Please advise!

KristenDavis · Post by **KristenDavis** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:38 pm

I am a very new bird owner, I have 2 society finches purchased from a local pet shop- the first 2 I purchased from this store passed away within 72 hours. The female still looks great!

Anyway, the male has completly lost all the feathers on his chest, and his long tail feathers, however this does not look like a typical molt. When he turns his head to the side there is like a cluster of warty-looking masses in his neck area. He is acting fine and chirping up a storm!

I have tried seaching for any information, please advise!! I really love these little birds and I don't want anything to happen with them.

Finch Fry · Post by **Finch Fry** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:16 am

Umm... to be honest, my course of action would be taking the dead birds back to the store and being like..give me my @#$%@# money back. Now that you have a new set, I would take him back and again ask for your money back and then hope he lets you keep this poor little unhealthy male and hopefully nurse him back to health.

I would NEVER buy from there again. Clearly they are selling birds in poor health. What was your impression of the pet shop, were the birds in a poop infested cage, did it smell funny, where they packed tighly in a small cage and were they all pecking each other.

Gosh, this kind of treatment pisses me off. Sounds just like a piece of crap pet shop selling unhealthy birds.

As for the masses on its neck, i don't know what to tell you. Never heard of this kind of thing before. The basic bird treatment is to quarantine, give him heat and high humidity and pray. I don't think this applies. I hope someone that has any experience with this kind of stuff offers up an idea or solution.

Post by **Sally** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:07 am

First thing is to try to figure out what happened to the first two birds you bought from the store. Did they appear ill before dying, or were they suddenly just dead on the floor of the cage. Did both birds die about the same time? Were the conditions in the pet shop really bad? Is the pet shop willing to work with you to try to figure out what is going on?

It is unusual to lose two birds at the same time, so you always have to try to find out the cause. Could it be that they were not used to your water drinker? When getting new birds, they can sometimes either dehydrate or starve to death, just because they aren't used to our tubes. It is best to offer new birds open dishes of both food and water.

With the second pair of birds, it would not be a molt--Societies don't molt in this fashion. Bare areas are usually the result of feather plucking, either by another bird, or by the male himself. Is there a nest in the cage? Nesting materials? Birds will pluck others or themselves for nesting material, especially when there is nothing else available.

The warty-looking masses in his neck most likely are his crop. We just don't normally see the crop, as it is covered up with feathers, so when it is exposed, it looks very abnormal. A photo would confirm whether it is indeed just the crop, or something else going on.

I hope you can find out what is going on. It is sometimes so difficult to tell when finches are ill, they hide it very well. And it is discouraging to be off to such a difficult start to your finch-keeping hobby. Please keep us posted as to what you find out.

Also, be sure to read the articles at the Finch Information Center, linked at left--it is a gold mine of information. And welcome to the forum.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:14 am

Welcome to the foum. Sally has give you excellent advice. I am sorry that you are having such a difficult time with your first finches. They are such a joy. Do not give up they are worth the trouble!

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 9:57 am

Hi and welcome to the Finch forum. I agree with Sally about the 'warty area near the neck' being their crop which is usually hidden. Hope all your birds are okay this time. Sorry about those losses but hopefully you can get a refund on those.

Rayray · Post by **Rayray** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:26 am

Listen to Sally ..... so right !!

Ray

franny · Post by **franny** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:52 pm

I lost 4 birds like that, which I bought from a breeder. So it goes to show, pet store or breeder, sometimes you can get either a sick bird, or a bird not fully weaned, from anyone. Looking back I think my societies were just very young. And as Sally suggested, they maybe didn't find the water/food and just died of thirst. It can happen very quickly (mine died on the 2nd day, if I recall. ) Took the first pair back. He gave me a second pair, and they died as well. Needless to say, I was devistated!

But I was certain I'd provided all that the birds needed. I went to a pet store and got another pair, and they had been at the pet store for some time. Obviously fully weaned, and these ones survived for years! So hang in there. Next time provide water in a tube feeder AND a dish, and the same for seed, just in case. And yes, the warty thing on the neck sounds to me like it's perfectly normal (the crop). It SHOULD look full and lumpy, if the bird is getting enough food.

Welcome, and good luck with this guy. Hope you can get him a healthy mate. If you get another bird, just don't put the two in the same cage together, until you've had them both for about a month, and they both are still healthy.

KristenDavis · Post by **KristenDavis** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:40 pm

Thanks for the great advise. Actually, these birds I have now are Zebra finches, the previous ones that died were the society. They were sick from the time I got them home, unfortunitly I just thought maybe they were in shock. They wern't flying right, and a few other things. I purchased them at Petsmart, I could have taken them back but I just didn't. I really don't know why.

I did purchase some nesting material today, maybe that will help.

Thanks for the great advice!

BillD · Post by **BillD** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:45 pm

Kristen..

If you could put your location information on your profile, I think you would find a lot of people in your area that would be more than willing to help you.

Please ask questions.. and look at the Finch Information Center.

I'm a novice, but I've found a lot of great advice here.

Post by **Sally** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 2:50 am

Oops, I just assumed the second pair were also Societies. Too bad you didn't take the first pair back to PetsMart, they do have a 14-day guarantee on their birds. And it is never a good idea to buy birds that don't look well, unless they are just so cheap (like free) you can't afford to pass them up, and then they have to go thru an extra-long (30-60 days) quarantine if you have other birds. Birds do go thru some shock and adjustment when you buy them, so if they are ill to start with, they often won't make it thru the move to your house.

The second pair being Zebras explains the feather-plucking, they are more prone to doing it than most other species. And if you have a male/female pair, and you give them a nest and nesting material, you will have to start thinking about what you are going to do with the babies, as they will reproduce, like rabbits in fact!