Generally lethargic finch.

[avicenna]

We've got two cages - one with 6 Zebra Finches and another with 2 sisters in it.

Last week, in the 6 cage, one hen was eggbound, so we got out the hospital-cage, put her in the bathroom, steamed it up, and now she is perfectly back to normal.

A few days later, one of the girls in the 2 cage seemed to be eggbound too. We brought their cage up, did all the same... and she hasn't recovered, rather, she doesn't seem to be as bad as an eggbound hen, but seems generally malaised. It's been around 5 days now.

She's slightly fluffed, and sitting low, on her belly. However, this isn't constant, only at certain times in the day. Generally, she'll sit next to the millet, not keen to move. However, she makes it down to the floor, back up - she was on the top perch [of three in a metre-tall cage] earlier.

Because finch-keeping is no exact science, there have been a few false-positives. She was chattering with her beak earlier - I read online a sign of respiratory disease... but then her sister started too, they started general 'wouldn't having eggs be nice?' noises and they decided to play at making a nest.

I saw her defecate, green. A sign of illness... I then remember that I've put in mint and dandelion leaves to try and cheer her up. Nor was it wet.

I worry she may hay air-sac mites [from these two 'symptoms'], and then I read that spray from pet-shops is not to be trusted.

She doesn't seem well, but she doesn't seem ill, either. Down, but not consistently.



You can see the difference in sitting here between the two.



However, moments later you can see her sitting fine. Earlier I struggled to tell which was the 'ill' sister and which was the well one. You can also see from the picture the height she managed to fly - something the eggbound hen would never be able to achieve. She had to gauge it, but she still made it.

They are prolific egg layers, the first night they were up in the bathroom being steamed, between them they laid 3 eggs - could it be that she is just generally depleted?

I'm sure we can all agree that these little birds place a great deal of stress and anxiety on us with these little ailments!

Any thoughts?

[MiaCarter]

avicenna -- I'm sorry to hear your birds are unwell.

I think there's a VERY good chance they're depleted due to the chronic egg laying. They would be deficient in calcium and vitamin D3, along with general depletion across the board.

I would get her started right away on Calcium Plus and a multi-vitamin, along with some fresh foods like egg.

Can you tell me about their diet?

It could be that this depletion is causing her to feel poorly, resulting in the sporadic puffy-ness.

I would get a heat lamp on her cage straight away. She'll expend less energy on heating her body, so she can fight any illness more effectively.

The beak chattering can mean lots of things, from stress to boredom to excitement.

The green poop is a bit concerning. But you mentioned she had just had some green foods that aren't usually on the menu. So it's possible this is what caused the green poop. If it continues, obviously that signals a problem.

Have these guys been treated and/or exposed to parasites? (internal and external)
Parasites can stress the body, often causing a consistent pattern of mild unwell-ness, like you describe.

[Corkysgirl]

In addition to what MiaCarter said, did you check for air sac mites? It may just be egg binding but it wouldn't hurt to check for it. https://ladygouldian.com/content/why-al ... -sac-mites

[wildbird]

She looks good to me. Pretty birds. The cage looks very narrow & tall. Finches need to fly across rather than up & down. A 30 inch across by 18 inch high would be nice. Maybe that would help.

[debbie276]

She looks good to me too. As far as Air Sac Mites, they aren't all that common in zebra finch and your "symptoms" don't sound like ASM to me. A diagnosis can be made by wetting the feathers on the neck with alcohol and transilluminating the trachea with a bright penlight. This procedure is best performed in a darkened room. With normal vision, the mites can be seen as dark, pinhead size, moving spots in the trachea.
The spray in pet shops "can not be trusted" because they are the wrong type of treatment. You would need something that treats internal mites (ASM) and not external.

Being put in and out of steam may not be the best thing, sweating and chilling them again and again.

Personally I wouldn't be treating for anything just from these symptoms but instead watch for abnormal droppings and a more obvious symptom.

[avicenna]

Hi all, thanks for your replies:

I've bought a heat lamp and liquid calcium, that'll come tomorrow [which'll be useful for the other birds].

Usual diet is millet, foreign finch seed, lettuce, cucumber, cuttlefish... Recently we've added mint from the garden to their diets.

I decided to take her to the vets, just because I was feeling very down about the situation, and would feel abysmal if I woke up to her dead and hadn't done everything I can - the vet had a feel and ruled out egg-binding, and has prescribed her antibiotics.

Of course, no sooner than in the vets than she decides to play the acrobat and sit on the swing!



Thanks for all your concern - now I just have to hope she'll respond well to those antibiotics. She looked absolutely moments away from death over the last few days... and then, poof, she's up on the top perch. I'm very much hoping she goes back to normal soon [in no small part for the sake of my anxiety!].

[Corkysgirl]

What did he give you the antibiotic for and is it to put in her water or by mouth?