FINCHforum

My white breasted female gouldian unfortunately has been very ill for several days. She doesn't exactly have any distinct symptoms. I think she may have a respiratory infection but hopefully those more experienced than me can help me confirm or figure out what's going on with her and the next steps i should take. So here goes:
I obtained her from a petsupermarket- I don't typically buy birds from this sort of place but I felt sorry for her and really wanted a white breasted gouldian. When I brought her home she was fine in my large aviary. Later I noticed that she started eating later at night after all the other birds had eaten and she started spending more time on the bottom of the cage. Later I had to remove her completely because she was sleeping all day and was very lethargic. Currently she wakes up periodically during the day to eat and drink a little, but spends most of the day sleeping. She shakes and has small convulsions every so often as well. I also think it sounds like a clicking noise when she is breathing but I'm not 100% sure on that.
Any and all help/comments/recommendations would be extremely helpful and appreciated. Should I take her to the vet? I live in Miami and vets that are reasonable are hard to come by so if anyone has a recommendation for someone that would be great also.
THanks again,
Laura

I would take her to a vet and keep her away from other finches. She may go quickly, as they do hide symptoms and she is already weak. I pray she makes it.

Could be several things and I'm not sure you have the time to try and figure it out yourself at this point. I would say it's time to find a vet.
Best of luck, keep us posted

I say a vet visit at this point is a must. I would also watch our other birds for any signs of illness. If she was put with the rest of your flock and not quarantined separately I would mention that to the vet as well...if she has something that can be transmitted and easily cured you may need to treat the whole flock as a preventative.

Hopefuly they can get her back to health, thank goodness you bought her because if she was still at the store she may have passed away.

Keep a warming lamp on her until you can get to the vet office.

Keep us posted. Good luck.

I don't usually take mine in to a vet. We do not have any good avian vets here and usually there is not alot they can do....
so I have learned to be "Dr. Donna". Sometimes there is just not alot we can do. I would start off treating her for air sac mites. Put some glucose in her water. If you don't have that I have heard you can always use pedialite.

Most important is to seperate her from all other birds into a smal cage and make her warm. Be careful though that she doesn't get too hot.

Good luck and I am so sorry.....

Thank you all very much for your kind responses. Here's an update:
Since it was approaching a weekend when I was having a problem with my little gould, I decided not to spend the money to see a vet- here it is completely unaffordable- $75/visit, and they wanted an extra $100 for seeing her on a weekend. I put a heat lamp on her and found an antibiotic at petsmart that atleast claims its good for respiratory infections and help to treat nutrition imbalance. She still eats constantly but just sits in her cage... I wouldnt claim that she is fully healed, as she does still make a little bit of a noise while breathing- it's not loud, but its abnormal. She just seems mopey... any ideas?

-Laura

You might order online the SCAT for airsac mites and put one drop under her wing. Keep giving her warmth and the antibiotic for seven days total. The other option, if she does not have ASM, is to check droppings. How do they look? Normal? Loose? Odd color?
I hope she makes it.

How is your Gouldian girl today, Laura?

She seems to be doing better. The heat lamp and hopefully the antibiotic seem to have feeling a little better. Still waiting on the ASM medicine to arrive, hopefully tommorrow. Her droppings seem to be normal too.
will update in a few days, hopefully with more improvement.

Cheers,
Laura

Was the antibiotic Ornacyn Plus? Or Ornacycline? The scatt is usually the best place to start with respiratory issues for sure. If that isn't it, maybe Ronex? Some protozoa can cause respiratory issues too. Is the bird thin? If thin, probably parasitic in nature? The shaking could be coccidia...hard to tell. Have to take it one step at a time:)

Just in case anyone was following:
She seems to be doing much better, here's a photo of her taken yesterday.

Yay!:)

Looking good

Wonderful!
You did good