Martin is sick again and I have no idea what's wrong!

[alygirl92]

Please someone help! I came here last year about my finch Martin who was sick, he recovered and has been doing really well but now he's sick again.

I noticed that he's been sitting really puffed up. A few days later I saw him trying to pass droppings and he seemed to be struggling with it a lot. He kind of bobs up and down to get the droppings out and sometimes has to reach back to pull the droppings away from his vent with his beak. His vent is getting kind of red and swollen looking and the feathers around it are matted. His droppings also look a little unusual. They seem bigger than normal maybe. They are more thick and gooey than usual but also maybe less solid than normal. Some of the droppings are green and white like normal but with the strange consistency and the rest are kind of whitish - clearish but still that thick gooey consistency. Other than that his symptoms are mostly just being kind of lethargic and seeming cold. He is definitely a male so egg binding is out of the question...

I've moved him into a cage with a light above it for warmth which at least seems to be helping his temperature. I'm offering seed, a millet spray, egg food, and some chopped greens all of which he's been eating somewhat. I'm putting electrolytes in his water and keeping lots of water available to him at all times. I don't know what else to do! He doesn't seem to be getting worse yet but he's also not getting any better. As I mentioned last year due to my rural location going to a vet isn't really an option so you are my only resource to help him. I hope someone can give me some advice... Thank you!

[alygirl92]

Please somebody I'm so worried about this and I think he's getting worse! My mother passed away last week and I can't bear the thought of losing my sweet little bird too. I'm sorry for being so distraught and emotional, I'm just overwhelmed so much! Any little piece of advice you can give will be appreciated so so much!

[LadyGouldianGirl]

I'm so sorry to hear about your little guy. Unfortunately I'm a newbie so there's not much advice I can give you. But sometimes it's nice to know someone reading the post cares. I hope he's on the mend soon. Take a browse through the other posts. Maybe you'll come across some ideas. Good luck to you both.

[Sally]

alygirl92 I am so sorry for the loss of your mother. You are going through incredible stress right now, so having this sick little bird makes it even worse. Unfortunately, I am not good at diagnosing birds online, I'm not even good at it with my own birds. Finches hide illness so well that often, by the time we realize they are sick, they are quite ill. Giving the bird heat is one of the best things you can do right now. Without knowing what is wrong, it can be worse to give the wrong medication.

[Stuart whiting]

Mmm....it's rather difficult to really say what the problem is without looking at your bird but I'd be interested to know what green food that you are feeding to the bird, it's possible that he may of eaten something that doesn't agree to him

[alygirl92]

Sadly Martin passed away yesterday evening... I will probably never know what was wrong but it must have been something that he just couldn't recover from.

I got a new male today so I can begin the process of introducing him with my now single female over time.

Thank you to everyone for their advice and support. It is hard to get through all of this but I'm staying strong.

Thanks again!

Colette

[Stuart whiting]

Sadly Martin passed away yesterday evening... I will probably never know what was wrong but it must have been something that he just couldn't recover from.

I got a new male today so I can begin the process of introducing him with my now single female over time.

Thank you to everyone for their advice and support. It is hard to get through all of this but I'm staying strong.

Thanks again!

Colette

Oh....I'm so sorry to here that Collette

Hope everything goes ok with your new little finch

[alygirl92]

Thanks so much for your well wishes! In answer to the question about the greens I always feed my finches a few different basic vegetables which they enjoy. I usually alternate feeding hard-cooked eggs with vegetables such as lettuce (well washed to remove toxins), grated carrot, some fresh herbs that they love (basil and fennel especially), etc... I don't think that could have been what caused Martin to get sick though because I have fed them the same diet more or less for the two plus years I have had finches and other than the two birds I've had which seemed to get seriously ill they have all been very healthy. None of those things would be harmful would they?

[Stuart whiting]

Thanks so much for your well wishes! In answer to the question about the greens I always feed my finches a few different basic vegetables which they enjoy. I usually alternate feeding hard-cooked eggs with vegetables such as lettuce (well washed to remove toxins), grated carrot, some fresh herbs that they love (basil and fennel especially), etc... I don't think that could have been what caused Martin to get sick though because I have fed them the same diet more or less for the two plus years I have had finches and other than the two birds I've had which seemed to get seriously ill they have all been very healthy. None of those things would be harmful would they?

The green food all seems ok and is exactly what I'd feed although I've never fed the herbs " basil and fennel " as you say if you've fed the herbs for quite some time beforehand with no problem then I'd presume this is also ok

Hope everything goes ok for you

[Sally]

alygirl92 So sorry to hear you lost Martin. Often with finches, we never know just what went wrong. I've even had friends who had necropsies done on birds that passed, and the results were inconclusive, so even the vets can't always tell us what the problem was. I don't think what you were feeding had anything to do with it. Keep your new male quarantined away from your female, I usually recommend at least two weeks.