FINCHforum

Noticed one of the zebra finches in my aviary was opening and closing her beak all the time and breathing looked a little heavy so put her in a cage in the house so I could medicate with Ornicure because thought it was respiratory, she has been on ornicure since saturday but no improvement, I have also noticed she does not make any sound not even when she hears the others, she also had a small spot of blood on the edge of her beak when I first brought her but that has now gone.

I also noticed that although she has been opening and closing her beak all day long tonight when I looked at her without her seeing me she was not opening her beak so I am now totally confused because I am sure in the morning we will be back to opening it again.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

If you will change your profile to show where you are located, it helps in answering questions. I'm not familiar with Ornicure, is that an antibiotic? Is she eating and drinking well? I can't help you with diagnosing her, but I would put a heat lamp or even just a normal lamp to give her a little warmer temps and see if that helps.

The same thing happened to one of my female zebra finches back on January..... I took her to the vet and treated w/ Iverlux for air sac mites, then Baytril (antibiotics). But nothing worked..... she was breathing harder and harder, lost her voice completely, and passed away....

I got some responses from others about the possible illness. One says that it could be dead mites still remained in air sacs and cause infection. One said that This could be a fungal disease. Fungal granulomas can cause voice change because they love to grow near the lung...Antibiotics do NOt work, because fungi are not bacteria.

I think it was more likely FUngal disease. The vet couldn't really tell what was wrong.

Nothing to worry about. Zebras open and close their mouths when they are being territorial or in breeding mode etc. They cant raise up their fists like humans to indicate they want to fight/defend, so they open their mouths and just cock their head to the side and stare you with one eye. Honestly, nothing is wrong, all he/she is saying is.. GET OUT OF HERE.. MY SPACE. Thats all.

Also, if you put your hand in the cage or they got scared or something, they may do that as well.

As for the one that died, i am 99% confident the death and open mouth were unrelated. She may have been stressed from an underlying issue that caused her to get nervous around you and be defensive when you looked at her.

If it is normal why has she lost her voice because she has not made any sound for over two weeks now ?

Are you sure that she's not been moved a step down the pecking order by the other birds? The spot of blood could have been from an altercation and the beak opening may be stress/defensiveness. The lack of noise may not be her losing her voice but rather also a reaction to being picked on ("make myself small and quiet and they won't notice"). I'd watch their behavior and see how she's interacting with the others.

It cannot be she is being picked on because when I noticed she had a problem I took her out of the aviary and put her in a cage in the house so she is on her own so should be making some noise.

Some birds just don't. It depends on the individual and the circumstances. Have you tried putting her back with the other birds yet? How is her eating and her weight?

No I have not put her back with the others because it is easier to medicate her on her own, she is eating well and flying around her little cage so looks ok apart from the heavy breathing and beak.

in unusually hot weather a bird will open & close its beak in the way you describe as a means of trying to cool down

The trouble is she does it all the time even when it is not hot so it is definately not to do with heat and she does it when she cannot see me so it is not stress either !!