Fire Finch cardiac arrest.

[Waxbilllover]

I suffered a loss in my flock of finches this past saturday. I had three Red Bill Fire Finches in a Quarenteen flight cage in my spare bedroom. I had picked them up at the Orlando Bird Mart last month at a terrific bargain. I had purchased one male and two females. I got the extra female as a replacement for a female that died last may. So their quarenteen period was now up and I was eager to get them out and in to the aviary. I netted the male first and put a split color band on his leg then released him through the sliding window which connects the bedroom with the aviary. I then caught the first female and placed a band on her leg then walked to the window ,extended my arm through and opened up my hand to let her fly off to join the others. Instead of flying off she just sat on my hand for a second or two then dropped her head down,closed her eyes and fell over dead right in my hand ! I couldent believe it. I just stood there dumbfounded. She was a seemingly perfectly healthy bird showing no signs of any kind of illness and very active during the time I had her. Could it have been too much stress for her little heart to stand? Perhaps an underlying heart condition of some kind that was aggrevated by the stress of being caught and banded ? I guess I will never know for sure. I felt bad wondering if I could have done somthing different to have prevented it from happening but I dont know what it could have been. Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing before or known of someone who has. My track record when it comes to keeping Firefinches has not been a good one. I lost my original male due to a possible blood clot that was a result of a wing shoulder injury. He seemed to be improving after the injury but two weeks later suddenly dropped dead for no apparent reason. An autopsy revealed no conclusive cause of death. The avian vet just said that it could have been a seizure or blood clot that broke off and stopped his heart. My second loss was with a female Firefinch that had complications from air sac mites.She was panting shortly after she came in with the bird shipment I received . The ivermectin that I gave her apparently killed two many mites at once and they clogged up her tiny airways in her lungs and she died shortly afterward. Now this happens with a third finch. My avian vet tells me to steer clear of future Fire Finch purchases as she seems to think that they appear to be a fragile easy to lose species that does not hold up well in captivity. Or maybe I am just having a string of bad luck with this particular variety. I love the species for its quiet more laid back disposition and its tameness in captivity. I would love to get a breeding program going with them if I can just get over these setbacks and keep my remaining Firefinches healthy and happy. I went to a local bird dealer this week who had one pair of Firefinches left and purchased the female to replace this last one that died. Hopfully I will keep her alive long enough to breed her next summer. So now I have three breeding pairs in my flock. Fingers crossed. Randy.

[debbie276]

So sorry for you loss
That sure is a string of bad luck. Not sure I would give up like your vet suggests if I really liked them as much as you do.
Best of luck

[breeze]

Sorry about your loss and good luck with the new female.

[finchmix22]

So sorry you lost the hen. I'd keep at the firefinch breeding as they are beautiful, especially if you really love them. Sally bred firefinches, so maybe she'll have something to add when she returns.

[Sally]

So sorry you have had a string of bad luck, but if you really love the Fire finches, I would stay with them. I have had some that have 09 bands on them, and they are doing fine. With all finches, accidents can happen, and often we have no idea what went wrong. I once was closed banding Strawberry fledglings, and when I finished with one baby and set it back in the cage, it fell over dead. Not a clue what happened. Most of the waxbills are not as domesticated as Zebras and Societies, and so they are not quite as hardy, but for the most part, they are hardy enough to live long lives.

[David]

Hi Randy, so sorry hear your loss sometime birds can get heart attack especially the small birds :/ good luck to your current birds and hope every single one will stay healthy.

[Waxbilllover]

Thanks for the input. I am going to continue to work with the Fire Finches despite the setbacks and have one pair in my bird breeding room that are incubating a clutch of eggs right now. These are young inexperienced breeders so dont know if they will succeed or not. Time will tell.

[debbie276]

Best of luck

[Ivann 97]

Waxbilllover, I have a male african silverbill who have the same symptoms as your ff hen. I still don't know what causes that, but he's breeding normal and the symptoms appear only when he gets too stressed.

[wildbird]

The stress of banding the Fire Finch was probably too much for it especially if it was wild caught.