Help! Male Owl (with babies) doesn't look well this morning!

[h2olilee]

This morning when I got up I saw my male Owl finch (who has one week old babies right now) was not looking like he felt very good. He was at the water dish and it looked like he had dunked himself (wet head and chest) so at first I thought he was bathing. But then he continued to just sit there fluffed up a bit and eyes closing, breathing a little bit harder. Also he just sat there when I walked up which is unusual because he usually is a lot more flightly. There were two fresh droppings in the cage (this was first thing in the morning), one looked normal and one looked runny. I'm not sure if they are both his or just one because I hadn't seen the female out of the nest yet. Is it something that was brought on by the stresses of breeding? What do I do and/or treat with? I've only had them a month so I don't have any medications on hand. I hope I can get something locally this morning!
I also worry about the babies now if I have to remove the male to treat for something because up to now the male is the one who has been doing the majority of the work. Will the female take over if he's not there (she's been kinda lazy)?
HELP! I'm a first time finch owner so I'm not sure what to do--I don't want to lose him!

[debbie276]

I would add heat if you can tell you get a chance to figure out your next move.
Good luck

[bugaboo5]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Was he acting fine yesterday? I would definitely add a heat source. A desk lamp or something similar should be fine. If he gravitates towards the light, it means he is cold and most likely not feeling good. It's hard to tell or diagnose just based on description. Would you be able to take a photo of him and upload? How does his vent look -- is it clean?

[h2olilee]

Yes, he was just fine yesterday. I did just see the female come out and eat. This is the first time I've seen the babies left alone, so I took a quick peek- there are 5. She kept hopping over to him like she was wondering what his problem was and why he wasn't getting food for the babies. He just continued to sit there on a lower perch with his eyes closed.
So I moved him to a hospital cage. I don't have a heat lamp so I set the small cage on a heating pad with a thermometer on the bottom and a towel over all but the front of the cage. I also added some seed and water with NV (electrolyte) powder in small dishes on the floor. He was easy to catch and now he's just sitting on the bottom of the hospital cage with his eyes closed. He's not really puffed up much right now. He did poop and it is runny with the parts mixed together and a brownish color.
What kind of medication should I try to get, if any?

[bugaboo5]

I always say it's better to be safe than sorry so I recommend having the following on hand for emergencies:

Amoxitex (antibiotic)
Tetratex (antibiotic)
Ronivet 12% (parasite preventative)
Cocci-Care
SCATT or Inverlux

Is he eating and drinking fine? I would recommend getting a desk lamp or heat lamp. The heating pad will not do much good unless he is close to it. Did you check his vent area to make sure it is clean? I almost want to say it seems like your male has some sort of bacterial infection. If so, you are going to want to treat with an antibiotic.

Here is a thread on preventative medications that are recommended: http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18260

[h2olilee]

Well, the only thing Petsmart had this morning was Ornacycline (tetracyline). I really hope it helps. But he doesn't look good at all now. When I went to put the medication in his water he is a lot more puffed up and he's having a hard time staying upright- he keeps falling forward. It looks like he tried to drink the NV water while I was gone because his chest is wet and he probably fell in. Hopefully he will drink some of this medicated water now. If he won't drink how do I get the medication to him?

[Sally]

It is difficult to administer any medication if they don't want to drink, as trying to force them will often aspirate them. The most you can do is use something like an eye dropper, and place a small drop on the side or tip of their beak. Just like you do with an eggbound hen and liquid calcium. Usually, they will then open their beak and swallow some of that drop. This way, you are not forcing the liquid into his beak, with the chance of aspiration. Keep the heat up, a gooseneck lamp with a 40w or 60w bulb. They don't want to eat either, so if there is a favorite food, like spray millet, place that on the floor near the bird.

Good luck with this one, and keep the hen supplied with eggfood, she can feed the babies while the male is recuperating.

[h2olilee]

Bad news. My bird died a few minutes ago. I can't believe how quick it was. It was fine yesterday. And now I think I was wrong (once again) and it was the female that was sick. About an hour or so after I moved the sick bird (which I thought was the male) to the hospital cage, the other one that I left with the babies started singing- calling for it's mate. I had been back and forth a lot with this pair on who was who (see my other posts). So now that the female is dead, it's up to the male to feed the 5 babies. It was the one that died that was doing most of the work so I hope he's up for the task. I feel awful about the female dying, I wish I could have done more to help

[Jasmin]

I'm sorry to hear about the news...
Hopefully the male will be a superdad and raise the chicks on his own.

When I read your post initially I was thinking "maybe" it was the female who was sick and "maybe" she was egg-bound.
I have 0 experience with owls and I don't know if the hens can get egg bound like the Gouldians. I just remembered when my Gouldians were breeding the female started laying eggs again when the chicks were only about 10 days old..

[FancyFinch]

sorry for your loss.

[debbie276]

So sorry

[cindy]

So very sorry to hear about the loss of your owl. Question....when he was breathing were there any bubbles of fluid coming from his nostrils? Was the breathing like a panting or clicking sound?

[Sally]

So sorry you lost your Owl. If it was the hen, eggbinding is always a possibility. I don't expect it when a hen is feeding a clutch, as the egglaying button should be off in their little brains, but anything can happen. Another item to keep in your emergency kit is a bottle of liquid calcium, like Calcium Plus. This can be a lifesaver in an eggbinding emergency.

[lovemyfinch]

So sorry you lost her
I hope that daddy will pull through and get all those babies to the perch

[h2olilee]

No, there was nothing coming from the nostrils or any sounds. I did have Calcium Plus on hand. I've had egg binding issues with some of my chickens and it works for them too. But when this all began early this morning I was still thinking this was the male so it didn't even cross my mind that that may be the problem. Even so, the babies are only one week old, I probably still wouldn't have thought it...
After she died, I felt down above her vent area and I didn't feel any egg there--in chickens you can feel it- I'm not sure that you can in a tiny finch though.
Thanks for all the kind words- I'm just heart broken over the loss. The male has been singing for her- he misses her too .