FINCHforum

I’m a recent owner of a lady gouldian finch and she had air sac mites, a respiratory infection, and parasite in stool testing... now these white specs, and Noticed and pointed out to vet and was told that was nasal discharge from infection, but she seems better but these flecks are getting more in quantity. External mites? Lice? Molting? I would appreciate any input from you experience percent. Thank you very much.

The white specs are new pinfeathers, it's concerning a vet wouldn't know that off the bat.
The tuft on her head looks like loose feathers, which you can probably pick right off.

JAX Sheather

Vet said "nasal discharge " for pinfeathers in a normal molt?

I just woke up and that made me put my head on my desk and blink slowly for a few minutes.

She will get more pinfeathers and molt every year to keep her feathers nice and new. And it's completely normal.

Heres a pic of my boy Merlin going through a pretty hard molt.

Sheather thank you!

Sheather, Thank you so much for your information. The first veterinarian told me it was nasal discharge. But she didn’t have that much at that time. I’m going to try to take those feathers off the back of her head tomorrow. I’ve tried three different bath tubs for her and she still hasn’t taken a bath. Any suggestions?

Sheather i’m not sure how to use this system, my apologies. Thank you Dylan, as well.

JAX

You are using the Forum just right, so no worries.

Yes, your girl is molting which is very normal. If I were you, I would order some Feather Fast, and use some of it according to the instructions. It will do wonder for your bird's feathers and will help her molt faster and into better feather condition.

How did your Vet treat the Feather mites? Is this an Avian Vet? I ask, because many Vets (even some Avian Vets), are not familiar dealing with Finches.

Here are a couple of pictures of my birds during molt and after molt. As you can see there is quite a difference and it's not nasal discharge, lol.

Thank you, Elana.
The first vet didn’t address it. Other than to say was nasal discharge. He was not an avian vet. He gave me anabiotic for a respiratory infection. The second vet was an avian vet and gave me a prescription of ivermectin for the air sac mites, an antibiotic for the respiratory infection, and an antibiotic for a parasite that was found in her stool sample. I explained to her that I don’t know much about birds. I have four dogs and a cat. She looked at the road and the because white spots or lines across it. The because black and they’re white lines are crossed that that almost look like ridges. She try to scrape that a little bit with her fingernail, but didn’t mention much about it. She told me if the mites did not care to come back for more. She told me to treat three days in a row. I treated two days because I was scared from everything I read, and then in 14 days I gave one day, this was in her drinking water, figuring if I needed more like the vet said I could call her and get more. The bird is doing much better, I was just concerned about those white things. I am going to look into purchasing what you say. Your birds are beautiful. Any information you can share as far as nutrients, feeding, I’m reading contradictory things about what fruits and vegetables, if any I should give her. I asked the vet about that and she said for right now if you had her this organic well it kind of food, which the bird did not like. I went back and bought another round of food, a very good brand and she’s eating that without a problem, but I just want to make sure she has around a diet. Anything you could share in this regard would very much be appreciated, considering your expertise, as well as the others in the group. Thank you so much for your time and concern.

JAX

Hi Jax,

Glad to hear that your girl is doing better.

Scatt, and ( Iverlux and S76 same thing basically will get rid of the airsac mites).
Scatt, goes directly on the skin on back of neck (one drop) to be repeated after 21 days, total of twice. S76 and or Iverlux go into the bird's drinking water as per instructions.

As to the antibiotics, I would follow your avian Vet's instructions.

Regarding diet:

I feed a good quality Finch seed mix, equally mixed with good quality Canary seed mix, and spray millet.

As to veggies, I feed a great variety of greens and veggies (my birds eat better than me) which some people shake their heads at.

Romain, broccoli, cucumbers, kale, mixed spring greens, grated carrots, red swiss chard, beet greens, carrot tops, dandilion greens and chick weed in Spring and Summer, spinach (in moderation) grated beets (in moderation), peas, parsly, corn on the cob (or frozen and thawed and warmed up a bit), etc.

When it comes to fruits, Gouldians are not too keen on them, but you could try a slice of orange cut across, which my Gouldians guys seem to enjoy.

Now I am feeding around a 100 birds, so I buy a lot of greens and veggies. You don't need to rush out and buy everything on this list, lol. I would start with a small container of mixed Spring greens, wash it very well, chop some up and see what she likes. If she's not used to any veggies, she may be reluctant to try, but don't give up, eventually she will try, maybe sprinkle some crumbled spray millet on the mixture to tempt her.

I would also introduce some hard boiled egg into her diet 2 times a week. It is a wonderful source of protein (which seed diets alone do not supply), and vit D and many other healthy nutrients). The shells can be crushed and offered as well for calcium, along with a nice oyster shell or mineral grit.

I would also recommend cuttle bone, a mineral block, and an iodine block for her cage.

Good luck, and I honestly don't have that much expertise, just things I have learned over years, on this Forum, and by trial and error.... .

Here are some of my guys enjoying the salad bar....

Thank you!! Those are beautiful birds and I love the spread, the salad bar, LOL. I’m shopping right now online for a bigger cage that she could move around in. I’m seeing a finch cage with 3/7 inch space between bars , But I’m reading about how little birds can get their head and wings stuck in the bars and get hurt. I would think that’s a rare thing, but I’m trying to read up and make sure I get the right cage for her.

JAX

I would recommend 1/2 inch spacing for most Finches, and 3/8 inch for the smaller Waxbills.

Anything wider than that, and they can and will squeeze out between the bars.