Egg binding? Female zebra finch unable to perch or fly well

[chappie]

Hi,

My female zebra finch suddenly looks really sick this morning and I'm very worried. She is unable to perch, jump, or fly well. But she still eats normally. She went to a corner and laid an egg. But after laying the egg, the situation persists, and she still looks very tired and sick. What can I do to make her feel better? When I tried to feed her spinach (with a bit liquid calcium) she just turned away. What could be the problem? Can egg binding cause a bird to lose their balance and their tail to droop? She was fine last night!

Thanks in advance!

[Sally]

Egg bound hens usually look very sick. They will sit on the floor of the cage,with squinty eyes, wings drooping, puffed up. They just look miserable, and they are in big-time trouble, as egg binding can be fatal.

Heat and humidity, along with a few drops of liquid calcium directly to the side of the beak, can help her pass an egg. Heat can be provided with a heat lamp, which can be as simple as a gooseneck desk lamp with a 60w bulb aimed at one end of the cage. Humidity can be provided by wringing out a wet hand towel and laying it across one end of the cage (away from the lamp).

[lovezebs]

chappie

Good luck with your little girl.

Sally, already gave you good advice.

[chappie]

Thanks Sally and lovezebs. Bee's doing better today, she even took a shower... although her tail still droops a little... I hope she just needs some time to recover instead of having other health issues. I made some boiled eggs + crushed eggshells for them yesterday and she kept eating it for 10 minutes. Should I continue feeding eggs to them? I don't own any male finches, but one of the birds (Bee) kept laying eggs, I was a little worried if she would use too much of her calcium. How much of liquid calcium should I give them? Should I continue giving them on a daily or weekly basis? Lately I introduced broccoli into their diet, however they have never been too willing to try other food like apples, oranges, carrots, pears... etc. It seems that they only enjoy vegetables like spinach and broccoli. They don't even like kale. I used to have a male zebra finch who enjoyed every type of food I gave him, so I think I'm having a little trouble getting these female finches to have better nutrients.

Another issue... few days ago I heard a "scream" from Bee. When I rushed to them, I found that she looked so scared standing on the cage floor. I am not sure what happened to her. Today I found out that there's a "bald" spot underneath her stomach (hard to see), although she looks fine, other than the egg binding issue from yesterday. Could it be some sort of diseases that I haven't heard of? Or it is probably an "injury" from the incident few days ago?

Thanks again!

[Zebrafincher]

If you can, get her to a vet ASAP. Or use the wise behavior suggested on this forum (its what the vets would do anyhow). If she doesn't pass the egg, she will die, its as simple as that.

That's why I only have males now. Its too hard to go through this all the time.

Good luck

Zebrafincher

[lovezebs]

chappie

How's your little girl doing?

[chappie]

I don't know why my reply still hasn't been approved. I did write a reply this morning but it's still not showing. Anyway, I just wanted to thank both Sally and lovezebs for their suggestions. My girl, Bee, was doing better today although she's still a bit tired and tail droops a little, she took a shower and flew around the room today. I fed them boiled eggs with crushed eggshells and Bee was eating for 10 minutes straight! I'm sure she craved calcium. I was also saying I was worried because I wasn't sure if she had other health issues if it wasn't egg binding. Should I continue giving them liquid calcium? And how much should I give to them? Is it a daily or weekly task?

Several days ago I heard a "scream" from Bee so I rushed to see what's wrong. She looked really scared on the cage floor but I didn't know what happened. Yesterday I saw that there's a bald spot under her stomach (near her right leg). I was wondering if this could be some sort of diseases that I don't know of, or it's some "injury" she had the other day?

Last thing, I introduced them broccoli and they loved it. However I can't get them eat a lot of other food like kale, carrot, apple, oranges... so I'm sure they should lack some nutrients. However they are not willing to eat other foods, and since I only have two birds, I always prepare a lot more than they can eat. How should I prepare for their vegetable? Is it ok to split the food into 3-4 day portions?

Thanks again!!

[Sally]

chappie Sorry, I meant to change you from newly registered to registered member last night when I approved the first post in this thread, and I forgot to do it. Today, I was gone most of the day. You are now in the registered group and your posts will not need to be approved first any longer.

As far as feeding veggies, just keep offering different things, it sometimes takes a while before they try other things. As far as calcium, if you have a mineral grit in the cage, and you are offering egg and/or egg shells (and they are eating them), that should do for now. The liquid calcium is given when you suspect egg binding, and that is one or two drops at a time directly to the beak, and then again several hours later if needed.

As far as the 'scream' and bald spot, I doubt seriously that it could be from any disease. She could be plucking herself for nesting material.

[chappie]

No prob, Sally, thanks a lot!