sick Gouldian

Jacky · Post by **Jacky** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:21 am

I walked by my cage yesterday and my female Gouldian was laying on the bottom. She was still breathing but by the time I drove to the vets she was dead. She didn't seem sick at all. Her beak was over grown but no signs of sickness. The vet said she was very skinny and had probably been sick for sometime. Is there some signs I should have seen?

Post by **Sally** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:27 am

Unfortunately, finches are very good at hiding illness. Often, by the time they are showing symptoms (puffed up, half-closed eyes, lack of energy) they are very sick. Was her beak overgrown to the point of not being able to eat? Did the vet give you any suggestions? Of course, without a necropsy, the vets usually can't tell either. Sorry for your loss, but most of the time, we don't even know what happened.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:36 am

Jacky
Welcome to the forum,if you fill in your profile then we will know where your from,makes it A lot easier answering questions.
Have you checked out the http://www.finchinfo.com/index.php

Here is another site that got a lot of info on sick finchs
http://www.finchniche.com/f-sick.mgi
Very sorry for your loss they hide there illness very well sometimes we never know why we lose them

HoangQuan · Post by **HoangQuan** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:46 am

Jacky.
Im so sorry for your loss

Usually, when the bird shows symptons, that meants thing has got really serious, and it will die quickly before we can do anything. So try to keep an eye on your birds everyday, and check out if they're really healthy or not, if you make them fly around the cage, you may notice the birds that are too skinny( after a flight the feathers will all tight up the body, even with the fluffy birds). you should notice that your birds are doing eat/drink normally or not. I know Gouldian can starve to death if they dont like the new food.
But why you didnt trim the beak when it's overgrown?

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:46 am

Hi and welcome - wish it could be a better time for you though.

Some signs of possible illness are:

- fluffed up a lot
- sleeping on a perch a lot during the day - more than normal
- appearing to eat all the time (they are actually not eating but rather 'going light' and losing too much weight )
- not as active or not flying as much as usual
- sitting on the floor doing nothing

Hope that helps as you watch your other birds.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:08 am

Jacky, so sorry for the loss of your bird. It is always heartbreaking to loose one of them.

As others have said many times when you notice them sick it is too late.

It would help to have more information. Do you have other gouldians and how many? Are they showing signs of sickness as Liz has described above? There are many dietary needs that a gouldian has. Do you feed them kelp, charcoal, egg shells and iodine?

Welcome to the forum. Wish it could have been under better circumstances.

Jacky · Post by **Jacky** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:09 am

Thanks for all the replies. Some of my other finches have died in the past but this was sad since she was still alive and I tried to rush her to the vet. The vet said he wasn't sure what was wrong unless he did an autopsy. I asked about her beak and he didn't think it was that bad. He said she probably had a problem in her kidneys(I think).

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:24 am

If there was a prominent breastbone it was probably going light...unfortunately not uncommon in Gouldians...have a read of this...

http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/featur ... glight.mgi

Jacky · Post by **Jacky** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:45 am

dfcauley wrote:Jacky, so sorry for the loss of your bird. It is always heartbreaking to loose one of them.

As others have said many times when you notice them sick it is too late.

It would help to have more information. Do you have other gouldians and how many? Are they showing signs of sickness as Liz has described above? There are many dietary needs that a gouldian has. Do you feed them kelp, charcoal, egg shells and iodine?

Welcome to the forum. Wish it could have been under better circumstances.

She was in a cage with 5 others. They all seem fine. I only feed her egg shells and celery. I have tried a few other greens but they don't seem to like them. Where do I get the kelp, charcoal and iodine?

CandoAviary · Post by **CandoAviary** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:47 am

So sorry for your loss. Several meds can be given but I have found a product put out by ABBA products called sulfacox has helped remedy this problem for me. I had several gouldians wasting away and ordered some ,put it in their water and they gained thier weight back. I had tried antibiotics and other products but nothing seemed to work better than the sulpacox. It is good to have some emergency products on hand. I keep mine in the refrigerator and they last a long time.
It may also been an older bird, they, just like us can suffer kidney failure, tumors, cancers, etc.
Unfortunately if you keep enough birds long enough you are going to loose some no matter how good of a steward we are. It is the hard part of the hobby.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:49 pm

Jacky wrote:
dfcauley wrote:
. Where do I get the kelp, charcoal and iodine?

You can order it from most any online bird product store. I get mine from ladygouldian.com. I think that charcoal is a must when keeping gouldians. Mine eat it every day. It helps their digestive system and the kelp will satisfy their iodine need if they are eating it. I have never had to add iodine to my water because all my gouldians love powdered kelp.

Also, if you have gouldians I would recommend that you get some type of air sac medication to have on hand and use preventively. I use s76.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:30 pm

CandoAviary wrote:So sorry for your loss. Several meds can be given but I have found a product put out by ABBA products called sulfacox has helped remedy this problem for me. I had several gouldians wasting away and ordered some ,put it in their water and they gained thier weight back. I had tried antibiotics and other products but nothing seemed to work better than the sulpacox. It is good to have some emergency products on hand. I keep mine in the refrigerator and they last a long time.
.

Can you tell me where you order this from? I like to keep this type thing on hand for emergencies.

CandoAviary · Post by **CandoAviary** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:50 pm

Hey, I order direct fromm ABBA products in Elizabeth City, NJ because we don't have a distributor anywhere close to me. You can go on thier site and find a distributor in your area. Here is how it is listed on the ABBA products sight.

# SULFCOX-001000

ORIGINALLY FORMULATED TO CONTROL AND PREVENT COCCIDIOSIS AND GOING LIGHT SYNDROME IN FINCHES AND CANARIES. SULFCOX CAN ALSO BE USED IN BUDGIES, COCKATIELS, LOVEBIRDS, DIAMOND DOVES ETC. ALSO BE USED FOR RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS.

HAS MULTIPLE USES SUCH AS AIDING IN RESPAROTORY DIASEASE, GASTROINTESTINAL INFECTIONS

DOSAGE: 1 TEASPOON TO 1/2 GALLON OF WATER TREAT BIRDS DAILY FOR 5 DAYS, ONCE A MONTH

summert85 · Post by **summert85** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:05 pm

im very sorry for your lost hon.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:39 pm

CandoAviary wrote:Hey, I order direct fromm ABBA products in Elizabeth City, NJ because we don't have a distributor anywhere close to me. You can go on thier site and find a distributor in your area. Here is how it is listed on the ABBA products sight.

# SULFCOX-001000

Thank you. I will check it out. I have Ronex and Ronivet which is used to treat the same ailments. I have used the Ronex several times when my birds seem a little "off". I wonder if it is the same thing........