Help needed, Finch in shock....

[finchy]

Hello all, sad first post for me, I need your help.

My little female White Zebra was startled tonight and scrambled off her perch. Alot of her long tail feathers seem to have been caught in the cage wire and she is now very unhappy. There is some bleeding from the pulled feathers, but more than that she seems to be in shock.

I've put her in a box with food, water and a comfy floor in a warm room, but what else should I do? Sorry, i'm a finch noob It's nearly midnight here so I can't contact a vet and thought you guys may be able to help.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do urgently, thanks. I don't want to lose her.

[Crystal]

Without access to a vet, you're already doing the best you can do. Keeping her in a dark, quiet place so she can remain calm is a good move.

Let us know if she pulls through.

Good luck.

[finchy]

She didn't make it i'm afraid

All through the night she was moving around in the box, so I thought she would be OK. Still there first thing this morning so was going to get to a VET, but then she died a little later.

[tammieb]

Sorry to hear your hen died.

You said there was bleeding. How bad was it?

[finchy]

There were just a few spots last night, from where the tail feathers had come out, but it appears there was more damage under the wing that I did not originally see.

Looks like the poor thing had her wing and tail caught when she got a fright. Three of my finches (now two ) perch on the water container that hangs on the front of the cage at night, she must have been right up against the wire.

I don't know why they perch on that tiny little plastic rim (at night only, they use other perches during the day). There's a myriad of perches of different materials, and a great swing that they can all sit on that I would have thought would be more comfortable.

Thanks for your words.

finchy.

[tammieb]

Sometimes they choose the oddest places to roost. Perhaps this water container was a subsitute nest. Even though they couldn't sit in it, it maybe seemed to them to be the safest place to sleep.

Do you have a night light in the room for them? Just a small bit of light to prevent them from crashing about in the dark.

[finchy]

Sometimes they choose the oddest places to roost. Perhaps this water container was a subsitute nest. Even though they couldn't sit in it, it maybe seemed to them to be the safest place to sleep.

Do you have a night light in the room for them? Just a small bit of light to prevent them from crashing about in the dark.

I've been thinking about putting in some nesting baskets in the hope they might sleep there, but I don't want to encourage them to breed, would that be a good idea? The other two zebras roost IN their feed container, so I want to discourage that aswell!

Regarding the night light, no there isn't at the moment. I was actually thinking about that before and was coming on to this site and the finchinfo site to do some research, when I saw your post. I'm going to put something in place ASAP.

Thanks for your help/suggestions.

I'm still learning this stuff, the birds were given to me (in a small cage with 6 birds in it which wasn't very good for them, so i'm improving everything for them bit by bit).

[tammieb]

Yes, adding a nest will encourage them to breed. Zebras need very little to get them in the mood. That's why they are good birds for newbies.

Instead of a nest you might try a "sundeck". It's a wire platform about 3 x 4" that hangs from the bars of the cage. You might be able to find them at your local petstore. If not, I know they can be purchased via the internet. They look like this,

It's great that you are willing to do some research in order to give your birds the best care possible. Many people never bother so their birds suffer needlessly.