FINCHforum

Sigh, my SECOND blueback gouldian male died today. I don't even know why as it was so sudden!

I got this blueback a month or two ago as a young bird, gray head and all. It fully molted into its adult plumage a few weeks ago and was going strong. All of a sudden, I noticed it was on the bottom of the cage yesterday. He looked like he really needed to poop but couldn't. I also noticed his rump area wasn't as dry and clean as the rest of the birds but I thought it was just dirty, so I put in a water dish for bathing. That was the first time I noticed anything wrong with him. All of a sudden today, I found him dead on the cage floor. Sigh... this really breaks my heart. I don't understand how or what killed him. I have 4 other gouldians with him and they seem fine. I do have one BH male that has had a wet-looking rump for some time now, but acts normal, nonetheless. Could this be Coccidiosis?

RIP my boy

So sorry for your loss. I lost little Coco last night too.

So sorry for the loss of your bird. It is never easy loosing them especially if you cannot understand why.

Coccidiosis usually manifests with going light - i.e. they get very skinny and their poop has undigested food and or blood in it. It takes time though.
It could be that your birds have an infection of some type and with any bowl type problems it could be a myriad of problems.

Post moult they also manifest all sorts of issues especially if they have been moved. Did you quarantine your new birds?

Have you treated them with anything recently like deworming?

If you can afford to, take the body and living birds with wet vents to the vet to do a few smears/fecals to test for bacteria. It would be worth it if you can nail what is wrong and treat accordingly.