I got a gouldian..

[Stine]

Hello finch people!
I'm a new gouldian owner and looking for some advice.. I've had budgies for more than a decade, button quail for a couple of years, got a pair of zebra finches about a year ago - and then I started working at a pet shop about half a year ago.
Someone called the pet shop asking if we could take in a female canary they'd developed an allergy to and as we just happened to have canaries in the shop I said yes. Anyway, they came with this 'canary' on a day where I was not there, but one of my colleagues very quickly determined "that's not a canary, that's a gouldian finch".
The poor bird was in a 40 cm cage with poop all over the branches and algae in the water tube. We've never had gouldians at the shop but I've had a personal interest in them for a while, so I brought the little thing home.
It hasn't even molted out of its baby feathers yet, so I'm pretty certain it's less than 6 months old. Actually it only has about 4 feathers in total that look like they belong to its adult plumage - 2 on the head and 2 on a wing.
I read a bit about the compatibility of zebras and gouldians and reached the conclusion it should do okay with my zebras as long as they were not breeding. I didn't want to leave it in the tiny cage for any longer than I had to, so I put it with the zebras the morning after I got it. Not exactly a quarantine I know, but I wanted to do what was best for the little one. I gave it a drop of ivermectin on the neck before moving it as I have read about the dangers of air sack mites and had observed some open mouth breathing and clicking when I was moving the small cage around.
They are in a cage that's about 126x65 cm so the size should be okay, but of cause it's not ideal that the zebras were there before I got the gouldian. They weren't exactly fighting the gouldian, but there has been some instances of beak contact. Now, a day later, the gouldian is spending much of its time sleeping, somewhat puffed up - something I didn't observe when it was in its own cage. The zebras don't seem to bother it when it's sleeping but I'm thinking of making a few temporary cardboard stress perches just to be sure it has somewhere to relax. I also turned up the heat in the room a little.

Now, what I would like to know is, am I doing the right thing for the little one and should I just leave it alone and not stress it any more or would it be better of if I put it in a different cage? The cage it's in is home built and closed on all sides but the front, so I was thinking that was better for reducing stress than one of the usual bird cages, but seeing how much it's sleeping apparently something isn't ideal.
It's eating and drinking well, so that's not the issue. Should I put some ACV or GSE in its water?

[MisterGribs]

Well I dont know about the water, but keep an eye on those zebras- they can sometimes be very aggressive and your new bird is very vulnerable.

The bird may be sleeping a lot to try recovering from stress accumulated at its old home, but it also could be sick. If the zebras are bothering it while its awake, I would definitely suggest a hospital cage, high calorie foods such as mealworms, strawberries, bread, ground nuts and boiled egg. It would also of course be a good idea to get a poop swab to a vet, but you knew that already.

[lovezebs]

Stine

Hello from Canada, and welcome to the Forum.

It was kind hearted of you to take in this bird.

That said, I have to add a big ""OH-OH"", because there are all sorts of red flags going up in my brain, along with bells getting louder by the minute.

I would pull her out of that Zebra cage so quickly, that she'd never know she was in there and clean and disinfect the perches and all the food and water dishes, along with anything she touched.

First of all, if this bird is clicking when it's breathing, then the probability of Air sac mites, is high.

You treated her, which is good.
However, you just introduced a bird with Air sac mites into your Zebra cage
Now you will need to treat all of your Zebras as well.

Place her in a small cage, with food and water, with a warm light on one side, shaded area on the other side, away from your other birds.

[lovezebs]

Stine

Now, to your new Gouldian Finch.

If you happen to have an Avian Vet available, a visit might be in order.

If your new bird is sleeping a lot, fluffed up on the perch, and clicking when it breathes, she is sick.

With her clicking, Air sac mites, are a strong possibility, but there might be other issues as well, which we are not aware of, that's why I mentioned the Avian Vet.

She may or may not be as young as you think, because she might be stuck in molt and never had a chance to complete her juvie molt and get her adult feathers.

As mentioned above, a small hospital cage and a warm light, is a must. The light and warmth offer sick birds a great amount of comfort. They will usually sit under the light and just bask in the warmth. A goose necked lamp, with a 60w bullb is fine, but make sure to also offer a shaded are, so that if she gets too warm, she can move away from the heat source.

Also I would place some clean paper towels on the bottom of the cage, so that you can check and see if her poop is normal.

Offer clean water, some spray millet, and fresh seeds.
Also cook up a hard boiled egg, mash it up (both white and yolk), and offer small amounts. Dry the egg shell and crush it into tiny bits and offer that as well.

In a couple of days, you can offer small amounts of finely chopped greens.

Good luck to you and your poor little 'Canary'...

P.S.
If this bird was housed with other birds in the Pet Shop, they may need to be treated for Aur sac mites as well.

[Stine]

Thank you all for your advice.
The gouldian was not housed with other birds at the pet shop. Also I observed it in its own cage there for a day, and there was no clicking - it was even kind of chattering to itself. But when I brought it home at the end of the day (a 5 minute walk) and moved it about in my apartment, there was some clicking when it was breathing, so it appeared to be caused by stress.
I will treat the zebras for air sack mites as well, just in case. The ivermectin drops will expire before I can use them anyway. Bought them for a budgie with scaly face once upon a time and have only used them once since..
I ordered an infra red heat bulb and a ceramic socket today, which I hope to get tomorrow. I don't think I have any sockets in the house that are safe to use with more than a 40 watt bulb. And I'll be able to keep the infra red bulb on at night as well.

