Gouldian Twirling

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 12:28 am

I just bought a female pair 2 days ago at Animal Jungle. When i got home and put them in a cage one female put her head down and look like she was resting it on the perch. She keeps putting her head down and sometims when she flies she falls down. She eats and can still perch. I was told from a gouldian breeder friend that it was either twirling or stargazing, i have a feeling she is twirling because i was told that she was in a cage with 300 gouldians and they were the last 2. Anyways i was told that they were bullied. Im thinking that she might have infection in the ear from the other birds pecking her and the feathers are missing from her ears. What is the medicine that you put in there ears?

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:07 am

http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/features_twirling2.mgi
Hope this helps.
Paul.

Post by **Sally** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:15 pm

If the store has a guarantee on their birds, I would think about returning her. 300 birds in a cage? I wouldn't be surprised if most of them were bullied.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:34 pm

I agree with sally you should check about returning,both of those birds and hope they dont have something that your other birds can catch,how can any one keep that many birds in a cage! I would have to think long and hard to buy any birds from that breeder, Good luck with what ever you do. BCAMP

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:20 pm

I bought an antibiotic just to make sure that if she was contagious it wouldnt spread. i was going to return them when they get there shipment of gouldians. I want to get them as soon as they get in, that way they wont be bullied or hurt.

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 3:36 am

Can't you find a breeder? Much better than any pet store.
Paul.

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:55 am

I havent been able to find a breeder in my area. I do know a breeder back in Florida. I was thinking that i will return the 2 goulds and get a male/female pair when i go back to Florida.

Paulie · Post by **Paulie** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:12 am

on the subject of twirling, i thought that i might share some information that helped one of my gouldians.

i had bought a female and never noticed any instances of 'twirling' symptoms, however about 6 weeks later i did notice odd behaviour. Most prominantly she would always twist her head around and occasionally i would find her on the bottom of the cage stuck in a twirling motion/action where it looked like she was in a fit of some kind and sometimes it looked as if her neck was stuck in a downward/backward position.

Distressed as i was, i wasnt able to take her to a avian vet, because my nearest one was too far away, so i did the next best thing and researched everything i could about twirling on the internet.

apparently there is no clear known cause for twirling, i've read that it could be genetic or even just a ear infection maybe even a vitamin deficiency. I had hoped that it was not genetic so i decided to move my bird into a smaller flight cage inside where she would get constant warmth, i put her on a broad spectrum antibiotic (avicycline C) and gave her a certain seed mix (8in1 ultrablend) which contained heaps of additional vitamins and nutrients and on top of that i increased her calcium by adding liquid calcium to her water

and guess wat.....she has stopped twirling and has not shown any symptoms of twirling for a good few months now. only problem now is i am not sure whether the cause was an ear infection and the antibiotics took care of it or whether the increase in vitamins in her birdseed addressed a deficiency.......i'm just glad that i got my little bird all better and hope to never see her twirling again.

i hope that if u do keep ur gouldian with the twirling that you will have success in treating it and see some improvement. it sucks when you buy a new bird only to find something wrong with it, but it sucks even more when a bird gets discarded for having something wrong with it.

if that gouldian was lucky enough to escape the conditions where she was 'bullied' dont u wonder wat might happen if u did return the bird for another one? but i do agree that some compensation is due, in an ideal world they should give u another bird for free and allow you to keep the twirling one so u can look after her appropriately.

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:46 am

I wish they would let me keep her and get a new one as well. I was thinking bout returning her, but she has been drinking the antibiotic and has been eating a lot. I have a very good blend of seeds, fruits and vegetables. she has not been twirling since last night but she still lays her head down sometimes with a little tilt. I think from being bullied she possibly got an inner ear infection. I only spent $60 for both together. They were the last 2 for a long time and they kept bringing the price down, so i got them and she was just sitting on the perch like normal. I'm going to wait a few more days and see what happens. She does tuck her head back in her feathers now and is able to fly very well and perch.

Post by **Sally** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:05 pm

Paulie wrote:it sucks when you buy a new bird only to find something wrong with it, but it sucks even more when a bird gets discarded for having something wrong with it.

Paulie, you have brought up an important point. I was so quick to advise returning the bird, but that might not be the best option for the bird. Sometimes we need to make room for a few of these birds that have not had a very good life. The one thing I would do, if you decide to keep them, jamezyboo, is keep the two Goulds quarantined for 3-4 weeks, just in case.

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:42 pm

i will definently do that.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:03 pm

yes I also agree with Paulie. Sometimes we get too wrapped up in "perfect" birds and forget that they sometimes have special needs.
We have a mom and pop pet store in my town and he has asked me more than once about buying some of my babies. But I could never do that especially after seeing the tiny and I mean TINY cage that he has a pair of courdon blues in. I have even talked with him about it and told him they needed a bigger cage. But there are still there. The only reason I know is because I go there to buy meal worms since I can't find them anywhere else right now. Otherwise I would not even enter his store. It is too depressing. I just get my worms and leave and try to not look.