FINCHforum

Hello Guys,
Please help me out with this, I purchased 2 pairs of finches from a pet store where i initially purchased some finches. but this time the things got a bit messed up. The 2 pairs which i purchased were seemingly OK when i got them in the cage but when once i came home to release them into my flight cage i noticed that a female zebra was sitting on one leg trying to balance herself on the perch. while on stress she used to use both her legs but when alone or left with the other finches she kind sits perched on one leg. i thought she might be stressed out with the other birds so she will be alright within a day or two so i gave some time and on the third day also when she was in this same state i was really tensed and i tried to very carefully observe her and the others behavior with her. when i saw some birds picking on her i thought that was the reason of her stress and i thought i will separate her and keep her inside my house so that its a bit stress free, with some other set of breeding birds. but even now its the same case where shes not standing with both her leg shes kinda perched low on the wooden perch and shes trying to balance herself on the perch.. this was making me tensed so i thought to inspect her and found out that the lower portion near the pelvis is almost missing most of the feathers where as for the other birds its not like that and near the upper portion of the left leg she has a kind of wound which i am not sure whether its a hurt or its any other kind of illness so i am really tensed. My question is how do i resolve this??? The vets here are mostly canine vets who tell that they will treat birds too but i am not sure that if they will just let this issue pass by telling she will be better soon. Is there anything apart from this that i can do????.. please suggest me the same and help me to handle this situation. So guys please help.
P.S: If i return her to the pet store they wont take care of her and shell be gone for sure. So before i take any major decision i wanted to get some suggestions.

M1chaelP It's really hard to tell what's going on by the pictures. At first I thought she might have an injury to her foot but seeing her picture now, something is very wrong. I can't really tell where her other leg is, if that is an injury, an infection at the base of her other leg. I just can't really see it. How is she behaving otherwise? What does her poop look like? Is it normal? How is her appetite? Any respiratory problems? What does her vent look like? I'm really not an expert and I'm sure someone else will comment. If that is an injury, I would clean it with warm very light salt water. You can just use a syringe to rinse, or a cotton ball, meaning don't put pressure. Squeeze water over it. Let it thoroughly dry. Not sure the temperature near you but keep her warm until she dries. Apply some antibiotic cream if you have it. It would be good if you could make an electrolyte recipe and give that in place of water. Here is a good recipe. To: 8 oz of warm water (about 103 to 105 degrees F)
Add: 1/2 Tablespoon sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon baking soda.
Mix well, can be kept in fridge for a few days.
Put a heat lamp on top of the cage, or one one side, but make sure there is a way for her to get away from it if she gets to hot. She needs a heat source.

Aw, poor girl.

That's definitely some sort of wound; hard to say what may have caused it.

I would follow CorkysGirl's advice of cleansing it with some warm water and then applying a bit of kids-friendly antibiotic cream (NOT ointment. That can be toxic and it tends to clump up their feathers.)

I would also give her a broad-spectrum antibiotic like Amoitex. That's good for skin infections.

Keep her warm with a heat lamp, as that will help her maintain her body temperature. She'll expend less energy on heating herself and that frees up more energy for healing.
And offer up lots of healthy foods, with vitamins, and as CorkysGirl mentioned, an electrolyte solution wouldn't hurt. I'd move everything to the bottom of the cage for easy access.

Agreed -- don't take her back to the pet store, as they'll euthanize her. (But I would report it to them so they can give you a new bird if she passes). It's cheaper to euthanize her or let her die vs. treat her and most pet shops consider only the bottom line.

Hey thank you guys for understanding. I will surely take those advice and see what will be the result.

How is she doing today? I know your time is much different than here...7:45am. I have friends there in India. Are you able to get a broad spectrum antibiotic for her if necessary or is it hard to get? Let us know how she is doing.

