What’s wrong with my Zebra? Is this normal?

[ShannTmw]

For the past two days my zebra hen has been acting a little less active. She usually beeps at me very charismatically but she doesn’t seem to have the energy. She’s eating and pooping normal and the droppings seem normal. Some seeds not fully digested tho it seems but not a lot.
She’s been shaking her butt and feathers likes she’s trying to push but nothing happens. It also doesn’t seem to be linked to her pooping cause she does that often.
She is pecking at her stomach a bit but it doesn’t seem to happen a lot.
I flipped her over and took a picture because to be honest I’m not sure what normal looks like. It doesn’t seem normal to me but I can be wrong.
If anyone has any ideas or if I’m being paranoid let me know. I just want them to be healthy.

[Babs _Owner]

ShannTmw

Is her abdomen wet from droppings or did you wet her a bit to separate her feathers?

Do you feel an egg in her belly?

[ShannTmw]

She ended up wet from landing in the water bowl. There was a bit of droppings there but it wasn’t stuck so maybe just pooped on me to look. She seems sensitive when I touch and I do not push. I know how delicate they are. Will it be hard if there’s an egg? It seems a bit puffed up and she was panting earlier but I was assuming it was just really warm. Almost 80 degrees in my room, with the colder weather I have a hard time having the heat at just one temp. It always ranges from 73-80.

[Babs _Owner]

ShannTmw

If she is eggbound, you may feel a lump when you run your finger over her belly. If you feel an egg you do need to act right away!

For an eggbound hen (if you can't get to a vet) get a drop of liquid calcium to the side of the beak. One drop.....another drop an hour later and another drop the following hour.

I've successfully placed an eggbound hen in a small plastic critter keeper lined with timothy hay, or paper towel on top of a heating pad, covered the whole critter keeper with a towel to trap in the warmth and keep it dark. I also place water with calcium drops in the water with her and some crushed eggshells, along with a sprig of millet.

Hen's lay in the early morning hours, so they like stillness and dark to relax and lay.

However it is better, you get her to the vet if she doesnt need emergency care right now. But if she is eggbound, she will go down pretty fast. Are her wings extended and is she spending more time on the floor of the cage trying to push it out?

[ShannTmw]

I can’t feel anything. She seems to be tired a lot and she sits puffed up. She doesn’t seem to be eating as much today but she is still pooping and the droppings look normal. She didn’t want her broccoli today which she usually loves. I try to give them different veggies that I see are allowed each day. She’s usually interested but not today.
She also had moments where she’s very active but those aren’t as much as before. I’m a little confused. Could it be temp? Is she cold or hot? Why else would she sit puffed like that.

[hfinney]

I am NOT an expert at all and I'm still very new to birds, so I'm not offering advice, just sharing a story from my limited experience. I have one particular society finch who acted the exact same way before she started laying eggs. She was panting and breathing rapidly. Her vent looked a little swollen and wet. She was so tired all day long she almost fell off her perch several times. She was puffed up and inactive and stopped chirping completely.

After a day or two like this, she started laying eggs. After all the eggs were laid, she went back to normal.

Fast forward to clutch #2 (because none of her eggs in the first clutch survived), she started acting the same way the day before she laid her first egg. I thought she was a goner. She's laid an egg each morning the last two days, and she sleeps most of the day. She eats and drinks very little, and mostly just sleeps.

I have NO idea why she's like this. I do know that I am separating her from the male after this clutch because I do not want her to go through this again. I guess laying eggs just seems like it's too hard on her body.

Best wishes to you and your finch.

[mick1933]

Hi Shann. The following is from a book on budgerigar health by Dr Rob Marshall. The same would probably apply to all birds:
"Droppings containing undigested seed.
Megabacteria infecions, Giardia Infections, worms and major bowel infections caused gizzard and proventriculus problems produce droppings with full seed. l This sign indicates a very serious problem and individual birds may not fully recover from this illness."
I suggest you see a vet. Regards Mick.

[Fraza]

ShannTmw

Hi many members disagree with me on the but I had a female zeb acting the same ways as yours however mine developed further and started to shake although she was having shivers. I spoke to my local store because he has bred zebras for 30 ish to 40 years can’t remeber and he told me add abit of sugar or honey into there water, the next day she was abit better and the day after that she was normal. However many members disagree but it helped me

[lovezebs]

ShannTmw

How is your girl doing?

When a bird sits all puffed up and sleeps all the time, it's usually a sign of illness.
However, it could be so many different things...

Sadly, it's impossible to diagnose these things over the internet, and we are not Vets.

The only thing I can recommend, is offering her a lamp with a 60 bulb on one side of the cage. Most birds find the light and the extra warmth comforting, and in many cases beneficial when they are feeling under the weather.

Offer her some of her favorite foods, and I would also offer extra calcium, just in case it is an egg problem.

Do you have a Vet you could call?

Good luck.

[ShannTmw]

She has an appointment on Tuesday. She’s still eating but sits like that a sways a bit. I’ve given her eggs with the shells and she’s eating that. I’m off to work now but she seemed a bit more chatty then before. But not like she used too.
I’ll get the bulb as soon as I can. I work late tonight so I will in the am.
Thanks for all the advice, it means a lot.

[lovezebs]

ShannTmw

You're very welcome, just sorry can't be of more help.

I hope yor little girlie feels better soon.

[ShannTmw]

I woke up this morning about 630 and found this egg. I gave her some eggs with a bunch of shells last night and she’s really good at eating the calcium. But she’s still sitting puffed up. So I’ll try the lamp and see if that works today.
I’m hoping it is just the egg tho. How often will she lay eggs? She isn’t in with a male at all but I do have him in the cage next to her. They both don’t have big enough cages to be put together and don’t seem to like each other much anyways. I saw that if they lay eggs without a male that it could mean they’re lonely? Will she have more then one? I’ll have shells available for her through out the day as well to help

[Fraza]

ShannTmw they lay eggs when they are happy and feel comfortable and they usually lay one everyday until they have 4-6 I had two females without a male and they usually laid only 4

[ShannTmw]

Okay. Will it be one a day? So I know when to check if she’s okay. So she’s prob happy and comfortable? I hope she is. I’m stilll going to get her checked because I want know what they have to say about her lame wing but I hope that it’s just the eggs. What do I do with them? Just throw them out? I touched that one and it broke, I didn’t realize how delicate they were

[Fraza]

ShannTmw yeh they lay one a day and it’s up to you to keep them or not if she has a nest put them in there and she might sit on them then take them out when the clutch is finished and she’s stopped laying this is the way I’ve always done it, when the clutch is done just throw them they are infertile anyway.

I personally like giving them a nest to lay them in so they know they have somewhere easy to lay atleast your swing good signs now