Brain damaged finch? Help?

18 Nov 2011, 07:28

About 2 days ago i noticed that my blue faced parrot finch was tilting her head till it was just about between her toes (upside down) and hopping in circles on her perch. She can hop from perch to perch, feed herself and drink. But she always has her head down near her toes.

My first thought was, put her down in a couple days if she has not improoved. But as she still has not lost condition as i thought she would, should i just keep her? Will she be able to live like that? Or is it kinder to PTS?

It looks like she flew into the wall of her flight and hit her head. She currently shares a cage with another blue faced hen and the cage is your average breeder setupe (2ft breeder)

Help! What do i do with her?!

18 Nov 2011, 13:14

Could be a range of things including a crash

..........put her in a hospital cage if you have one.....A bit of electrolyte in the water.......You should separate her from the other one in case its a disease. This will also provide her with a quieter, less stressful environment.......If it doesnt help cure her it will at least improve her quality of life, even if her days may be numbered

.

I'm sure our friendly house Vets will give you their advice sooner or later............

19 Nov 2011, 06:44

If you planned to breed from her prior to this incident then I would replace her with another. I would suggest using your first Option as this what I would do. No use trying to breed from inferior or damaged stock.

If the bird is a pet then continue on your current course and see what happens. Only as suggest by Mickw isolate the bird to reduce stress levels.

20 Nov 2011, 02:46

If she has a buggered neck doesnt mean her young will be buggered

Would be funny if my 1 legged parrotfinch produced all 1 legged'dss but he did ok.

Sounds like Stargazers disease. Its noted with gouldians, they turn ther'e heads upside down and look at the sky, appear to be unhurt in anyway.
could be a deficiency or could be hereditary. Maybe in Parroties as well?

20 Nov 2011, 05:57

If she is not showing signs of discomfort then maybe just watch her closely , assess her quality of life and then decide what to do with her.

Is a 2 foot cage big enough for her to get enough flying speed up to damage herself in a night fright ?

As said if it is an injury her young will not be affected by the injury however if it is stargazers then some research would be valuable to work out long term effects on the hen and if it will effect the young.

Good luck with her ...keep us posted please.

20 Nov 2011, 21:34

It does appear to be stargazing. She has a very bad case of it. I have heard people have alot of success with the drug Nystatin.

It is prescription only at the vets. I have no avain vet in my area, so wondering if vets is even possible. But saying that, she appears to be in the more advanced stages of it. Im wondering if it would be kinder to pts anyway?

What do you guys think? Maby i should try getting a video of her? My phone has a different format to online pics so i do not no if its possible

20 Nov 2011, 22:40

I have two videos of her here.

The first video is sideways im afraid but it shows alot more what she is like because she is moving more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI_aYm6HoPw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The second video is normal angle but it doesnt show as much because she isnt moving alot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNr9hCVYQGQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

21 Nov 2011, 07:16

Nystatin and Nilstat ( same ) are available over the counter here at chemists . Ive bought them for Candida in hand rear birds as it is a anti fungal medication .

Perhaps phone your local chemist and ask them , I know its a different country but it cant hurt to ask.

I just watched the videos you posted , poor little thing looks very disoriented doesn't it .

21 Nov 2011, 22:15

The drug is strictly prescription only, And the nearest avain vets to me is miles away, she just would not live through the travel.

I suppose this is a VERY long shot but what if someone in USA/canada or Australia was to buy it and send it me? If i paid for the trouble? I have an aunt in aussie land, is it over the counter there?

21 Nov 2011, 22:20

Yes as I said I buy it over the counter . The chemist will ask what its for and I say Candida in baby birds and never have trouble getting it .
Nystatin roughly $5.00 Nilstat a little dearer .

Im not sure of the shelf life after opening the bottle, I always have a fresh unopened bottle in the fridge at breeding time so might pay to get a couple of bottles .