FINCHforum

As you know Sunday I went to the Oshkosh Bird Fair & bought my silver gouldian. A new friend of mine & his wife were there; they had just bought 2 females from me last week & were looking for males. He bought two from the man I bought my silver from.
He called me last night to say his new male gouldian had raspy throat sounds like ASM & as we were talking he wife reported the bird died. This comes to just about 24 hrs after he bought the bird.
He called the "breeder?" to report this, the "breeder?" was adamant about not refunding his money. Said things like this just happen.
Well, my friend & I are now angry, angry, angry, angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are worried that maybe our flocks will become infected with ASM.
I wonder if this "breeder?" is one of those brokers you hear about; buying up birds cheap & then selling them to STUPID, UNSUSPECTING fanciers, like we maybe were. He was so unknowledgable about my silver's parents I should have seen the red flag. He replied to my e-mail questioning him about the parents, but I don't think it's right.
In the meantime, my friend went online to buy some ASM meds, but that company was sold out; so we will be pursuing this further. In the meantime, all I had on hand was Ornacyn (Erythromycin) broad-spectrum antibiotic, which everyone is getting in their water now for 5 days until I can get something else.
Advice and support needed really badly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry that this happened to you. If you give the name of the vendor that is sold out maybe some of the folks on here can suggest other vendors. I hope you caught things early enough and everything is okay.

I think I heard Scatt is no longer available. You can try S76 if you need to treat for ASM. But you need to make sure of the diagnosis before treating.

I am sorry for your friend's loss.

This may have not been something the vendor was aware of and was brewing in the bird and /or the stress from being caught up, taken to a show, chased around the cage having other cage mates caught as well as herself, put in a cage away from her flock mates, driven home and getting use to a new home environment, new sounds and smells and people all coulld have stressed the bird out to bring whatever it was carrying out.

If your friend kept the birds quarantined in another room away from the others she owns then it should not be an issue provided she took the steps to make sure there was not cross contamination. Did she quarantine the birds from the other's she owned? How is the second one doing?

Also sometimes things do not always show up within such a short window of time (guarantee) and may not until the bird goes through the stress of breeding or other major change.

Dolly I am so sorry! I would have been aggravated! Don't forget this happened and get to the bottom of it, don't let something like this slide, and warn all your bird friends!! Also sorry about your friend's gouldian, he should join the forum.

Rispa wrote: I'm sorry that this happened to you. If you give the name of the vendor that is sold out maybe some of the folks on here can suggest other vendors. I hope you caught things early enough and everything is okay.

I think Rispa is referring to the vendor of the item for ASM that is sold out rather than the vendor of the birds.

L in Ontario wrote:

Rispa wrote: I'm sorry that this happened to you. If you give the name of the vendor that is sold out maybe some of the folks on here can suggest other vendors. I hope you caught things early enough and everything is okay.

I think Rispa is referring to the vendor of the item for ASM that is sold out rather than the vendor of the birds.

I was, sorry for not being clearer.

Please email me at my private email address for my personal recommendations. I do not wish to discuss it openly on the forum.

You can email me at nixity@gmail.com

Hello; my name is Bill and a friend of dolly. I was the one who lost the Lady Gouldian, cannot figure it we took a smaller cage with us plus bottled water(notdistilled) also ecortrin anti-stress seed fourmula.

Hi Bill!!! Welcome! I am so sorry you lost him

Keep an eye on the other, and keep us posted.. I wonder what it could have been.

Hi Bill! I'm so glad you joined us here although I wish it could have been under happier circumstances. I'm so sorry for your loss so soon after bringing the bird home.

Can you tell us in your words how you came about to buy the bird?

• Did you watch it for a while (while at the show)?
• Was it healthy looking and actively moving around the cage?
• Was it fluffed up at all.
• How is the other finch you bought?
• Did you quarantine or treat your birds when you first got them home?
• When did you first notice symptoms and what were they?

I don't mean to overwhelm you or bombard with questions and this won't bring your bird back but we want to help ensure this doesn't happen again. If we can help make helpful suggestions for your or other member's future birds that would be good for all.

Welcome to the forum Bill. Very sorry for the bird you lost

I'd like to throw in a comment here & I don't think Bill will mind a bit. I think when we buy a bird we must ask the seller many questions so that we can possibly determine whether they are a reputable breeder. Especially as beginners, I think there are red flags we should be able to see.
I blame myself for all the worry I am going through now with my Silver, as I should have known to ask a lot of questions. Silver seems fine & Bill says his other bird seems fine.
When we see birds with crooked beaks, very long toenails, etc. we should be bold enough to discuss this situation with the seller & expect intelligent answers.
What happens to us buyers is that we get so excited to see a bird we want & let all common sense go by the wayside. (that's what I did with the Silver I bought).
Maybe someone can draft a list of questions we can pose to a seller.

Maybe someone can draft a list of questions we can pose to a seller.

That is a very good idea, maybe you could start a new thread and members could add to the list.
Maybe make it a sticky

debbie276 wrote:

Maybe someone can draft a list of questions we can pose to a seller.

That is a very good idea, maybe you could start a new thread and members could add to the list.
Maybe make it a sticky

I agree. Dolly, start that thread before I do and take credit for the idea!!!