It has been a little while since my last post; life got in the way, although a lot of stuff has been happening with my finches. I'll post happy news elsewhere, but this is a sad post. Cranberry, my handsome chocolate pied Society, mate to Cress, and father to Clementine and a one day old hatchling, died suddenly today.
I am so sad to lose Cranberry. He is the first Soc I acquired and has been with me the longest out of all I currently have (since April? Really not that long, but still...). Clementine has, thankfully, been weaned, as Cranberry was the only one who ever fed her. I don't have much hope for the poor little hatchling. The last time I saw Cranberry alive, he was hunkered down over the baby to keep it warm; when I came home a couple of hours later, he had passed, the baby still under him. I think his residual body warmth is the only reason the baby was still alive.
As to what happened, I have no idea. There have been no changes to their environment. Same food, no new birds (aside from the hatchling and two fledglings), and nothing external to the cages either. I have been keeping it warm in there for them. So far (knock on wood), all the other birds are acting normal. Course of events: I heard some unusual noises from the bird room (like some anxious chirps) around noon today, came in to find Cranberry on the floor of the cage, looking a bit lethargic. But he seemed uninjured, and flew back up to the top of the cage when I approached, so I thought maybe it was nothing. I came in a couple of hours later to clean their cages and Cranberry was puffed up, head tucked under his wing, breathing a bit fast (I think), and in his nest...on a baby that had apparently just hatched this morning. I quickly set up a hospital cage at that point. I moved Cranberry (still in the nest) and the baby to the hospital cage. Maybe this was a mistake and I should have left the little one in the big cage? I don't know. I underestimated at the time how sick Cranberry must have been, as he was otherwise healthy looking (as in, no feather loss, no growths or lesions, etc). Keep in mind that this was my first time tending to a sick bird. So. Put him in a small cage in a separate room near a space heater set on low. When I first put him in, he actually came out to eat a bit of Millet, which I found encouraging, and then he went back to the nest. It does not seem as though he touched his seed or water. Notable, though, that the baby's crop was full when I removed the father. Anyway, at that point, I had to leave to pick up someone from the airport, and I was gone a couple of hours. When I returned, he had passed. But the baby was still breathing! I did not know what to do but I knew I had to do something quickly, so I decided to put the hatchling back in the Soc cage, in the last remaining nest, and hope that one or more of them will take care of the poor little thing. I hope I made the right decision. I am worried that the baby might contaminate the flock, but I couldn't bear to leave it out to die...and I figured that they had both been in that cage as of this morning, anyway, so if it is contagious the damage had already been done.
I know there are probably a million things that could have caused this. I just didn't expect a seemingly healthy bird to deteriorate so quickly in one day. So, of course, I am concerned for my other birds--particularly my Socs, as they are caged together. Any ideas? Things I should do? I did clean and disinfect the cage today after I put Cranberry in hospital. Maybe I will go over everything a second time tomorrow.
Cranberry, you will be missed.
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