Page 1 of 1

Please hep diagnosing

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:03 pm
by Ram
Hello to everyone in the forum. I have recently bought a gouldian pair from a breeder in Florida. They arrived on USPS and immediately I put them on a course of pedialyte , eggfood, seedmix, spray millet and a heat lamp.I also put multivitamins in their water after 2 days. The male gouldian has recovered and has been singing for a week now but the female has been showing signs of lethargy. I quarantined them in my bedroom so I could observe them and away from my stars and black cheeks. The female looks grubby and puffed up. I have attached some photos. At first I thought that the stress induced a molt with her but i also suspect Polyomavirus (Please note the face and the wing. Can somebody please confirm this with me? I have as part quarantine given scatt so i dont know any other reason for the bad feathering. Poop is normal.I am nowhere near an avian vet. Am I worried over nothing- she is molting , has an overgrown beak and I am just new to gouldians? Thank you for all the help.

Re: Please hep diagnosing

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 5:29 am
by monotwine
Ram Hi. I'd not suspect anything like Polyomavirus based on your pictures, but then you cannot confirm it by pictures alone. Samples would have to be sent to a lab by your vet to confirm it.
As the poor feathering seems to be only on top of wings it could just be it got damaged during transport or catching up. Or from flying too close to the cage wire.

If she were mine, I'd trim her beak and supply her with a little extra heat to help her during her moult.
The usual good food etc you are providing will help her grow nice new feathers.
Some Gouldian are prone to illness during moult and need a little more pampering than others. Just watch her closely and if she displays any signs of major illness, e.g. runny poop or fluffed for too long, then take it from there.
The transporting and begin of the moult may just have been a little too stressful for her.

Do you know if she was due to moult now or not?

Hopefully others with more experience will chime in soon too.

Re: Please hep diagnosing

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:22 am
by finchandlovebird
Good luck with her. From the look of the beak, I would guess she's possibly NOT a young bird. Don't like the look of feathers missing on her wings, but it could be something as Monotwine mentions.
What statistics on the birds did you get from the seller?

Re: Please hep diagnosing

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 2:33 pm
by Ram
Hi to everyone and thanks for the replies. The seller did not answer when I asked him about the age of the birds. He sent pictures of them close up but I did not see that the beak was elongated or that the wings were banged up. The gouldian male with her is not in molt. Vets we have here are in small animal practice but the one I go to is old and is not an avian expert. If She gets worse I will have to rely on him for the lab work.

She is still the same however. I am offering a lot of good food and warmth. I hope she recovers.

Thanks again.

Re: Please hep diagnosing

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 3:24 pm
by Sally
As monotwine has already said, polyoma virus can only be confirmed by lab work, a vet would need to send a blood sample in to a lab. I am surprised a breeder would ship a bird with such an elongated beak, as it is easily trimmed before hand. Shipping is hard on birds, so if they aren't in optimum health when shipped, they can quickly become ill once they arrive at their destination. As others have said, warmth, good food, and close observation are about all you can do for the moment.

I wanted to welcome you to the forum, though it is not under the best of circumstances. There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on diet and especially the Gouldian finch. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer locale-specific questions later on.

Re: Please hep diagnosing

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:20 pm
by Ram
Thank you Sally .I have always read your posts and I appreciate your welcome.

Re: Please hep diagnosing

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2014 10:11 am
by monotwine
Hi Ram, sorry I didn't see you were new to the forum.
A belated warm WELCOME!

Re: Please hep diagnosing

Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2014 1:14 pm
by Ram
Thank You so much!