FINCHforum

Hi, I need help bad.

I've had a star finch for about 5 1/2 weeks now. Things seemed to be going great until last weekend. Now, he's puffy and less active, although he has times when he seems pretty normal.

The only thing I can think of that might have caused it is that we started running our swamp cooler last weekend. The bird seemed to start puffing up then, so the next day we moved him to the kitchen, out of the draft (even though he wasn't close to the vents at all, there was still a stream of air he was in).

His poop looks normal, and he's eating. Do you think this is likely a respiratory (sp) infection, or possibly a fungal or bacterial?

I do have a heat lamp on him, which he seems to like.

I don't want to lose him!

I'm not great at diagnosing these things but I know it's good you have a heat lamp on him!

Did you add anything to his water yet? Guardian Angel or NV Powder are great. Or if you have Thrive - you can use that for a couple of days.

I really hope he gets better soon for you!

Debbi, if you're not sure and he continues to decline you could try a 4-in-1 on him and see if he responds to it. Otherwise, the NV or Thrive sounds like a start!

Thanks Liz. I'm getting the Guardian Angel today, or I'll see if they have either of the others you mentioned.


Thanks Anna. What's a 4 in 1?

The reason I'm questioning the swamp cooler is that while I know birds don't catch our colds, both my husband and I are also sick with cold/congestion.....

Anyone know if that would likely be fungal or bacterial?

4 in 1 -- google it with bird medication -- several different kinds of medicine in 1 when you don't know what's wrong.

Not something to use frequently or without a lot of thought but can help if you really don't know.

A cold is viral although some fungi can also be viral (but not common).

Found it, and ladygouldianfinch has it. Thanks.

Glad to be of assistance!

I appreciate it!

Good luck! I hope you have success in treating your bird!

Good luck.

Thanks Finchfan & bugaboo.

He seems better. Not nearly as puffy, or puffy as often. He's not eating quite as much as he was previously, but I'm thinking that's at least partly because he's in a smaller cage and not using nearly as much energy as he was in the larger cage - flying back and forth a lot.