FINCHforum

Two questions, really, about our gang of six zebbies:

1) One of our existing zebra finches always looks a bit fluffed, but has done so for a long time (months) without any other signs of actually being poorly. His poop is fine and he eats/drinks/bathes/sings like the others. Can I just assume he likes to be a bit more fluffed than the others? Or should I be looking to treat him for...something?

2) We recently got a new addition to replace one little guy who died (of something neurological as far as we can tell, he just got really wobbly and then passed away). Newbie will be in quarantine for a few weeks, but I was wondering about worming him as he's come from an outside aviary. He seems to be in excellent health so I'm reluctant to throw a ton of medications at him for no good reason, but I've seen a lot of recommendations to worm a finch that's been living outside.

Note that I'm in the UK so I'd also appreciate suggestions for specific products I can use that are available here; also note that I can't get antibiotics without a prescription from a vet, who won't prescribe them without seeing the sick bird in question and determining that antibiotics are an appropriate treatment.

Thanks!

All new birds get a worming during quarantine here, it can't hurt. I wouldn't treat with antibiotics unless I knew what I was treating for though.

Can you catch the fluffed one and see if the breast bone is sharp? Is he loosing weight? When they fluff it means they are trying to keep warm so a little bit of extra heat via a ceramic heater or heat lamp would probably be a good idea. Make sure they can get away from the heat if they need to though.

good luck

As Debbie said, feathers SHOULD BE nice and tight. If not then something is wrong with the bird.

I would either
- put a heat lamp on the cage so the fluffed up one can go and get warm, or
- remove him into a separate cage with a red heat lamp on 24x7

I am inclined to go with the 2nd option.
This way you can better keep an eye on him.
You can control and monitor what he eats, and you can feed him different from the other birds. ie more egg food and veggies.
And he can eat w/o getting bothered by the other birds.

If you had 6, and one died, then you have 5.
The problem the birds will pair up and #5 is the odd bird out.
The odd bird out is sometimes picked on by the other birds.
And your fluffed up bird might be #5.

As for the new bird, as with Debbie, ALL inbound birds get a deworm treatment.

Thanks both. Which is the best active ingredient to look for in a wormer for zebbies? The specific products I've seen recommended don't appear to be available in the UK.

Fluffed finch has been slightly fluffed since well before we lost one, and is one half of the most strongly bonded pair in the group, so I don't think he's being picked on but I will keep an eye out for bullying. We did try to catch him last night but he was having none of it! I'll try again today once they've calmed down a bit.

My boyfriend described it as 'maybe he just feels the cold more than the others'! I'm sort of tempted to treat for protazoals but his poop looks normal and I thought coccidiosis etc led to abnormal poop.

They all refuse to touch egg food but will hoover down a mashed up boiled egg so I'll make sure they get extra egg. They also get salad leaves, millet, a finch mix of seed and a vitamin supplement in their water - am I missing anything?

Personally I wouldn't treat with an antibiotic just because.
I'm not familiar with which products are available in the UK but I'm sure a general web search for "bird wormer" will pull something up for you.
For now I would add extra heat and when you find a wormer do them all.
good luck

Completely agree with Debbie. Also, I noticed that you say you give vitamins in the water. Personally, I don't care for vitamins that have to be added to the water, as it forces the birds to take in the vitamins whether they need them or not. I do use some vitamins, but I will put them in their eggfood or veggies. Just IMO.