unknown cause of death - quarantine period

[GeorgeyPudding]

Hi all,

I'm not sure if you'll remember me but recently I acquired 2 hand raised Zebra Finches. Unfortunatly last night one of them passed away. I found him/her on the bottom of the cage, puffed up and hopping funny. I easily picked him/her up which was concerning in itself, I placed him/her in a carrier and called the emergency vets. As I hung up the phone he/she had what I believed to be a fit so I called my mum upstairs and he had another in my hand at which point my mum confirmed it was a fit. He/she had a final fit and died in my hand, about 5 minutes after I had discovered him/her

I have no idea what it might have been as the bird was healthy at 2pm the same day. The other finch is fine as far as I can tell but how long do I need to leave it before I consider getting another finch or rehoming this one?

[ac12]

Hang in there.
Get another bird to keep yours company and enjoy them.

I have seen birds have what appears to be spasms just before they die. I even watched one appear fine, then just fall off the perch onto the cage floor, have about 3 spasms then die. I do not know the body mechanics that cause the spasms.

As for why, w/o the skills and equipment of some of the people on the forum, you (like me) can only guess as to why the bird died. I have seen birds fine one day, then dead on the cage floor the next morning. I am limited to feeling the chest (to see if they have flesh on both sides of the breastbone indicating they were eating), what the poop looks like (indication of internal problems), and how their body looks.

I will be seemingly cruel with you, but this is practical. For the cost of a zebra I would not take it to a vet. Your vet bill $$$ will be way way more than the cost of the zebra. I can see taking an expensive bird to a vet, but not any of the low cost birds. I cannot afford to take my birds in whenever they appear sick, so I try to take care of them as best as I can. I do have an expensive "medicine cabinet" that I've accumulated over the years, and I don't even have most of the meds available. If a bird dies, that is unfortunately part of the package of raising birds...the bad comes with the good.

I put ALL my incoming birds through an 11 week quarantine process. My process includes medication. Given the cost of my flock, I cannot afford to have "bugs" get into the flock. Some of the folks use a 1 month "watch and observe" quarantine period.