Please help, sick Owl finch

[lyzzyjayne]

Great thread! Let us know how he is!

[cindy]

Amy..just saw this...how old is the bird? When you held him did his chest area feel meaty or thin? The lose of balance could be due to him hitting something...I would not let him back into the larger cage until he is eating drinkng and normal for about a day or so.

[Sally]

I agree with Cindy, don't be too quick to put him back in the larger cage. I've had this happen a few times, where a bird will just be 'off' and puffy, and heat seems to be the best solution. After some time in a hospital cage with a heat lamp, they will return to normal, and I never know exactly what it was that upset them.

[Amyrs2880]

thank you all for posting!!

quick update..

so you gotta love how I said I was 100% positive this Finch is a male. I've had the pair about seven months and the lady I got them from got them from a breeder, anyway she said the one with the yellow band is the male...she told me wrong! I never thought twice about having the two mixed up, but the actual male only sings when I'm not in the same room...so I've only heard it, never seen him sing...

I have only been taking small peeks throughout the day to check on HER because I didn't want to frighten her. I looked much more closely earlier and there was an egg in the bottom of the hospital cage!!

her vent looks normal, she has been munching on shaved cuttlebone, and she is completely back to normal and very happy.

so, does this mean she is completely recovered? she is supposed to go to a new home tomorrow, do you all think that will be ok? I just want the best for my little finches, so if I need to wait to take them to Moonrise I will.

thanks everyone, y'all probably think I'm crazy for having my owls mixed up lol.

[moonrise]

I sent an e-mail early this morning. Thanks for letting me know what was going on. I'm glad she's feeling better! From my past experience with zebras and societies, once an egg-bound hen passes the stubborn egg, she usually bounces right back within a couple of hours, if not immediately. I have some liquid calcium I can give her that'll help if she's got more eggs on the way.

It can be difficult to determine owls' genders, especially when the male doesn't want to sing in front of an audience (LOL!), so don't feel bad about the mix-up. It can happen to anyone.

I'm off to bed for now, but I'll talk to you this evening.

[cindy]

Amy,How old were the owls when you got them? If the birds were under 4-6 months old when you got them it is often impossible to tell the sex. The head size and shape and bib is what I go by at anywere from 10 months on, much easier at a yr of age. The females will have a dusty or darker bib, the top of the head is more narrow and more of a "V" shape. The males bibs are whiter and cleaner, heads are more broad. Right above the top of the beak is a dark brown coloration, males will often have a larger area of the brown..not always 100% reliable, neither are the breast bars for sexing. I have males that do not sing unless courting, other males sing through out the day. Hens are best bred at a year of age.

In the case of sending her to her new home, she should be alright just keep her under a heat lamp until then.

[Tammy]

Hey Amy, so sorry to hear about your owl finch. Dante and laraine are great. I love to read the advice they give to people those guys are very helpful. Did you try giving your owl finch some crushed hard boiled egg. the shell has calcuim and the egg has lots of protein. hope he's doing better. - Tammy

[PrettyBird]

glad to hear she passed the egg. I would keep some liquid calcium on hand in the future in case a problem arises. Owls are known to become egg bound.

Also you can give her the cuttle bone (you can break it with a hammer so its in tiny pieces, they seem to eat it easier) you can do some egg food, and also just the egg shell to give more calcium.

[Tammy]

Amy, glad to hear everything is fine with your owl finch. you'll have to keep updated on them if you can. - Tammy

[DanteD716]

Figured it was an eggbound female!! Glad she passed it, and that she is doing better!

[moonrise]

Amy and I and our DH's met Sunday night, and I'm so excited to have the precious little owls!

I've got her on liquid calcium, plus I'm continuing to shave some cuttlebone powder onto their food, and have a separate dish of eggbread (with crushed shells) and a regular cuttlebone available to them. They're not too sure about the eggbread yet, but I've seen them sampling it.

She laid another egg a little while ago, without difficulty. She laid it while perching, so it fell in the cage floor and broke (bummer) but at least it didn't give her any problems.

They're both twittering around all over the cage, "mewing" happily. So far I haven't heard the male sing. He obviously doesn't like an audience!

[Amyrs2880]

That male has never sang while I am in the same room with him LOL. I had him in a bedroom to themselves with my societies and he did not sing very often. Any time he did I would peek into the room and look and he stopped!
I hope he sings for you soon Lisa! It is the cutest sound I have ever heard! It sounds like a star wars game or something in there because of his laser beam sound haha.

Lisa and her DH are awesome and I am so glad the little ones went to them