It is my understanding it's very hard to get gouldians to eat egg food? I was actually hoping the zebras would teach it how to do that.

I did not know they could get stuck in the juvenile plumage for extended periods. Can they be stuck forever? Or will it get its adult plumage once the health and diet is corrected? The tip of the beak is dark, if that helps to determine the age.

[Babs _Owner]

Stine lovezebs MisterGribs

I agree with all of the above.With the added mention, that when all your birds are treated and safe, please house the gouldian with a sweet society in a cage separate from the zebras.

I would never house a lone gouldian with zebras. You run the risk of it being plucked and attacked. Good luck with your new addition.

**edit* Add shaved cuttlebone powder to the top of the boiled egg and sprinkle crushed eggshells on top. Most finches are drawn to the shells and shavings.

[lovezebs]

Stine

Don't need a special light, a 40w will do quite nicely.

Regarding the hard boiled eggs.
Some birds take to them immediately, others take longer.
Personally I grate the eggs very fine, add some store bought bird egg food, some pulverized freeze dried meal worms, and crumble spray millet into the mixture, then toss it with a fork.

Here is my recipe, it can be made in much smaller amounts of course.

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=31995

All of my birds from tiniest Waxbills to Javas and Budgies love it.

Yes, Gouldians can get stuck in molt, if they don't have a proper diet, and if they are stressed during the molting period. It can occure in adults as well. Here is a good link about Gouldian moulting.

http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/features_molting.php

A good breeder will not sell juvies before they are completely molted into adult colours, or adults while they are molting. It is a stressful time for the species, with some birds taking it harder than others (depending on the conditions they are kept in).

Here is another good link, regarding Air sac mites:

https://ladygouldian.com/content/why-al ... -sac-mites

By the way, I completely agree with Babs, about housing Gouldians with Zebras. A single Gouldian with a bunch of Zebras, is a no-no.

I should have mentioned this earlier, but wanted to address the illness issues first.

[lem2bert]

Stine

Hi from Massachusetts. It was so kind of you to take the gouldian home. I hope it does better with you taking care of it. Lovezebs egg recipe she mentioned , I tried it and all my birds canaries , society and Gouldians love it. Good luck with your new bird

[Stine]

Thank you all again. I'll try the crushed shells on top of egg food and see how it goes.
I'm hoping to get a gouldian friend for my little bird, rather than a society, once it's better. I would prefer knowing its sex first, but I guess that might take a while.
That was a lot of reading lovezebs Did learn quite a few things I didn't know though, so it was well worth it. I actually don't think I've ever visited the ladygouldian.com site before, thank you for pointing me in that direction, I'll see what other pieces of knowledge it has for me
I've developed a habit of reading everything I can find about most captive species of birds and even started taking notes recently as I couldn't remember half of it ^^ Guess it's not the worst hobby you could have, except it makes me want to own most of the birds I read about..

[Vera]

My Gouldians love crushed oyster shell which I purchase at the pet store although have had a harder time finding it recently. But they devour it

[lovezebs]

Stine

On this Forum, I think you will find many people who feel as you do, lol.

After close to 20 years with Lovebirds, I vowed NO MORE BIRDS!!!

Then Luciano the Canary arrived, and now somewhere between 80-90 birds later Well, what can I say?

Why not post a picture of your birdie, and we'll try to figure out whether it's a boy or a girl. A blackened beak, can mean one of two things, a female in breeding mode, or a young fledgling.

Here are a few pictures to show you the difference.

[Stine]

Yeah, I'm not sure 80 birds will do, as soon as I get room for it I'm going to have aviaries everywhere ^^

From the morning after I got it:



From the day after I put it with the zebras and it turned into a ball of fluff:

[Babs _Owner]

Stine


Please remove it from the zebra cage ASAP. Then get him a heat lamp to relax under. That puffed posture is either stressed, or sick.

Let us know how he does after you remove him/her.

I can't tell if it's male or female yet, only that it is a redhead/greenback. (I will wager a guess at a whitebreast).

Good pictures btw.

[lovezebs]

Stine

What a beautiful baby!
And I mean BABY. This is a very young bird, who is just begining to show some colours.

If the colors in your photos are true, I would hazard a guess that this is a little boy, but not rady to swear to it yet.
I would guess, Red-Head, Purple-Breast, Green-Back. Let's see who wins the bet Babs.

Now to some serious housing issues...

● A baby Gouldian, should not be housed with Zebras!
At this stage, he is still completely helpless, and wouldn't be able to defend himself even if he wanted to. He is as yet completely vulnerable and helpless.

Please do not assume, that the Zebras won't have a go at him because he is a baby. Trust me, they will. They can pluck him, injure him, or downright kill him (and I am not joking here, being overly dramatic ). Or they can simply hound him and stress him to death.

He would be better off and much safer in the small cage you got him in (cleaned of course), until you can grab something a bit bigger at the store.

[Babs _Owner]

lovezebs

Wager is on!