How can I help my bird?

[SeaChelle]

This morning I noticed that one of my two hybrid (zebra x society) finches seemed to be having difficulty pooping. She was stretching and squatting like she needed go to, but with no results. Neither bird has ever had any eggs and she wasn't acting badly otherwise. She has been eating and drinking without issue. She isn't puffed up and was flying around the cage with the other bird seemingly fine. I had to go to work, but I came home at lunch to telework so I could keep an eye on her. She still seemed like she would try sometimes to poop, but still nothing. I can't be certain that she hasn't had any movements though.

I decided to put her in a small cage so that I could know for sure if she had gone. This was the first time I had to catch her since I brought them home last fall, so it didn't go very well. I don't have a lot of experience catching them obviously. I used a small bird net and was extremely gentle by the time I did catch her, but she was really stressed. In the small cage, she perched and held her beak open for a bit. Is that normal?

While I had her in my hand, I checked her vent area and it was light pink and clean. There didn't seem to be anything wrong there, but I'm new at this, so who knows.

She's now moving about in the cage a little, trying to find her way back to her sister it seems but she hasn't eaten or had any of the water. I put a tiny bit of epsom salts in the water after I did a search on the forums for constipation.

Should I be taking her to the vet? I really hate to stress her out any more than she is. Am I overreacting? I feel like I could be, but we really love these two little birds.

I don't like having the two birds apart because they seem to be really attached to each other. The other finch is all over the place and squawking for her sister.

Here is what I feed them:

Herb Salad
Sprouted seeds (Birds R Us Black and White mixes)
Regular mixed seeds
Abba Minerals
Spray Millet
Greens and fresh veggies when I can get them to eat it

Should I have any particular meds on hand already?

Thank you!

[debbie276]

Sounds like a good diet except I would add calcium sources such as oyster shell, egg shell and cuttlebone. She was probably breathing with her mouth open because she was scared, it should stop when she settles down.
good luck

[SeaChelle]

Sounds like a good diet except I would add calcium sources such as oyster shell, egg shell and cuttlebone. She was probably breathing with her mouth open because she was scared, it should stop when she settles down.
good luck

Oops. I forgot to mention that I do have cuttlebone in there, but they don't ever use it. The Abba Minerals mix does have oyster shell, egg shell, mollusk shell, charcoal and a bunch of other stuff in that, but should I be giving them egg shell in addition to that? I was never quite sure about that.

Thanks for your input. She does seem to be calmer and not holding her beak open, so you are right.

[debbie276]

Sounds like you've got it covered as long as they are eating some of it. Also wouldn't hurt to also offer egg shell when you have some available after using eggs.