Sudden death - what happened?

LD · Post by LD » Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:10 am

I bought a pair of conbassous a week and a half ago and everything was going just fine until I find them both dead on the floor this morning - what the heck? They were fine yesterday! Obviously I must have broken some cardinal finch rule here, how could it be that 2 die in the same night with no visible signs of injury or disease?

I had them housed in a very large cage, probably 4 ft across, 3-4 ft high and 2 feet deep. They lived with a pair of Lavender waxbills and they all didnt seem to mind eachother at all. They had several nests, 2 food bowls with a seed mix and mealworms, a little dish with grit, and a shallow dish of water (perches too, of course). I cant figure out what happened, nothing in the environment changed, no fumes or anything, nothing out of the ordinary at all. I'm very disappointed. I would appreciate any thoughts anyone has, I do not want this to happen again.

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:37 am

Unfortunately this happens...very often stress from the move.Some birds handle it better than others,Gouldians are prone to this and can just drop dead after being transferred from one cage to another.
If you can find no definite reason I think you will find stress is the culprit...these little creatures are so much more sensitive than us.
Paul.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:32 pm

Very sorry for your loss, what kind of finches were they?

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 4:46 pm

True this does happen, I sold a pair of zebras to one of my wife's co-workers and about 2 weeks later they both died on the same day without reason. Sorry for your loss though. Do you plan to get more?

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:01 pm

Sorry for your loss. Did they perhaps get frightened at night ?
What kind of birds were they? I haven't hear of this breed.

Geordie · Post by **Geordie** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:56 pm

Finches are extremely good at hiding their ailments, they can go for weeks and even months without letting on that there is a problem and suddenly...

For the future, regular health checks are just as important to the birds as they are to us, my birds have a thorough health check every 3 months to be on the safe side.

When I first got Raff he was only a few weeks old, he fell off his perch one day and didn't move, I rushed him to the vet and we found out that he had mold, he almost died, spent 3 days in intensive care but pulled through so now I don't take any chances with their health even if they appear fine.

LD · Post by LD » Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:21 am

They were Senegal Combassous and theres practically no information available on them over the internet.

There shouldnt have been anything at night that scared them, but who knows?

Thankfully the lavenders are still doing fine, I guess I'll just keep them and be happy with it.

I dont know that I would be able to find another pair, and honestly I wouldnt bother right now. Maybe I'll get a different species in the future.. I dont know. What a bummer..

Post by **Sally** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 10:52 pm

So sorry for your loss. Don't feel like you did anything wrong, or broke some rule--it is the down side of keeping finches that they are not as hardy as some of our more domesticated birds, like parakeets. As Paul said, stress is hard on them. It is possible that the birds you got were wild caught. If so, they have had the trauma of being caught, shipped to the US, quarantined, medicated--it is a wonder any of them survive all this. I believe stress is one of the big killers of our finches--stress of weaning, molting, being moved, changing cagemates, and on and on.

I also believe this species is one of the more uncommon ones in the US, and one of the reasons for a species to be uncommon is that it is more difficult to keep. Don't give up on finches, there are many lovely species that are not too difficult to maintain.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:08 pm

conbassous can anyone tell what kind of bird this is thanks

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:46 am

B CAMP wrote:conbassous can anyone tell what kind of bird this is thanks

http://www.oiseaux.net/oiseaux/photos/c ... negal.html

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Sudden death - what happened?

Sudden death - what happened?

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