My suggestion would be to pass on the Bronze Winged Mannikins. They can be very aggressive birds and while it's impossible to know what happened, I agree with Bob that a move should not be a problem. I'd be much more inclined to believe the OCWs were often harrassed by the Mannikins and may have had lowered immunity from stress.

It would be great if you could find another OCW to keep your remaining bird company.

So sorry for your loss It does sound like more then a move was going on there. Be sure to quarantine them.
good luck

The remaining waxbill turned out to be a male. He's happily singing away this morning! I'm wondering if the guy at the pet store suffocated the other one when he put it in the box on accident. Some of the air holes weren't punched out when I paid at the register. Also, I forgot to mention that I had the owner clip their nails right before I took them home. There was no blood in the box, so he didn't clip the quick, but maybe that caused extra stress? It's really just speculation at this point.

The mannikins were nesting, so I'm sure they were aggressive. If I don't house them all in the same cage, can I put the cages next to one another to keep the waxbill from being lonely? I don't want them near my zebras yet in case they're sick.

I got the mannikins and the store owner took one out to clip its nails and it passed away from the shock. He gave me the other mannikin for free but I feel awful for asking them to clip them. What could be wrong? It's not like he was doing a poor job of clipping them, because I watched. How do I care for these birds' claws if they can't handle the stress of clipping?

Again, either the birds are in poor condidion to begin with - or the store owner is literally squeezing the life out of them, when he holds them to clip the nails. I've never lost a bird (includng mt OCWs) to "the stress of nail clipping", and I've clipped HUNDREDS of times. Bob

Thanks, Bob. I'm getting mates for them soon and taking them in for a checkup at the vet. If everything's okay, I'm going to have the vet clip them for me so I don't screw it up, haha.

Hello Flautista,

Sometimes finches may die from stress. Sounds like the birds already weren't in good shape though. SOrry to hear about your loss and hope your remaining birds do OK.



Zebrafincher
Proud owner of:
“Kevin the King”, groutchy canary – 12 years
Beaky the Zebbie – 6 months
Merlin “Merl” the Starfinch – 2 years

Sorry to hear about your loss, but I doubt the stress of nail clipping would have caused the birds to pass away. More likely, the pet shop owner was not holding it correctly and squeezed too tight or suffocated it. Stress can kill finches, but stress usually causes a slow decline in health, not a drop-dead reaction.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Thank you all for the kind words and support! I have the two orphans in separate small cages and mates for them are on their way! It turns out that both birds are male, and they really love singing with my zebras. They're doing better, but they're still not as comfortable around me as my others are, naturally! I'm keeping them in a separate room in case they're sick, but they seem relatively healthy so far!

Good to hear!!!