Aussie Finch Forum

Mate i hope its not onrithosis. And good luck.

Hi Finchman,

It's always hard to diagnose these things from photos but it does look like either a sinus infection or conjunctivitis, both of which are usually signs of an upper respiratory infection. These are usually caused by bacteria, or Chlamydia but there are other causes, too.

Tricon is a tetracycline antibiotic (chlortetracycline). It will be effective against many of the bacteria including Chlamydia.
The recommended treatment period for Chlamydia is 45 days- for other infections 10-14 days would be enough.
However, for it to be effective, you need to do 2 things:
1) Make sure there are no other sources of moisture or water during treatment ( to make sure the birds drink the medicated water). This includes not feeding greens and moist foods during treatment

2) Remove all sources of calcium during treatment as the calcium binds to the tetracycline and limits its absorption. Therefore, remove shellgrit, cuttlebone and any calcium supplements during treatment.

If you have an eye ointment you can also try applying that topically twice a day, but be careful not to smear the feathers around the eye.

The problem is that most of the best antibiotics and eye medications are prescription only.

If you don't see any improvement after 14 days, then the Tricon is unlikely to be effective.

Hope this helps.

Sorry, I forgot to mention:

Chlamydia psittaci is the causative organism of psittacosis/ornithosis/chlamydiosis.

Thanks myzomela, I have so far been using saline which we got from the chemist a while back to rinse out the eyes, that would be a good substance wouldn't it????

Saline is great. It will help flush out any muck without damaging the eyes at all.

If the eyes don't clear up over the next week then you may need the antibiotic eye ointment.