sick lutino finch

Learning Finch · Post by **Learning Finch** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:25 pm

I have a lutino that is bloated and lethargic. I have given ronex in the water and thrive in the food. the birds vent is not soiled. any suggestions. the bird just keeps crouching down on perch and in food bowl and just acts lethargic with droopy eyes..

bugaboo5 · Post by **bugaboo5** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:54 pm

You are referring to a lutino parrot finch, yes? Is it a hen or male? If a hen, any possibility of her being egg bound? What strength of Ronex are you using? And have you provided a heat lamp for warmth? It would be best to transport the bird to a separate hospital cage if you haven't done so already

debbie276 · Post by **debbie276** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:59 pm

If it is a hen I would offer liquid calcium ASAP along with hard boiled eggs and heat.
Good luck

Learning Finch · Post by **Learning Finch** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 5:03 pm

yes a parrot finch. I'm not sure I'm guessing its the hen. i'm using 12% ronex. These finch are in a pretty small cage. I gave some nesting material a week or so ago and the birds showed no interest. right now they are outside in the sun. I do have a heat lamp that I use on my main aviary I can use on them untill tonight. what temp should I get them?

Learning Finch · Post by **Learning Finch** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 5:04 pm

I dont have any liquid calcium on hand. any substitutions? and again what heat temp? I feed hard boiled egg at least three times a week. they ate some this morning. I do have a cuttle bone calcium mix but it has charcole so I took it out due to adding the ronex.

Learning Finch · Post by **Learning Finch** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 5:24 pm

also just guessing what the sex of the bird is. How do you tell them apart? I think lutinos need a dna test. One has a purple band and the other a orange. they are numbered...any chance the numbers have anything to do with sex??

bugaboo5 · Post by **bugaboo5** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 5:47 pm

You might be able to find liquid calcium (human grade) at your local pharmacy but you really want to have it on hand for future emergencies. It can save lives. I have saved two egg bound females who looked like they were goners with liquid calcium. Morning Bird has Calcium Plus and there is another brand called Calciboost. I'm not familiar with seeing lutinos, sorry.

Learning Finch · Post by **Learning Finch** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 5:56 pm

sent wife to CVS. How much do I give?? Just a drop from a liquid dropper?? also can I add some to the waterier with the ronivet?

Post by **Sally** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 7:22 pm

I would give her a drop of the liquid calcium to the side of the beak. It will dribble into her mouth. Heat, humidity, and the liquid calcium are the best treatments if it is an eggbound hen. You can provide enough heat with a plain desk lamp and a 60w bulb aimed at one end of the cage. If they have been in a small cage, that may be part of the problem. Parrot finches are very active and need a larger cage than many other species of finch. Good luck with it, and please keep us posted.

Learning Finch · Post by **Learning Finch** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 7:35 pm

No liquid calcium at CVS, WALLGREENS, or Wal-mart. the walmart pharmacist said to crush up rolaids said had more then enough calcium? anyone ever do that?? He also said liquid and solid (powder) calcium absorbs at the same rate?? My cage is 18x18x18. it is a temporary cage till the weather warms up then they will be in a 9'x8'x8' aviary. I just dont want them to die to the colder weather ($500.) I found a sample can of cal-D-Solve and I mixed some up in the birds water I also placed a few drops in the birds beak. the heat lamp is on. its keeping the temp of the one side of the cage 82. I can move heater closer is temp needs to be higher!

bugaboo5 · Post by **bugaboo5** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:13 pm

I'm sorry you were not able to find any human grade liquid calcium. I looked on Walgreens.com and they have it online. Ideally, you want liquid calcium for birds. I swear it can save the lives of a egg bound female. It really is a must-have for serious finch keepers. But the problem is you don't know if your lutino is female, so it's hard to say for sure you are dealing with egg binding. I'm shocked that you paid $500 for a pair of unsexed birds. That's rather an exorbitant amount to pay for two birds of unknown sexes. At that price, sex should be been determined somehow, whether it was through DNA testing or just simple observations. A male parrot finch has a thrill-like song.

Even as a temporary housing arrangement, I honestly would not recommend a cage smaller than 30x18x18 for parrot finches. Parrot finches are really active birds. I lived in Scottsdale for sometime and the winters there lasted for at least 3 months. It never snowed while I was there, but the temps in the evening and early morning were cold enough for me to shiver at times. That's a decent amount of winter time, so if you have the room, I would recommend upgrading them to a larger cage, if possible. They need the exercise and room to fly, especially as such an active species.

The key with the lamp is to have it as an option to gravitate towards, like a corner. That way, the bird(s) can escape the heat, if need be. In most cases, a sick bird will stick close to the heat source.

I hope she or he pulls through for you. Good luck.

Post by **Sally** » Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:49 am

Powdered Cal-d-solve is fine to use, mixed up into a liquid form. And I agree with bugaboo5, that size cage is really not big enough for such an active species. Parrot finches that cannot get enough exercise get fat rather quickly, which can lead to other health problems. I would think that the temperature should be just a bit warmer, more like 85 degrees but not hotter than 90, which would be too hot.

monotwine · Post by **monotwine** » Wed Jan 15, 2014 9:05 am

How is your bird today?

Ronex is for Protozoa and Canker so not sure how much use it is in this situation. Usually for a protozoal infection you would see the bird getting thin and passing blood in their poop.

Bloating is unusual in finches. What exactly are you seeing when you say bloat? Is the bird puffed up? They do this with their feathers to trap air and keep warm. It usually indicates a bird is not well.
Bloating near the crop / chest could indicate a ruptured air sac or yeast infection in the crop.

If the bird is puffed and lethargic is could be a number of things. Though if it is the hen I would also guess egg binding if the onset was quick.

Have you treated them for anything else recently? Dewormed etc? Parrot finches can be quite intolerant of some medications and react adversely to them.

Are you able to look at the poop under a microscope? Even if the vent is not soiled sometimes this can help find things if it is an intestinal issue.

Unfortunately some very acute bacterial infections can knock a little bird down quickly. I hope its nothing like that.

What medications do you have on hand? Possibly quit giving the Ronex and just give them thrive and calcium. Too much meds for an unknown illness can also cause more problems.

Hope your little one feels better soon. Heat and a quiet no-stress area is the best solution you can offer without truly knowing what is wrong.

Learning Finch · Post by **Learning Finch** » Wed Jan 15, 2014 10:05 pm

My lutino are doing well. Using Thrive, cal-d- solve and Ronex. It says to give Ronex with fledglings as a routine maintaince I'm just giving to my birds for three days. I will get a larger tempary in house cage ASAP.

monotwine · Post by **monotwine** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 4:36 am

Good to hear they doing better.

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