Yesterday after work when I came back home to take her to the vet. She was in her smaller isolated cage next to a different pair of breeding finches. When I saw her she was totally fine and was standing like any other normal finch. She was hopping in her cage from wall to wall. So I decided to leave her with the other 3 finches I had bought from the pet store. Now she's all active but most of the times she sits like a juvenile. I've rarely seen her drink water. I'll look at her keenly for one more day. If she's becoming lethargic I wouldn't take a risk. I'll drive hr to the vet myself. The antibiotic which you mentioned is not available here. As I said earlier. Back here. They treat only dogs and cats. So I'll have to wait a day or 2. I'm just in the hopes that things go fine and she's able to recover. Hope it's not internal injury or something.

I didn't think antibiotics were available there. I didn't remember you wrote it...but for me it was 4:00am so I'm not surprised. Finches are a tropical bird and don't drink very much at all. You may not see her drink water. A lady that sells medicine here told me her finch got lose for a long time. She thought it was going to die but it didn't. It didn't have access to water. It only had a tiny bit of lettuce...water from that in a weeks time and it lived. They only need a tiny bit of water. Of course we give them available clean water, but they may not need so much so don't be worried about that. As long as she's acting fine. Make sure you keep her warm enough. That's the main thing. If you can give her any green vegetables, that would be good. Any extra vitamins would help boost her immune system. Let me know how she's doing when you can. I hope she does well.

I just kept a small bowl of water on the cage floor. She along with all her cage mates literally dove into the water and she kept on drinking. It was relaxing to see. I've just taken half a day off from office to observe her. She's doing everything fine except that she's still not standing on both the legs. That's the only thing she's seeming to be lacking here. Hope she gets better soon.

That's great about the water. I'm surprised. Finches like to take baths. They're funny to watch. Is her foot red or swollen. Sometimes there can be a broken bone and you don't know it. There was a post the other day, a finch with a broken foot and they didn't know it. You can put broken bone in the Search Query and then Select the Health forum, or maybe General if you don't find it there. You can see old posts that way and read other people's remedies. You can also do searches for other issues that may come up in an emergency. I know because you're in a different time zone, that may happen. Make sure her perches are low and her water/food dishes also. You want to prevent her from having to put pressure on her foot if she starts to use it, especially if there is a bone broken or any other injury...internal. I hope she gets better for you.

Actually, finches do need water, and without it they can die quickly. I speak from experience, because I've forgotten to put a waterer back on a cage, and the next day, all occupants were dead. Or if you've ever had a waterer leak, when you refill it the birds are lined up to get a drink.

This is one reason USPS doesn't allow finches to be shipped--they can't go so long without water, and you aren't supposed to supply water in the shipping containers. Of course, shippers do supply water, otherwise the birds might not make it.

Sally I hope it didn't seem like I meant the birds didn't need water. I was trying to say, they sometimes don't drink much and not to be concerned if he doesn't see them drink. It was Laraine that told me the story about her bird or birds that she thought for sure would be dead (can't remember if it was in the mail or otherwise) because they hadn't had water for a length of time, and only got to the vegetables and that's how they got their water. This was to say, they are tropical and live on much less water than we think. She was telling me that explaining how my bird needed meds in her water, but may only take a sip or so in a day, make sure the meds are in the water early on in the day so if she only drinks a sip or two, it's the concentrated meds. that she gets. I tried to make it clear, of course we give them available clean water. I just told the story to show he may not see her drink the few sips in a day she may drink.

Ya. Thanks guys. I'm glad there's so many people concerned of her when the pet store people handle the birds so brutally. I don know about the other birds there. Hope the person learns some more. Whenever I've asked him some question he's either like, we give the best possible treatment for birds here or he'll be like it's not a big issue sir. Please don worry much. I think your overreacting. That's the reason I don like to discuss much with him. Hope the birds there will be in better hands soon. Back here esp aves are not taken much interest on but are sold just like show pieces.

Now she is sleeping for al the exhaustion. I'll keep you guys informed. Thank you.

Corkysgirl Oh, that's fine, I just wanted to make sure that newbies didn't get the idea that it is normal for finches to not want to drink much.

Sally you're right that's very important.

M1chaelP Well they're in good hands now. It is a shame when their little lives aren't taken care of no matter where they live. It can happen here too sometimes. Hoping tomorrow brings healing for her!