FINCHforum

Hello, my spice finch has, for the past two days, been acting slightly odd. her feathers are all poofed out, to the point where her chest sticks out alot. yesterday i found her sitting on the bottom of the cage, but she did manage to move up a perch and get to the food. i can also detect maybe a little bit of shivering, and she seems to be breathing a little faster than usual.

any insight would be VERY much appreciated!!!!

-Emma

I am new to all this, but one thing you could do would be to put her in a 'hospital cage' with some heat. You could probably use a heating pad somehow, maybe some one else would comment. Or you could use a ceramic infrared heat lamp, or even just a light bulb placed very near the cage, but make sure there is a place for the bird to move away from the heat. I hope this helps. Keep us updated and surely someone more experienced will give more info very soon.

Heat is one of the best things you can do for a sick finch. Could she be eggbound? Has she laid any eggs? Has a nest? Is there a mate in the cage with her? Two days is a long time to be eggbound, though. Air sac mites are a bigger problem with Gouldians and canaries, but it seems like just about any of the finches can get infested with them. Has she had any Scatt, or ivermectin? Has she been wormed? Is she eating well (if you feel her breastbone, is it very prominent, or is there meat on either side of it)?

For the time being, if you can put her in a small cage by herself with a heat source, keep her covered with a towel, and quiet. She needs to have food and water placed on the floor so she doesn't have to work too hard to get to it. You can always just scatter seed on the floor, it won't hurt. Spray millet will tempt them to eat, too. Keep us posted, please.

thanks to both of you for the help! she had laid an egg recently, (into their bird bath...) but their cage is next to a window, and i opened the shade all the way, and i think the extra light and heat has helped alot, and she has now de-poofed! She does have a mate and a nest, but in the past she has only ever laid one egg at a time, and the two eggs before the one which landed in the water have landed on the ground. she has no sense of aim.

but about the mites, should i still treat her as a precaution? or is the medicine only for confirmed cases?

Does she seem back to normal? Is her breathing normal again? I suggested mites perhaps because her breathing was not normal. Many people treat their birds with Scatt or something similar on a regular basis (every 3 months) as a preventative, especially if they have Gouldians. Gouldians are more susceptible to air sac mites than most finches.

If she is laying eggs, even if it is just one every once in a while, she needs extra calcium. If you give her a mineral mix with oystershell grit and eggshells, that will help. You can also give her a liquid calcium supplement in her drinking water.