New Zebra Finch - Small amounts of blood on perch
Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 5:52 pm
A couple of weeks ago I picked up two new Zebra Finches from PetCo after losing one several weeks back. Everything has been going great so far, they appear to be content and get along with each other in the same cage. However, yesterday I noticed a very small amount of blood in several places on their perches. It's not anywhere near an alarming amount, but I still don't like knowing that one of them has been bleeding for whatever reason. I have no idea what could have happened.
From what I've seen, they both get along very well ( their names are Sandy and Sophie by the way ) and there is no visible damage on either of them. The only thing I've got to go on is that Sandy's vent/cloaca area ( still an amateur at bird caring so I might have the names wrong, but basically her " bottom " where the eggs come out and all that jazz ) appears to be a bit pinkish-red. Not bright, not dark, and it might just be her skin showing through the feathers. But compared to Sophie, and my other bird Melody as well, I can't see either of their vents because their feathers block them but they're typically visibly clean. I don't know if this is just the way she is and her feathers are a little patchy around hers or what.
Neither of them have laid any eggs yet but I can tell they're in a nesting mood with the way they've been trying to tear the paper towel up from their cage floor. I'm trying to not encourage this behavior because I don't want them getting all territorial and aggressive with each other like my other birds have in the past. I don't know if the egg laying is relevant or not, but I figured it was worth mentioning. They're obviously both pretty young still, but I suspect it will start happening any day regardless of a nest.
Overall they both seem healthy. They move around a lot - eat, drink, bathe, go up and down their perches, etc. I noticed that Sandy fluffs her feathers more often than Sophie, and she seems to have some ruffled patches on both sides of her ( not all over, just small patches by her wings. )
So I don't know what to do really. Should I just keep an eye on things? Contact the vet? I tried pretty hard to get some pictures but they really don't like my camera. Something about it just freaks them out. The best I could do is just get a good look from underneath when they stand still for 5 seconds. I didn't see blood on either of them, just the slightly patchy and pink vent area on Sandy.
From what I've seen, they both get along very well ( their names are Sandy and Sophie by the way ) and there is no visible damage on either of them. The only thing I've got to go on is that Sandy's vent/cloaca area ( still an amateur at bird caring so I might have the names wrong, but basically her " bottom " where the eggs come out and all that jazz ) appears to be a bit pinkish-red. Not bright, not dark, and it might just be her skin showing through the feathers. But compared to Sophie, and my other bird Melody as well, I can't see either of their vents because their feathers block them but they're typically visibly clean. I don't know if this is just the way she is and her feathers are a little patchy around hers or what.
Neither of them have laid any eggs yet but I can tell they're in a nesting mood with the way they've been trying to tear the paper towel up from their cage floor. I'm trying to not encourage this behavior because I don't want them getting all territorial and aggressive with each other like my other birds have in the past. I don't know if the egg laying is relevant or not, but I figured it was worth mentioning. They're obviously both pretty young still, but I suspect it will start happening any day regardless of a nest.
Overall they both seem healthy. They move around a lot - eat, drink, bathe, go up and down their perches, etc. I noticed that Sandy fluffs her feathers more often than Sophie, and she seems to have some ruffled patches on both sides of her ( not all over, just small patches by her wings. )
So I don't know what to do really. Should I just keep an eye on things? Contact the vet? I tried pretty hard to get some pictures but they really don't like my camera. Something about it just freaks them out. The best I could do is just get a good look from underneath when they stand still for 5 seconds. I didn't see blood on either of them, just the slightly patchy and pink vent area on Sandy.