Blind Zebra

[nofred]

Anyone ever experience a Zebra with a stroke? I found my one female on the floor of the aviary one morning looking confused. I noticed her flight was not "up to par" that day and steadily got worse. I put her in a cage by her self and she seemed ill. Treated the whole flock sacmites and then antiboitics and probiotics. No other problems with other birds. It appears to me she went blind and that may be why she didn't want to fly. So now she lives on the cage floor and allows me to put her up on a perch by a heat lamp for a bit. She seems to find her food, water & bed by hopping around and doesn't appear to be ill otherwise.
Just wondered if anyone else had this happen.

[sheherazade]

I have never had a blind finch, but I do have a blind, deaf and probably senile 16-year-old minature poodle. He still has a great life, never misses a meal, and other than occassionally getting lost in the yard or bumping into things, he has adapted well to his limitations. I'm convinced that he feels the vibrations in the floor and uses his sense of smell to know where we are! I hope for the best for your little blind finch. Does she respond to you when you talk to her?

[nofred]

Yes, she does. I occasionally pick her up and rub the side of her gently with the end of my little finger and she likes that. I learned that trick when I hand fed a couple of Zebs. She also joins in the morning wake-up chorus with the flock in the aviary about 5 feet away.

[sheherazade]

Aww..that's so sweet! Amazing that you can touch her! I'm sure that goes a long way to making her feel less isolated since she can't see what's going on. I have a lone red ear waxbill finch that lost her partner 7 mos ago (an orange cheek waxbill male) and I couldn't put another finch in with her because she was totally bald on her head. Looked like a vulture. So she is alone in her cage, but in a high traffic area, and she LOVES for us to talk to her. She puts on "flight" shows where she flies in circles in her cage! Now that her feathers are growing back (I suspect she was way overpreened by the male OC wax bill), I wonder now if I should get her a buddy? She's around 4 years old now. A society maybe...the only finches around here now are Zebras and Societies. But then again, she seems really happy as an only.

[Zebrafincher]

Have a look at this one. This budgie is 18 years old (very old) and now blind. His obviously adoring owners have accomodated his blindness by modifying his cage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJS4kelzgiU

[nofred]

That video shows how important it is to keep everything in the cage in the exact same spot! I have Bonnie's arranged so she can get to everything easily including a few flat stones stacked that she can hop up on to get closer to a heat light if she wants it, which she seems to like for a bit each day. that way she gets a bit more exercise hopping.