FINCHforum

Hi all!

I have 2 male finches and noticed one (Pumpkin) fell off his perch a lot. He seemed well in himself, vet said he had probably hurt his leg or wing and to give him cage rest for a while.

I noticed him falling more and more off his perch so made him a nest which he and his pal (Shadow) loved. However, I have since put Pumpkin in my small hospital cage because I have noticed that sometimes when he falls he can roll all the way onto his back, stagger (like he is drunk) and sometimes kind of jump rapidly. He does have problems getting about the cage but does eat and drink normally even though he falls in his food. He pretty much stays in his nest, only coming out for food and water and if he does fall off his perch it can take him a few goes to get back up.

I did wonder if he has stargazing as he fits the bad coordination but his head is not how a stargazing birds would be. If its not stargazing what could it be?

I have considered euthanasia but would hate to do this if what he has can be cured. I feel my vet is useless and I have no avian vet in my area. Really upset and worried about my little Pumpkin

That is very interesting i don't know if i have ever heard of this before. Is he old? i know old birds sometimes have balance issues. I have also seen other finches that have had internal health issues that have gotten severe and it had effected the way they could sit on the perch. Does he seem to be favoring a foot at all? or does he have a hard time flying?

halfinched

Not a Vet, but just tossing ideas around inside of my head......
Found something here and wondering if it could be the problem (?)

https://www.vetsecure.com/willingborove ... ticles/134

Thanks for your replies.

Pumpkin is approx 5ish years of age.

I couldn't be 100% sure he favours one foot/leg over the other but if I was to guess he may roll to the right more if that makes sense? So does that mean he favours the left or right? He doesn't really fly, when he falls off his perch he can flap but not sure if he cant get the lift off because of his leg(s) or he just can't fly :/

Thank you for the link, the only symptoms he has is the rolling and in-coordination, I have looked at him and wouldn't say his eyes are rapid and I'm pretty sure he hasn't vomited and his head doesn't tilt but maybe he doesn't need all the symptoms?

He still has some feist in him, so he's not just given up I don't think.

halfinched

I forgot to ask, but what type of Finch is Pumpkin?

He's a Zebra finch

According to a quick google a zeb finch lifespan is 5-9 years so he may be feeling the effects of old age

Aww that's really sad but glad it *may* not be illness or injury but I will try and make him as comfortable as possible and keep a close eye on him and see what happens.

Would anyone recommend rearranging his old larger cage to make things lower rather than having him in the small hospital cage?

Thanks everyone for your help

Rearrangeing his old larger cage to make it more convenient for him to get around sounds like a good idea. Also, you mentioned he had a companion, so you might put them back together.