Society finch panic attacks/night-frights??

[Youngpilgrim]

Hi. Am currently seeing some strange behaviour in my society finch.

Last night, he flew out of his nest in a panic and was throwing himself around the cage, hanging off the sides and flapping about in a state of some distress. He would occasionally settle on the perch looking very pensive, sometimes with his beak wide open before beginning another fit of panic shortly afterwards. This carried on for a good hour and a half.

Eventually he calmed down (I spent about half an hour just talking to him in an attempt to soothe him) and he finally went to bed for the night.

Today, he was back to normal...singing, eating, having a bath and doing all the things he normally does.

But then, come evening when it was his bedtime, he started repeating his panic-fit again, exactly as it was the night before.

Worth mentioning that he lives in my front room, all the lights were still on and the television. Nothing happening that he isn't used to (nothing obvious anyway).

As I write this post, he is still in this state and incredibly jumpy.

Not quite sure how to handle it. Nothing physically wrong with him that I can see, and the fact that he was his old self all day suggests to me that there is nothing severely up medically.

Trouble is, if he carries on this frantic flying, he's either going to hurt himself or suffer from exhaustion!

Any ideas?

[debbie276]

Does this happen when he goes into a nest? Could it be that there is something in the nest like spiders or mites that come out at night?
Just thinking out loud, hope you can figure it out soon before he hurts himself.

[Youngpilgrim]

Does this happen when he goes into a nest? Could it be that there is something in the nest like spiders or mites that come out at night?
Just thinking out loud, hope you can figure it out soon before he hurts himself.

Seems unlikely (but possible). He sleeps in a wicker nest which doesn't have much in it for mites or spiders to hide in. I did have a quick look and can't see anything at first glance. Once he is settled he will stay in his nest for the night but, at the moment, he seems to just be having trouble settling!

[debbie276]

If you can get some mite spray it might be worth it to spray the nest during the day just to be sure feather mites are not the problem.
Best of luck

[Youngpilgrim]

If you can get some mite spray it might be worth it to spray the nest during the day just to be sure feather mites are not the problem.
Best of luck

I will give that a try. Probably high time I should be doing it anyway! Thanks.

[6finchfriends]

is he alone? maybe he needs a friend? Did this just start out of the blue? it does seem to suggest something about the nest is frightening him.

[Youngpilgrim]

is he alone? maybe he needs a friend? Did this just start out of the blue? it does seem to suggest something about the nest is frightening him.

He is alone, yes. His brother died about 6 months ago. Up to then, they had lived together for over 5 years.

[Youngpilgrim]

New development now.

Last night he was fine, and had his first fully peaceful night's sleep for a while but, this evening at about 9:30pm, we found him sitting on the floor of the cage with his eyes half closed looking very dazed.

Not sure how he came to be there...whether he fell or simply flew down there, but he was not alert at all and unaware of his surroundings. He even let me reach in and stroke his back feathers which is extremely unusual for this bird (who normally goes a bit mad if I so much as reach in to replace his bath water).

He sat there quietly for about 10 minutes or so before he became a little more active and flew back up to his top perch. His balance seemed fine, and I couldn't see any tail-bobbing either. Gradually he started chirping...firstly is was a bit aggitated, but then it became a bit more normal. Then he flew down for a drink from his water bottle (quite a big drink actually!) and then flew back up to his nest.

What on Earth is going on??

Also worth mentioning that, so far, he hasn't been sitting with his feathers puffed out.

[finchmix22]

I know finches can have "night fright" for no real reason, but as to why he was dazed, my guess is he hit his head against the cage and was stunned for a brief period. If he continues to act like this, I would put him in a smaller cage with a heat lamp and something like Vitalize to help him feel better. Then, keep monitoring for changes or evidence of what is happening. Do his droppings look normal? Any open mouth breathing? Fluffed? Is his cage near a vent/AC duct or something that goes on and off?

[Youngpilgrim]

I know finches can have "night fright" for no real reason, but as to why he was dazed, my guess is he hit his head against the cage and was stunned for a brief period. If he continues to act like this, I would put him in a smaller cage with a heat lamp and something like Vitalize to help him feel better. Then, keep monitoring for changes or evidence of what is happening. Do his droppings look normal? Any open mouth breathing? Fluffed? Is his cage near a vent/AC duct or something that goes on and off?

Seizures are another thought that has sprung to mind. Anyone with any experiences of this?

No open mouth breathing on the whole, although he does do it for a short while after one of his panic fits. I have been putting this down simply to exhausting himself and being a bit out of breath. Not fluffed at all so far. He isn't near any kind of vents or air-conditioning that would cause a draft at all. Haven't heard any "clicking" breathing sounds either.

Nonetheless, some kind of tonic wouldn't hurt. I hear alot of people mentioning products like "Scatt" and "Vitalize" which I am guessing are products in America, as I have never seen them in any UK stores. Does anyone know what the equivalents would be?

[finchmix22]

There are several supplements like Vitalize and Thrive or Avi Culture. The SCATT is for ASM. I'm sure Kenny would know if he is reading this from the UK. You can go to ladygouldian.com and they may have links to UK suppliers too.

Seizures were discussed on a thread about 2 weeks ago. If you do a search and type seizures, you can probably find that thread to rule out that possibility.