Suspected Hypervitaminosis, what do I do?

[alex.sanford1]

Hey guys,

My male Zebra Finch, Chiko, has been fluffed up for a few days. I didn't have a clue what was wrong so I've just been doing what I think I should do to help him recover (putting millet spray and water at the bottom of the cage, keeping it nice and warm in the room, etc.). However, I think I've pinpointed the problem to hypervitaminosis.

I have a hen, Chica, with him who was eggbound a while ago. It was because of a calcium and Vitamin D3 deficiency. After feeding eggshells regularly and adding a vitamin supplement to the water, when I tried to breed her again later, there were no problems at all. There are now four happy, healthy little fledglings flying around the cage as well.

However, what I didn't realize until doing some research last night is that too many vitamins is a bad thing. The vitamin supplement I have says to add one drop per fluid ounce of water. When I prepared their water, usually 2 or 3 drops would get into the ounce of water, and I figured it wouldn't hurt. I should have more research...

So it's completely my fault and I feel pretty bad about this. My question is, is there anything further I can do for Chiko? I took the supplement out of the water, but I wonder if it's too late for that to do much good. He still hops around and eats and drinks, but a great deal of the time he's fluffed up and tried to sleep. Usually he's on a perch or in the nest, sometimes on the floor.

Thanks!

[DanteD716]

I would move him to a hospital cage. A small cage, with a heat lamp, low perches and easy to reach food. Once he starts getting better and looks healthy, he could go back to his family. Post pictures if possible. And welcome to the forum.

[cindy]

What do you feed your zebras? Do you provide seed, pellets (most pellets have a balance of nutritonal needs, minerals, vitamins), veggies, cuttle bone crushed eggshell?

Have you ever tried Zupreem fruit blend finch/canary pellets? Offer it in a small dish at first so you can monitor if they are eating it.

[alex.sanford1]

Thank you both for your replies! I just borrowed an extra cage and heat lamp to use. However, Chiko appears to be feeling much better tonight. I took the vitamins out of the water and already he isn't fluffed up as often and appears to be much stronger. If he continues to improve tomorrow, do you think I should still put him in the other cage, or would it be less stressful for him to just stay where he is?

As for a diet, I feed them millet spray, a finch seed mix (the current bag is this kind: http://ca-en.hagen.com/Bird/Nutrition/Basic/B2403), eggshells, cuttlebone, and lettuce on occasion. I have actually trained them to eat lettuce out of my hand, which is very cute. I've had a few different types of finch seed (such as this: http://ca-en.hagen.com/Bird/Nutrition/Premium/B2430) in the past as well. I haven't tried any pellets, so maybe I'll give that a shot.

Thank you very much!

[Sally]

I feed the Hagen Finch Staple seed mix, and it is a perfectly good mix. If you feed iceberg lettuce, there is little nutritional value, romaine would be better. Veggies are really important, you can try different things to see what your bird likes, but broccoli, carrots, cabbage, peas, corn, can all be rotated around to give the birds some variety. I personally do not like vitamins that are added to the water, the bird is forced to take in vitamins whether needed or not. And your seed mix has some vitamins in it already.

Are you feeding eggfood while your birds are breeding? A high-protein diet really helps those babies develop.

Once your little male is not puffing up, is active, and eating/drinking well, he can go back in the other cage to help Mom raise those babies.