How do you administer liquid medicine with small pipette?

[Betrue2yurself]

Hi. I currently have a sick RCCB and I am trying to treat him with Amoxitex. I am worried that he is not drinking enough water to treat him by mixing it in his drinking water and would like to administer it directly. Can someone help me with how I do this? I have small pipettes - <1ml.

[Betrue2yurself]

So my RCCB has now stopped eating and drinking.....

[Sally]

That is not a good sign. Do you have a heat lamp on him? When I use a pipette, I squirt one drop on the side of the beak. They usually open their beak enough for some of it to go in, or when they open that beak, I will administer another drop on the side of the beak. When I have tried to put liquids into the beak directly from the front, I have aspirated a bird, so I hesitate to do it that way.

[Betrue2yurself]

Yes heat lamp on him. I've had a heat lamp on for him since Monday. He just seems to be losing so much weight. So small now.... Have had Amoxitex in his water since Friday and no change in his symptoms.... So maybe it's not a bacterial infection. Not sure what to do at this point....

[Martie]

In an emergency, like this - when a bird has stopped eating and drinking - I have used a flat toothpick to get into the beak for medicating. You can usually work the toothpick through the beak from side to side - and once there, just turn it so the beak opens a little. Sally is right - putting anything straight in can be very dangerous and I also do it from the side.

It is not good news that your bird has stopped eating and drinking. I will keep you in my thoughts and pray he will pull through.

[Betrue2yurself]

Martie so I tried to administer using the pipette at the side of the beak. Seems like he spit most if not all of it out. Should I see some improvement by now (treating with Amoxitex since Friday afternoon)? Should I try Ronex instead?

[Martie]

I'm so sorry your bird doesn't seem to be responding. Without knowing the symptoms or history of this illness, it's just not possible for us to know if the Amoxitex should be working by now - or if you should change to another medication. When a bird has stopped eating/drinking, there is no room for trial and error.

An avian vet is one alternative, but with a bird this ill, the trip may do him in and most veterinarians will not offer advice without seeing the patient. I would suggest contacting Laraine at https://ladygouldian.com/. Laraine's website is packed with great information about many avian illnesses and she is very willing to help anyone with a sick bird. She is very knowledgeable and while not a veterinarian, can help you narrow down the possibilities and suggest a treatment plan.

I am sincerely sorry you are going through this and hope you will contact Laraine for assistance. Please let us know how things are going.

[finchmix22]

When I have a sick finch and I'm not sure what is wrong, I treat with a combination of Amoxitex and Ronex together. Usually, I would not mix the treatment, but when they are really sick and I want to get whatever illness covered as much as possible, this seems to help.

[Betrue2yurself]

finchmix22 when you say you mix, you actually mix the meds in the same water dish?

@Martie so I contacted Laraine. I told her the symptoms and one of them is that sometime my sick RCCB will do this weird twitch/butt bounce thing when he goes to the bathroom which leads her to believe it has to do with his digestive tract and to switch to Ronex. Instead of using a pipette she says I should dip his beak in the water for 10 seconds or so until I see him take in some water. I've thought it was his last day for the last 3 or 4 days. I'm happy he's fighting through this all. Just hope he's not suffering too much.

[Nanajennie]

How sad, I hope you and your bird pull out to of this! Good luck! (I don't have any advise, as I am newish, but I am saying a prayer for you two)

[Martie]

@Martie so I contacted Laraine. I told her the symptoms and one of them is that sometime my sick RCCB will do this weird twitch/butt bounce thing when he goes to the bathroom which leads her to believe it has to do with his digestive tract and to switch to Ronex. Instead of using a pipette she says I should dip his beak in the water for 10 seconds or so until I see him take in some water. I've thought it was his last day for the last 3 or 4 days. I'm happy he's fighting through this all. Just hope he's not suffering too much.

I'm so glad you were able to get in touch with Laraine. Very good to know about dipping the beak - I will keep that in mind for the future. Sounds like you're on a good path - Healing thoughts coming your way!

[Betrue2yurself]

Just want to give an update. Zach seems to have pulled through! He's put on a lot of weight and is more active! Yay! He will start his second round of Ronex on Friday. Can't wait to reunite him with his RCCB partner Sky.

[debbie276]

That's great news!
best of luck

[Betrue2yurself]

So here's another update on Zach. Hopefully someone can give me some advice as to what I should do. So I thought he had gotten better. He got sick again.... This time he wasn't exhibiting the same symptoms so I figured he may have gotten some sort of bacterial infection due to his weakened immune system from his previous illness. I treated with Amoxitex and again he improved. While he's not as sick as he was before, he still just doesn't seem well.... He hasn't been on any medicines for over three weeks. He's not getting worse nor getting better. He still sleeps puffed up throughout most of the day. He is on the same diet as the rest of the birds and his droppings don't really look the same. His are reddish brown and not as solid as the rest of my birds. Does anyone have any advice as to what I should do now??

[debbie276]

Brown dropping usually means bacteria infection while red droppings could mean tapeworms. Have you ever wormed your birds? May be worth a try.
good luck