Female zebra finch is loosing her voice...?

I love ZF · Post by **I love ZF** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:25 pm

My female zebra finch seems to loose her voice.... I can barely hear her 'beep' sound. Besides that, she flies a lot, eats well, bathes twice a day, plays with her mate, her poops look healthy....she doesn't look to be sick at all.

She used to call her mate loudly b/f so I'm kind of worried if this maybe a sign of illness. I thought it could be air sac mite (?) so I ordered Iverlux today just in case.

There's also one thing I thought it could be possible.... I give her half egg shell every morning. I put it in a microwave for 4 minutes and when it's still hot, I put in the cage. She usually just dives into it immediately, so I'm also concerned (& feeling guilty not to let the egg shell to cool off b/f I gave it to her) if it burnt her throat and this is happening.....

I'm confused what to do. Should I observe to see how she's doing for couple of days or see an avian vet immediately?

bonnies_gouldians · Post by **bonnies_gouldians** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:17 am

I would observe her for a few days and see how she is doing. Not a bad idea to have the iverlux on hand - I learned that myself just today and had to race around trying to find it when I found out my gouldian had air sac mites. I would definetly let the egg shell cool down before giving it to her from now on, it can still be warm, just not warmer than you would feel comfortable consuming it yourself. If all else appears well and she is not being all puffed up or sounding "click"y when she breathes, then I would not take her to a vet. It is way more stress than its worth and more than half the time they can't find out whats wrong with an exotic animal of any kind. I know many people on this forum use a preventative air sac mite treatment on their flocks multiple times a year, but I dont know if they keep zebras or not. Someone who does this can chime in on that, but I dont think it could hurt to do a couple doses as recommended on the bottle to be 100% sure if she shows no improvement over the next few days.

Post by **Sally** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:34 am

Even though you hear about air sac mites mostly with Gouldians, they can be present with any species, so it is a good idea to get on a preventative program. My understanding is that often they carry these mites for a long time, but then stress or illness makes them active and a problem. If you have just a few birds, SCATT is good, as you administer it directly on the bird's skin. I have more than a few, so I do the iverlux in the water route. I figure if I treat the whole flock once every three months, I will not have a problem (hopefully).

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 6:19 am

I think it would be pretty rare for a zebra to have air sac mites. Not saying that it is impossible, but I haven't heard of it on this forum yet....

But I sure would not give egg shells hot..... be sure they are cool.

Hope all is well..... keep us informed.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:20 am

I agree with the others. It would be best to let the egg shell cool completely before offering it to your birds. Four minutes is a long time and they would be super hot. I only nuke mine for 2 minutes and then store them in an airtight container for weeks until I need them.

franny · Post by **franny** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:40 pm

I wouldn't worry too much. Could be that she burned her throat with hot eggshell. But it can't be that bad or she wouldn't be eating.

My sister had a cat who just suddenly lost her voice as well... the vet couldn't see anything wrong...she just suddenly went from a cat who meowed all the time to one who just croaked out a little squeek!

We always assumed she'd eaten something when she escaped outside, but the vet could see no damage. It never seemed to bother her. In all other ways she acted as usual. Her voice never came back fully, though it did improve a bit. So it might come back for your little finch. Mind you...there are some folks on here who would say "a zebra finch without a voice ..what's wrong with that?..."

I love ZF · Post by **I love ZF** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:51 pm

Thanks guys, I feel a lot better now. I made an appointment to the avian vet for today but I'll cancel. I took two females this month to the vet and they're so stressed out from it (but these, I had to, one was very sick... she still is, and another's foot was swollen badly). I don't want to take my birds to the vest unless it's very necessary.

She's all active, busy playing w/ the shredders and nesting materials w/ her mate this morning. Eating well. Mating twice already ;) No signs of illness whatsoever. I'll keep observing her for a while. If I see any illness, I'll take her to the vet.

Yes, I feel really guilty about giving her hot egg shell..... what the hell was I doing? I boil the whole egg anyway so I probably don't need to still put the egg shells in microwave.... if so, I'll just put 2 minutes from now on, and make sure it cools down completely b/f I give it to her. She knows she's getting egg & egg shell in the morning so she stops everything to just jump to eat as soon as I put those in her cage....

bonnies_gouldians · Post by **bonnies_gouldians** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:22 pm

if you need the shell to cool down faster, after you nuke it in the microwave, toss it in the freezer for a few minutes while you are getting ready for work or something. It will cool down quicker if you are in a hurry.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:29 pm

You're right - if you are hardboiling the eggs - there is no need to microwave them at all... saving you time, electricity and money!

I love ZF · Post by **I love ZF** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 7:08 pm

HI guys,

I just wanna let you guys know that I took the lost voice female to the avian vet today because my boyfriend scared me that it could be a tumor growing (that's what happened to one of my female finches in the past).

She seemed to breath faster but I think that was because she was very scared and flying around this pathetic small carrier cage. There was no tumor growing so that was a good news. Just in case if it could be air sac mite, she got an injection for that. Otherwise, just from physical examination, there was really nothing particularly wrong..... So we'll observe her for a week to see how she's doing.

Her mate was so happy to see her back and he keeps singing and preening her. She's very busy eating Romain Hearts now.

bonnies_gouldians · Post by **bonnies_gouldians** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:38 pm

Glad to hear that nothing major came up with the vet visit and that she is not so traumatized as to not eat after coming back. I agree, she probably is breathing heavy due to stress. Hope all come out okay and that she gets her voice back. What was the injection of? I have never heard of an injection for air sac mites.

I love ZF · Post by **I love ZF** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:26 pm

My poor girl lost her voice completely! I don't hear anything from her any more. And she started opening and closing her mouth most of the time now.

But again, she is active, always busy playing with the nesting material, eats well..... she eats everything, seeds, millet spray, egg food, grit, romain hearts..... she started laying eggs again since yesterday. No signs of other sick finch look.

Now she's very cautious of me and whenever I open the cage door to clean, she opens her mouth wide open (& close), breathing harder, poor little girl! I talked to the avian vet and she told me to give her antibiotics (Baytril). Well, I already started giving it to her since yesterday. And I'm supposed to bring her to the vet again this Friday for another injection if she doesn't get well (Gosh, this will give her more trauma).

Regarding injection.... that's a good question, I'll ask the vet exactly what it was. On the receipt, it just said Avian injection.

I love ZF · Post by **I love ZF** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:56 pm

Happy Holidays everyone!

Update of my female zebra finch! I got Iverlux yesterday by mail finally so I gave it to her. This morning, she doesn't keep opening & closing mouth constantly any more. She does it when.... I get close to her (she's scare of me now... probably worries that I'm gonna take her to the vet... well, she'll get over it, I hope).

So it can be air sac mite. She's active as always, eating & playing, but still no voice.

I have a question. Should I give her Tetratex (antibiotics) after Iverlux? I have Baytril from the avian vet but I read that Tetratex is best against respiratory.

Post by **Sally** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:00 pm

I have zero experience dosing antibiotics, but I would suggest you call the avian vet to make sure it is OK to switch antibiotics. The little one has already had an injection, Baytril, and now Iverlux--that may be about maxed out on what she can handle.

I love ZF · Post by **I love ZF** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:04 pm

Sally, thanks for your quick reply! Yes I'll call Avian vet tomorrow (she's not in today) to ask her to make sure it's okay to switch antibiotics. She looks fine except her voice got lost (and opening & closing her mouth once in a while) so I don't want to medicate her way too much...... thanks again!