Sick finch *updated, please help!*

[sunny]

Hello,

My little finch has been sick for about a week now. He is very quiet (he usually is always chirping/squeaking), sleeps all day and buries his head in this feathers. He has a "wet vent" but is still eating and drinking.

Today we moved him into a separate cage and put him in the living room where we have a fire place (he's not too close to the fireplace, probably about 12 feet away). Within a few hours he started to look a bit better was was chirping/squeaking a bit. However, he's still burying his head in his feathers, which is something I never really saw him do until he got sick.

Any suggestions what I can do, or give him to make him get better?

Thanks!
This is what he keeps doing
Blurry, but it's still cute!

[Sally]

If he has a wet vent and sleeps most of the day, it sounds like he may have a protozoal or fungal infection. The first thing I would do is get a heat lamp on him. You can put a normal 60w bulb in a gooseneck desk lamp, and put it next to the cage aimed at one end of a perch. If you have Ronivet or any of its variations, that is a very safe treatment. You won't find it in a petstore normally, have to order it online.

If you will fill in your profile to include your location, it will help people advise you where to get meds, etc.

[Nagdabit]

Quite a striking pied you have there. If he's lethargic and has a wet vent, he's definitely going to need meds of some sort. Unfortunately it can be a bit of a guessing game in trying to narrow down the specific cause and then treatment. Sally has given you some very good suggestions, but please don't wait too long. We just lost a little girl with similar symptoms. Just weren't able to figure out the right combination in time.

[sunny]

Thanks very much for your advice! I will get some medication for him today. I just wish we realized he was sick earlier My parents thought he was just molting and that's why he was always sleeping. It's probably been closer to two weeks that he's been ill, I hope he will be okay

Since he started chirping today must mean he's getting better, right? I feel so bad that he is sick!

[Nagdabit]

Yes if he's more vocal than there is some improvement. Heat will do that, as was recently covered in another thread, a sick bird can expend a lot of energy trying to maintain body temp. Heat will allow him to divert those resources elsewhere. But if he's is fighting off some type of invasion, the energy saved will soon be used up as he gets progressively worse. Hence the reason why you need to get something else involved to help fight it off. Just didn't want you to get lulled into a false sense of security because he might seem to be making improvements under a heat source.

[lovemyfinch]

He is a little cutie...prayers are with you.

[CandoAviary]

Hope your pied cutie is feeling better soon.

[sunny]

So my poor little bird is getting worse
This is the medication we were giving him. He drank it for 5 days and then we bought another bottle and now he's on day 7 of the meds. He seemed to be getting better - he was chirping and eating and his stools were no longer loose. But he is still sleeping a lot burying his head in his wing and today he was stumbling around. My step mom said that he was standing on a perch and fell off And then both of my parents said that when he was drinking he fell over. Poor guy. I feel so bad.
Is there anything else we can do? Do these symptoms sound familiar to anyone?

[JohnBoy]

Marvel aid probably isn't as strong as the bird needs at this time. You need to get a hold of of one of the newer remedies that can kill todays bacterias. You need to get some Amoxitex or something similar. I recommend you purchase this or similar so you will be ready if this happens again.

Good luck. He is an attractive, unusual bird.

[Nagdabit]

Would agree with John, sounds like he needs a stronger antibiotic. The marvel aid might have helped initially but the infection most likely built up an immunity to it pretty quickly, rendering it ineffective. If and when you get something stronger you might want to give the first few doses directly in his beak. Time is of the essence is he's progressed to this point.

[sunny]

He's gotten progressively worse He's doing that "stargazing/twirling" thing and it's so scary to watch. I can't stop shaking because I feel so bad. Is there anything we can do for him? We took the perches and food dishes out of the cage so he wouldn't hurt himself. On the floor of the cage we put a soft, thin blanket and some seeds in the corner. How long will this last? Will he just eventually die? Do you think he is in pain? What should we do?

[L in Ontario]

There is good advice above with the heatlamp and stronger meds. Make him as comfortable as you can with those. Sometimes there is nothing we can do. Good luck.

[dfcauley]

Gosh... so sorry for your difficult time. It is very hard to watch something like this happen. It sounds as if it has gotten to a no return point.
I would put a little towel over it's cage and try to just keep it was warm as possible. Also that way you don't have to watch it as I know this is very difficult.

Again so sorry and please keep us posted.

[sunny]

He just died And the weird thing is that today is the one year anniversary of my grandmother's death, and she loved our little birds. Henry (that is his name) was special because was the littlest and most friendly of our three birds (we also have 2 canaries). He was so cute and just amazing. We never had birds before, we got these birds from a friend's friend who was moving and didn't want them anymore, and the he guy was about the let them out into the wild So we adopted them.

We always provided our birds with pieces and grass and little sticks and other material from our yard and Henry made the most amazing nests with it - it was nothing like we ever saw before. Even when his "brothers" (the canaries) would wreck his nests, he would keep on working, he was a hard little worker He was best buddies with one of the canaries, the two of them would sit close on the perches and cuddle with each other, and take baths together, it was the cutest thing! I really wish I took more pics of him. Other than the two I posted, I didn't take any more and now I really regret it
And last night our cat (the birds other big brother, lol) slept all night under Henry's cage, it's like the cat knew Henry was going to pass.

Thanks for all of your help, it was very appreciated.

[L in Ontario]

Aww very sorry to hear he has passed on now but sometimes it's for the best - as hard as it is for us to accept. He certainly had the best life had to offer while with you and his 'brothers'. Fly high and free Henry! You will be missed.