please help: need advice re finches that keep dying

[tinysparrow]

hi,
i am looking for some advice about what to do. i sold a female zebra finch to a person who lives near me. she had a male, so she wanted a mate for him. about a week later, the male died suddenly overnight.

then she bought a male zebra who was 4 months old from me, and the following week she emailed me to say that he had died one night. so i replaced the bird with another zebra male, he was a bit older, about one year old. she just emailed me to say that he too has just died, again overnight like the other 3 males!

what should she do? last week, before the second male died, i emailed her a list of things not to do (i.e.: scented candles, household cleaners, teflon etc), and said that she should scrub down her cage with antibacterial soap, i also advised using bottled water. she did all of these things.

at this point, what advice should i give her? why are only the males dying? any help is appreciated!

[dfcauley]

If the birds are and have been healthy at your house then I would certainly not let her get anymore of my birds. There is something that she is doing to cause this. I don't see the probability of this happening three times and being a fluke.

[lou]

What a bummer,
Amy, ask her where she keeps them
lou

[Mick M.]

Sound's very strange to me . What state are the dead bird's in when she find's them in the morning ?
The only thing's I can think to advise is cage location and size .
Are the bird's exposed to anything unusual during nightfall till dawn ? Have the bird's much room to move about , escape each other ?
Dont understand why only the cock bird's have suffered , is the hen killing them
Regards , Mick M.

[gsjohnson]

Have you viewed her cage/aviary setup?

[DanteD716]

I would think:

Drafts
Aggressive Hen
Stress

Ask where her cage is, ask if the female has been aggressive. This is not a coincidence. Has she emailed you pictures of the dead birds? Not saying she is a bad person, but some people scam to get free birds.

[tinysparrow]

thanks for the responses everyone. the hen was my hen, so i don't think she would be killing them. i guess anything is possible though. and yes the birds were in really good shape when i sold them. i try to take really good care of my flock, they are my pride and joy

and thanks for the idea, i will ask her if she still has the body from the last one that just died today. i will see if i can get some pictures of it.

she sent me a picture of the set up at her place. does anyone have any thoughts?

[tinysparrow]

i just adjusted the photo a bit so hopefully we can all see it better

[Mick M.]

Even more confused now
Is it possible there's a tiny draft from the window
Could she try a different location for the cage , does this set up differ much from your own
Regards , Mick M.

[tinysparrow]

Even more confused now
Is it possible there's a tiny draft from the window
Could she try a different location for the cage , does this set up differ much from your own
Regards , Mick M.

her set up looks good to me too also Mick. the birds that i sold her were all living in community cages, larger than this one. the youngest one at 4 months old had only been with its parents, and then its siblings before. since i knew the hen (since she was mine), i didn't worry that he would be picked on by her.

does anyone think that the hen might be killing the males? i have never had this kind of aggression before in my flock. the closest i've ever had is a male gouldian and male RTFP who both pull out face feathers and push others off the perch.

[DanteD716]

Her set up looks great, but there may e a draft from the window. And yes ask for pictures of the body... Also, if she did not mention blood I dont believe the hen killed the males, but a territorial hen may not let the male eat or drink. She has to keep an eye on her

[tinysparrow]

Her set up looks great, but there may e a draft from the window. And yes ask for pictures of the body... Also, if she did not mention blood I dont believe the hen killed the males, but a territorial hen may not let the male eat or drink. She has to keep an eye on her

ok thanks dante. i will suggest that she move the cage away from the window. any other thoughts?

[tinysparrow]

so here is a picture of the male that just died yesterday. he went from fine to falling off of the perch with this white stuff on his beak. he died one hour after she took this photo, poor little guy any ideas to what it could be?

[cindy]

is that dried vomit on it's beak? what is she feeding them? In my opinion the cage is to small, if the female is chasing the males them they could be hitting the side of the cage.

[tinysparrow]

yes cindy, i too was thinking vomit. and thanks, i didn't think about them hitting the side of the cage. poor guys.

i will check with her to see what she is feeding them.