Gouldians with 'sleepy eyes' and puffy chests... (Video)

Is your finch sick or not well? Find out why.
Misso
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i also keep sick birds away from my main avairies, just incase its passed on. i would have him in a hospital cage, how did the heat go? did he sit next to it?

good lesson learnt i suppose about not buying an aviary bred blue and also being unsure if they foster, i hear a few blues around sydney are still fostered by breeders.

i do as much h/w as i can on breeders, especially when it comes to buying blue gouldians,

theres a few good gouldian mutation breeders here in melb. might be worth getting in touch with one of them for a chat.

Jarryd
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jusdeb
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I can understand how dissapointed you must feel but really you cant just give up on it .

How much are these birds to buy ? Isnt a vet visit going to be a small amount compared to losing this and maybe other birds .

Thing Ive learnt with birds is where there is life there is hope and Id be bringing it back inside , stop medicating it and let it fill up on seed and bottled water until it picks up a bit .

Fair enough I think to say that if it was any of the obvious diseases it would be dead by now , birds are already very sick before we see the symptoms so they generally dont last much longer than we we first discover they are sick .

Anyhoo I know I sound harsh , you can always ignore me its no biggie just my opinion .
Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue.
David Brent
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Finchy
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I'm not really giving up on it; any such emotion tends to last about 4 minutes in me as I'm the kind of person who's tempted to try CPR on roadkill just in case there's still hope...

Really I have just decided that there's nothing I can do for it by bringing it indoors and keeping it in a tiny cage on its own, that I can't approximate in a beautiful sunny aviary in the company of its peers. Confinement seems to offer no advantage and the stress could make things worse, so I am going all out to provide it with every option in the far more pleasant environment of the aviary. It would be a very different story if it were wintery, but the weather's dry and very warm today and tomorrow. The other Gouldians are looking pretty good too.

I still have the hospital cage at the ready, in case I change my mind - something I also tend to do! I will keep an eye on him.
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Simba
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Finchy wrote:Thanks for that suggestion. He has been treated with Moxidectin twice in the space of three weeks, as it just worked out that way with the timing of my and the original breeder's worming schedule, so it's very unlikely to be airsac mite. I'm reluctant to dose him a third time unnecessarily as Moxidectin has a long half-life (at least in dogs) and slows Gouldians down a lot.

That is a very interesting observation though. I will watch the videos again to see what you mean...
When he was treated before did you treat him with the Moxi directly on the skin or in the water ? I find with a sick bird it works better appling a drop direct to the back of the neck, anyway hope he makes it.
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jusdeb
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Yes Im all for fresh air and sunlight , I know it makes me feel better when Im a bit off .
Anyhoo we are all crossing our fingers for your little bird :D
Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue.
David Brent
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djb78
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Hi finchy,
As stated in previous posts that you are lead to believe that your blue gouldian is sick, it maybe lacking essential vitamins and minerals that are required for every bird. I understand that the gouldian won't attempt anything new in its diet or won't take vitamin powders. There are a few ways that might get some extra goodness into your bird, first you could put him in a big cabinet/cage with a Canary which might teach him to try new foods but if he is as dumb as you say still might not sink in, second would be to buy water soluble vitamin solution, third would be to dampen seed and sprinkle powder over the top. A soft food mix with seed is what I use with young canaries to wheen them to solids which is basic egg food plus seed mix. I don't know what you have tried but having a basic seed diet couldn be to good for him for to long, good luck and hope he comes around.
Danny
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Finchy
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Thanks folks :).

Danny, thanks for those suggestions. I have be sneaking supplement powders in with his seed and have just ordered a water soluble version, so fingers crossed. He's housed with Parrot Finches, Waxbills and a few baby Zebras, all of whom are great role models feeding-wise, but he doesn't seem to catch on!

Actually, I find that most Gouldians are slow in this respect - they take the longest to figure things out. Maybe that's why they were/are endangered! They seem less feisty or adaptable, not just physiologically but psychologically. It's not always true; I had one awesome Gouldian with a fighting spirit you wouldn't believe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNM21JwxNy8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Now that was one resourceful, never say die bird!
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jusdeb
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Wow the bird hammock is awesome . What a lucky bird . :thumbup:
Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue.
David Brent
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cookey
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Interesting thread. For what it's worth, I had a Gouldian very similar except he was so fat that he couldn't get off the floor - or though I thought. Turns out he wasn't a hundred percent and he died the afternoon I was about to start administering vitamins. The post and thread was under the heading - 'Big Fat Gouldian' - I think from October 2011. Some really good feedback from forum members so might be worth a read.

Anyway, his partner was not too far behind him, fluffed up, lethargic and floor bound with the same sleepy eyed symptoms your bird is displaying. I administered a vitamin supplement directly into her mouth. Up until this stage she could not get off the floor. Within a couple of hours, she was a lot more active, bright and began to exercise her wings. The breeder I bought her from kept her as a cabinet bird and she obviously had not done much flying, probably in her whole life. After a couple of days she was away and quickly joined the other Gouldians. This was a couple of months ago and she is now going really well.

The vitamin supplement was a First Aid emergency nutritional supplement specifically formulated for sick or orphaned birds. It was high in protein, fat, carbohydrate and energy. Hope the little fella comes good.
"If your surrounded by yes men, one of you has to go".
Colin Powell
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Finchy
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Cookey, that's very interesting! Which supplement did you use exactly? I can try to find some tomorrow.
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