FINCHforum

I have had 2 female zebra finches (Snowflake and Mocha) for around 11-12 months now, but around a week ago Mocha had starting showing signs of being ill. I first noticed that she was not eating nearly enough as she used to (she was always a chunky little thing, and Snowflake was naturally slim), so one morning I put some millet into their cage to see if she would eat. A few minutes later she began to throw up and got incredibly lethargic; puffing up, head under her wing and barely moving at all. This was my first time dealing with a sick bird, and I read that adding apple cider vinegar to birds' water helps with vomiting in case it has something to do with yeast. I also noticed that she had lost a lot of weight due to not eating (she was much thinner than Snowflake at this point), so I separated her into a heated hospital cage with eggfood and added ACV to her water. I also bought a new brand of food just in case the previous one was making her sick, and within 1-2 days she was almost completely back to her normal self (she was eating again though still pretty thin).

Suddenly yesterday she begun throwing up again and has not seemed to gain any weight back at all. At first I thought it was a yeast infection so I continued to give her ACV, but she doesn't seem to be getting any better and now I am scared it might be some sort intestinal parasite. Her vent isn't wet or dirty, but I noticed her droppings lately have been watery and unusually green with some slight diarrhea, though not often. She goes through phases where she is active and eating to suddenly going limp and tired on the bottom of the hospital cage. There are no avian vets in my area, but I have ordered treatment for Coccidiosis which will arrive tomorrow since she seems to be showing all of the symptoms.

I have kept both the main and hospital cages very clean, and the other female doesn't seem to be showing any ill symptoms whatsoever, only some depression since she was separated from her friend. I have no idea what could've caused the other female to get sick, the only thing I can think of is that I recently starting giving them some mixed veggies which ended up having bacteria on them (though shouldn't the other female have gotten sick too?). At this point I'm 90% sure Mocha has Coccidiosis, though without a vet diagnosis I can't be completely positive.

I would appreciate any thoughts or opinions if anyone has had similar experiences with their finches, and if I should go ahead and treat the other healthy female too. I hate to see her suffering like this, and I feel almost helpless since there's not much else I can do

It does sound like her symptoms match those listed here for coccidiosis. I don't have experience with this, so can't help much. I would think both birds would need to be treated though, since it is contagious.

https://ladygouldian.com/Morning-Bird-Cocci-Care

What medications did you order for her?

https://ladygouldian.com/Trimethoprim-Sulfa-For-Birds

Trimethoprim Sulfa from Ladygouldian. I figured it would be useless to buy a preventative for Coccidiosis if she was already infected, so I ordered the actual treatment. It still has yet to arrive but hopefully it should come today or tomorrow (I misunderstood the delivery date,
woops)

Yesterday Mocha threw up 3 times in the morning and was feeling pretty miserable, but today she is eating and hasn't thrown up yet so I'm hoping she's having a good day since it is Christmas after all.

I hope you and your feathered friends have a Happy Holidays!

Often you will see yeasts develop as a secondary illness, it is opportunistic and when the body is weakened it can take hold as well.

with the Tri-sulfa you can add ACV to it... for sick birds they recommend 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons per gallon of water. I found the 2 tbsp. to be too strong and most birds will not drink it....1 1/2 the birds accept it (I use it once or twice a week as a preventative). You can adjust the ACV amount to the amount of water you are using to mix the tri-sulfa.

If the birds do not improve in say 3 to 4 days you may be dealing with another issue.

Are they by chance doing a motion like they are trying to clear their throats, like something is stuck, they open the beak wide and shake their heads, beak wiping, nay yellow cheesy looking deposits in the mouth?

I have been giving her ACV since I noticed she was sick, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to combine the ACV and medication together so thank you for letting me know.

When she was throwing up she was shaking her head rapidly from side to side, followed by seeds and some sort of mucus getting flung across the cage. I hadn't noticed any sort of yellow crustiness or deposits around her beak, though she does only seem to regurgitate in the mornings and is fine for the rest of the day.

Yesterday she did the head movement once in the morning but didn't seem to be throwing up anything, so I'm assuming she just had something in her throat. She was much more active yesterday than the day before, and is even starting to have some bursts of energy to play around for a few minutes then go back to resting. I'll continue giving her the ACV and start her on the medication today once it arrives, and I'll be sure to keep you updated on how she is doing

This could also be AGY http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/yeast.html

If you do have a vet they can do a test on her to confirm what she actually has.

http://www.nilesanimalhospital.com/file ... -Yeast.pdf