I think my aunt's bird is sick! please help

[Hillary~]

My aunt left me with her 4 finch while she left the state for medical reasons. I am watching them until Saturday. She told me that she thinks one of the females is sick her name is Daisy and not to be alarmed if she doesn't make it. But me being an animal lover I can't help but want to help the poor thing. So here are some of the things I've noticed about her.
Daisy is very lethargic, her eyes are squinty, and she sleeps a lot.. She also eats A LOT, if she's not sleeping she's eating. When she sleeps, she pushes her mate all the way to the side of the cage and leans against him, she's all puffed up and sleeps under her wing. She looks to be breathing very heavily. I haven't seen her drink any water that I've noticed. I am so worried. From looking at the forum's here I think she may be eggbound, but I have no idea.
My boyfriend will be home soon and I have class tonight, but if there's something, anything that I can do or have him do please post here and let me know. I really do not want her to die. My aunt has been giving her some medication for a respiratory infection just in case but I don't know if that's the case here.

PLEASE HELP!

[L in Ontario]

Read this thread - it should help and is quicker than my typing it out again.

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13628

Good luck and please keep us posted!

[Hillary~]

i had my boyfriend put her cage into the bathroom and turn on a hot shower, and he boiled an egg for her and crushed it shell and all to put in the cage. I really have no idea about birds. We don't have any calcium but I hope the egg is enough, especially because she seems to keep eating non-stop. Thank you for the link. I hope she gets better and passes the egg (if she in fact eggbound)

[cindy]

Couple of things...does under her tail feather look like she has a buldge...if so she may be eggbound. What concerns me is the over eating, it could be a sign of parasites, it will as the parasites invade the body cause them to breath heavy.

First she is when she stands up if the looks "heavy" under her tail?

keep her warm...it helps.

[Hilary]

To echo what Cindy said keepiing her warm will help with a number of different issues. I use a shop-type clamp light, clamped to the cage. Even a lamp placed next to the cage would help. She'd then spend less energy trying to keep warm and more time working on getting better. Best of luck!

[Queen_Bee]

I have nothing to add to the other advice except to say you are very sweet to take such good care of your Auntie's bird for her! Best of luck and I hope she's better soon.

[luisbet1032]

I have nothing to add to the other advice except to say you are very sweet to take such good care of your Auntie's bird for her! Best of luck and I hope she's better soon.

What should you do if you recognize illness in one of your birds? Well, the first thing is to isolate the bird. Don't take any chances with the lives of the other birds. Do not catch his/her mate/companion to keep the sick bird company. You might risk infecting the mate and the mate can also interfere with the bird's recovery.

Place the bird in a hospital cage. See link...http://www.javafinch.co.uk/buildhospita ... alndx.html

[moonrise]

If there's a cuttlebone in the cage, you can scrape some of the cuttlebone's powder into her food. Between the cuttlebone's calcium and a lamp for heat, it worked for one of my eggbound hens awhile back. She laid what appeared to be a shell-less egg a little while later. (Shell-less eggs are WEIRD-looking!)

I don't know if all Walmarts have them, but our local store carries cuttlebones in the pets section where the other bird supplies are. Any pet store should have them too. They usually cost $1-$2.

Hope she's better soon!

[cindy]

If you think she is eggbound, keep heat on her...what sometimes helps is adding a tiny bit of wheat germ oil (health food store) to a tiny dish of seed...let her eat that for a little while. I would not be handling her or trying to catch her if you think she is carrying an egg, she could land against the bars and crush or crack the egg within her which in time can lead to a serious infection.

Trying to catch her and isolate her if she is the only one in the cage with her mate may make the situation worse. If she has a virus or parasites most likely her mate has been exposed and carrying it also.

If it is parasites and not an egg then you need to treat both for it.