New here
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:44 pm
Not sure if I am in the right place or not.
A couple of years ago, I adopted 4 zebra finches. One male and three females. I was new to owning birds, so I did some research on cages and feeding, etc. About six months into having them, one of my females died. I have no idea why. I went out and bought another within a few days because I read that it's best to have these types of birds in pairs.
Fast forward around 18 months (a couple of months ago), another female died. Two weeks after that, another female. Two weeks after that, the last female. In all cases, they were acting normally and within 24 hours they were "puffed up" looking and barely breathing. Within hours of this happening, they were dead.
I then only had the one male left, Ed. I knew that I should get another female for company, but was afraid Ed would be next to pass. So I waited. A month went by, he was still just as active as ever. Singing beautifully as ever. I knew he was lonely though.
I thought maybe I would try another mate for him since he seemed unaffected by whatever happened to the others. I wanted to be extra cautious, so I bought a brand new cage. I put the new girl in the new cage and put the cages next to each other so they could get acquainted. By the first night, they were already cuddled up to the bars trying to get as close as possible. So I decided to go ahead and merge Ed in with her in the new cage. All went well. They had bonded easily.
We had the new bird, Sheneequa, for approximately two weeks. This past Saturday I was laying on the sofa watching them fly back and forth. Acting normally. The next day, Sheneequa had the "puffed up" look like the others had had. I knew what was going to happen next. In less than a day, she had passed.
I am completely baffled as to what is happening to the females I put in there. They didn't appear to have any trauma done to them. So I don't think Ed is killing them. ( My first thought) Ed still seems "normal", although grieving I believe.
Here's my main question, I guess. Can Ed have a disease that is infecting the others without it affecting him? A carrier of sorts? I want to get him a mate, but terrified it will happen again.
A couple of years ago, I adopted 4 zebra finches. One male and three females. I was new to owning birds, so I did some research on cages and feeding, etc. About six months into having them, one of my females died. I have no idea why. I went out and bought another within a few days because I read that it's best to have these types of birds in pairs.
Fast forward around 18 months (a couple of months ago), another female died. Two weeks after that, another female. Two weeks after that, the last female. In all cases, they were acting normally and within 24 hours they were "puffed up" looking and barely breathing. Within hours of this happening, they were dead.
I then only had the one male left, Ed. I knew that I should get another female for company, but was afraid Ed would be next to pass. So I waited. A month went by, he was still just as active as ever. Singing beautifully as ever. I knew he was lonely though.
I thought maybe I would try another mate for him since he seemed unaffected by whatever happened to the others. I wanted to be extra cautious, so I bought a brand new cage. I put the new girl in the new cage and put the cages next to each other so they could get acquainted. By the first night, they were already cuddled up to the bars trying to get as close as possible. So I decided to go ahead and merge Ed in with her in the new cage. All went well. They had bonded easily.
We had the new bird, Sheneequa, for approximately two weeks. This past Saturday I was laying on the sofa watching them fly back and forth. Acting normally. The next day, Sheneequa had the "puffed up" look like the others had had. I knew what was going to happen next. In less than a day, she had passed.
I am completely baffled as to what is happening to the females I put in there. They didn't appear to have any trauma done to them. So I don't think Ed is killing them. ( My first thought) Ed still seems "normal", although grieving I believe.
Here's my main question, I guess. Can Ed have a disease that is infecting the others without it affecting him? A carrier of sorts? I want to get him a mate, but terrified it will happen again.