my cordon is shocked or ill after being outside

[robin311]

Hi all, I hope someone has a suggestion for me. I had my 5 birds (male & female cordon, m & f waxbill and one female mannikin) outside in their cage this afternoon and when checking on them them i found the male cordon lying in one of the small food dishes. I brought them in and took him out to see if he appeared to be hurt (he uncharacteristically allowed me to pick him up and easily take him out) and he did not, but he is just sitting on the bottom of the cage (i put him in a small isolation cage) not really moving at all but not lying on his side or gasping or anything. i spritzed him with a bit of water which he didn't even shake off. I am in NJ but at the beach, so it is warm and sunny but not humid and not terribly warm. when doing a little investigation i found 3 of what i am assuming are his feathers under where the cage was but none of the other birds seems to be bothered at all. they never fight, at least not in the past, and they were not doing so this afternoon. only a few minutes before i saw him this way he appeared to be fine. i did put a small bowl in his little cage in case he wanted to be nested a bit and he is perched on the edge of that so i hoped that was a good thing, as he does not seem to have broken a leg or anything. when i had him out to see how he was he was not fighting to get out of my hand but he did do so and seemed to be able to fly, although i had him in a small bathroom so there wasn't really anywhere that he could go. he is now inside in the AC, in his isolation cage, partially covered and is perched on the side of the small bowl w his eyes closed. he is not puffed up and has not gone to the bathroom but he did make a limited effort to eat a bit of millet that was right on the floor in front of him. he has not tried to go to the food or water bowl in his cage, nor has ne tried to go to the one perch that is in there. any suggestions that you may have would be appreciated. I rarely leave them outside unattended at all but they were on a second floor deck and seemed (as usual) very happy to be out in real sunshine. they usually consider this a real treat, and i have never had any kind of problems in the past. the bird is 3-4 years old and has been healthy with the exception of having air sac mites when i first brough him home (3-4 years ago), which were eliminated w/in a couple of weeks. as a result he does not sing but he has been a perfectly healthy bird in every other way. Please forgive the rambling message but i wanted to provide as mush information as i could - any suggestions would be appreciated. thank you!

robin (and julian)

[finchmix22]

You said it was not too hot, but could he be dehydrated anyway? If he is not going for water or food, he may be too weak. When my birds act like that I give them a little handfeeding formula, like I do for a hatchling, that is more watery and touch the side of their beak to get them to drink/eat. That helps with energy and then I put them in a bathroom and keep door closed with a red lamp on part of the cage and the other part covered so they can choose the temp and where to sit. I'd put all food and water on the bottom of the cage to make it easy to reach and watch him for changes. I pray he gets better.

[robin311]

thanks, that is always a possibility. they had plenty of fresh water when they were outside and were only out for about an hour and a half, plus no one else seems to have any ill effects from it at all. i did offer him water (right up to his beak) which he didn't accept, although he may have gotten a bit of it in him. he doesn't seem to be getting worse so maybe some rest will do him some good. i have food and water right on the floor for him, at your suggestion, so he can get to that easily should he decide to try.
will keep you posted, thanks for the reply

[managermania]

Try to drip some in his mouth/beak with a medicine dropper. Someone also told me to use diluted Pedialite or orange Gatorade. I had an Owl with a similar thing and I used a dropper with heavily diluted Gatorade. Couple hours later he perked right up.

[cindy]

Sorry your cordon isn't well. Sometimes bringing birds in and out from AC to outside temps then back in to AC can shock them a little. Also something may have flown overhead that may have startled him and he may have tried to"get away" and ran into the side of the cage. Inside they have familiar surrounds and security, when out side the sky looks endless and whatever flies over or nearby may seem like a threat or something scary that they don't understand.

My suggestion is a heat lamp, fluids and food. My mother use to want the birds to get fresh air and some sun...she would line the cages up on the window shelf and open the window (screen in window, to prevent a hornet or pest to bother them) She would include a little bowl of water for them to take a dip in if they got to warm or just to enjoy a bath in the sun.

Hope your little one recovers...it sounds like he is doing a bit better.

[robin311]

i am 'leaning toward' that kind of thinking - that something startled him or possibly even flew toward him. he lost 3 feathers while out there and all the other indicators make me think it is something like that as well. I rarely take them out but they seem to enjoy it SO much that until today I thought it was worth the possible risk. there is no bleeding or apparent injury (but his isolation cage is so small that he couldn't fly much even if he wanted to) but it seemed too 'sudden' to be anything else - and the feathers under the cage concerned me. i do have a heat lamp on him and have him as far from the AC unit as i can so i hope he starts to feel better.
thank you!

[cindy]

It sounds like he just got startled and bumped and lost a few feathers. Hope he does well and is back to normal soon.

[robin311]

cindy, in your experience how long do you think it may take for him to recover if that is all it was?

[cindy]

It is hard to say, some bounce back quickly. Cordons are flighty to begin with and he may have panicked, wearing himself out. It depends on if he is just shocky, tired or if he injured himself. Time will tell, keep him warm, his food and water where he can reach it. If he looks listless, not eating or drinking contact a vet if you can. See how he does...has he improved any since you last posted about him?

[robin311]

it's hard to say. he doesn't seem worse but he is pretty much just sitting perched on the edge of the bowl (he IS perched, not lying or even sitting on floor) with his eyes closed. he is sort of rocking forward and back (not side to side) a bit but he does open his eyes and seems pretty alert when i take off the cover to check on him. when i put my hand in to put water to his beak he does turn away, so he's not completely still.

[robin311]

it has been about 5 hours since i found him this way, and there was very little time in between when everyone was fine and when i found him this way.

[robin311]

i MAY be guilty of optimism here but he does seem a wee bit more alert in the last half an hour or so. he was looking around with eyes open when i checked on him just now (even before he knew i was there) and his droppings look normal.

[cindy]

keep the heat lamp on him, heat does wonders sometimes, put it on the cage on one side so if he get to warm he can move away from it. I would keep it on him through the night...make sure it is not to hot though, the one side can be about 80 degrees but the other side should be a little cooler.

Hope he continues to improve.

[G8love4finches]

Hope that your little guy bounces back! Good luck!

[robin311]

THANK YOU - TO EVERYONE! he is still hanging in there, about the same but not worse. we shall see what happens overnight but if he is not better in the am i will be calling my vet to get a recommendation for an avian specialist. i have only been once, and he is a highly qualified vet (first vet in NJ to be board certified in avian veterinary medicine) but he is quite a distance away and will not be able to see him so i will be looking at someone new - although i HOPE that is not necessary!
thanks to everyone, i will keep you posted - i pray that it will be with good news