Birds with open beak

[wellingtoncdm]

My outdoor birds occasionally do this at times during the heat of the day.

[procfamily]

i have the same experience as Charlie.

[cindy]

Rancel, some of my zebras do this. If I am cleaning near the cage a few of them will sit opened beak and watch me, when I walk away they cam down and return to normal.

Are they doing this often, are they sort of breathing hard to the point you can see their chest moving while they are calm? Are they acting normal or puffed also, sleeping with their head tucked? Are they eating more than normal?

this might help:
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/featur ... ratory.php
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/featur ... cmites.php

[Queen_Bee]

Ok so I'm a little worried now for a while now I've seen my cordon blue male, and green singer female with there beaks open not all the time but every once in a while, almost as if they were having trouble breathing. What could this be ??? At first I thought it was respiratory infection so I treated them with SPECTOVET for 1 week but I have not seen any improvement and they still are doing the same thing.. please any help would be greatly appreciated

Some of my birds will do this when they are stressed.

[finchmix22]

Are they eating and drinking normal? Are their droppings normal? Do they seem active? If they are quiet and not active like normal or not eating/drinking well, they may be sick. You may want to treat with Amoxitex and Ronivet 12%, to address fungal and bacterial infections.
If this behavior is stress, they should close their beaks when the room is calm, quiet and no people or animals moving around. If they keep them open, they may be sick or feel threatened. Another item to check is if their beaks are too long or unevenly growing? They may not be able to close them well if they need a trim or have unusual growth on the beaks. Keep us posted.

[cindy]

This is good advice Deborah. I also wanted to ask if they have been exposed to any new birds lately? Are these birds housed together?
Have they been deparasited?

If this is not stress related and is possibly parasites either air air sac or some sort of protoza with possible bacterial infection the Ronex or Ronivet S 12% (6% is not strong enough but can be and can be 4 x's the powder to one part water to be effective). 12% can be used at 2.5 it's strength in powder to 1 part water. It can be combined with Amoxitex safely as Deborah stated.

I would also give a heat lamp. If they have not been deparasited and are in a community cage you will want to treat the whole flock. It is improtant to do so if they are on eggs or feeding young since a bird can manage symptoms until stressed but pass it onto theyoung. The young who do not have a good immune system can not fight the parasites off and may end up dying either in the nest or shortly after fledging.

[annague]

PA -- Had some experience with the same problem and it turned out to be protozoa related -- jump on it quick before your birds get too bad -- when they get bad it's hard to stop the progress of t he infection and you may lose them...

[cindy]

What happens parasites is they may to your birds by the parents or they had them from the breeder. You brought them home and fed them well so the parasites stayed dormant. Strees brought on by mating, producing, adding more birds to their floc, moving them may have weaken their system, the parasites get into organs and the blood stream, the bird continues to eat and drink, sometimes spending a good deal of time in the food dish because the parasites are literally robbing the bird of what it needs.

The heavy breathing is because the parasites are inthe blood stream stealing precious oxygen from the bird, plus the body is stressed already.

If the parents are able to deal and handle the parasites they will pass it along to their young in feeding, the young can die off in the nest or fledge and all the sudden you start lossing the clutch between 3 to 5 months old.

I always treat for parasites, if the breeder is one I don't now the practices of. If you have any young treat the parents' water with a 2.5 times powder Ronex 12% and antibiotic because the ibrds can get a secondary infection from the parasites.

After treatment give probiotics. Watch if the birds go down again then retreat again. Rule of thumb at a vet office if an animal has parasites, treat, test, if positive retreat again...sometimes it takes more than one treatment to deal with a difficult case.

[cindy]

no..do Ronivet 12% at 2.5 times the powder to one times the water and amoxitex...put the amoxitex directly into the same water as the ronivet 12%

dose them then use the probiotics afterwards

[cindy]

I would order from ladygouldian.com...get Ronivet 12% or Ronex extra strength, make sure it is the 12%. If you use Ronex use 1 teaspoon to 1 quart water. If using a 2 quart container use 2 teaspoons Ronex to 2 quarts water...you are doubling the powdered med. Then just add the antibiotics to the water/Ronex mix, shake well and dose for 7 days.

Try this and see if it helps.

[CandoAviary]

PA -- Had some experience with the same problem and it turned out to be protozoa related -- jump on it quick before your birds get too bad -- when they get bad it's hard to stop the progress of t he infection and you may lose them...

Good call, this is a common symptom of Protozoan and treatment rarely causes any side effects. Early treament is the key. Hope you can get the meds soon.
Make sure you remove bath water while treating... or use the ronidazole in the bath water also.

[cindy]

And clean the cages and cups, etc very well once you start treatment.

[cindy]

Keep us posted....hoping for the best.

[cindy]

If you order the 6% you can 4 times the amount of powder to the 1x's amount of the water. Plain 6% is not strong enough for the finches...they have a higher metabolism than larger birds..12% is what finches need.

[cindy]

Normally to treat as a preventative you would double the 6% to make it 12% but since the birds might have something going on you 4x's the amount to help fight it. It will not hurt them.

So you will mix if using a 1 quart container:

1 teaspoon of Ronex 6%
1 teaspoon of amoxitex
1 quart of water

Shake well and put the remaining water/meds in the fridge.

If you are treating only the sick birds use the forumla above and keep them separate from the rest of the flock. Then as you are treating the ill birds treat the rest of your flock with Ronex 6% 2x's the powder.

1/2 teaspoon to one quart water

or 1 teaspoon to 2 quarts of water