Lost my first gouldian

[JEWEL]

Only got into gouldians since christmas 2011, bought two pair normals local and some yb wb and gb wb from vic.
Two days ago i noticed one of my normal hens on the floor of the cage. She was fine that morning. Her and her mate had been playing house and making a nest for the past week and a half. Anyway, when i reached in for her she didnt fly away. So i picked her up and took her inside. She was very docile, but tried to bite me a couple times. Always with eyes closed. With no hospital cage, i put her in the bird transport box with a hot water bottle pressed against the side for warmth. She sat with her eyes closed for about six hours after i initially found her this way, and then when i checked on her again - she blinked at me, twisted her head nearly 360 degrees, flipped on her back and that was it. Gone.
I have been reading posts from various areas on this forum since - i cant work out if it was egg binding, toxin, ?????
At the time, my birds were on day two of their second moxy treatment.
Any ideas? Anybody ??? I am all ears

[Misso]

sorry to hear,

im not sure what happened, could have been egg binding, good have been the meds, could have been something else.

but id suggest investing in a hospital cage, or a good heat lamp. water bottle on the side of the box would not have been enough i don't think.

was there any other signs once you had caught the bird up? did you put her up to your ear to hear if she was clicking? ASM? heavy laboured breathing?

was her vent(bum) dirty?

good to have some spark or quick gel on hand for sick birds too.

keep an eye on your other gouldians just in case.

all the best

misso

[SamDavis]

Sorry about your loss. If it's any consolation we all lose birds and unfortunately it seems to be hens more often than not.
I agree with all of Misso's comments. Probably egg bound I'd say based on the nest building (so first ever egg) and unlikely to be worm impaction as you say it's the second moxy treatment. You really need to get them hot (over 30 degrees) - even really sick fluffed birds will tend to unfluff (is that a word?) once warm enough.

[JEWEL]

[quote="Misso"]

was there any other signs once you had caught the bird up? did you put her up to your ear to hear if she was clicking? ASM? heavy laboured breathing?

was her vent(bum) dirty?


She had no noise to her breathing at all, she just couldnt seem to walk and definatley couldnt fly and just looked incredibly sleepy. Came from a pet shop ( ) and told last seasons young.
I didnt look at her bum, didnt even think to - i guess i am still new at this and very naive ( or ignorant from lack of knowledge ) but learning darn fast !!
I did have a quail once that had a very dirty backside and couldnt walk properly - i bought her inside and looked after her and she passed all this white crumbly crap ( but it didnt look like shell )
and now i pretty sure SHE was egg bound. She survived that but died about two months later for no apparent reason. I am now better prepared and better equipped for this, my birdy medicine cabinet filling up fast !!
But, where would i buy a hospital cage from ??

[Misso]

get in touch with blue butterfly, she will hopefully be able to point you in some direction to hospital cages in S.A i know you will also have some bird sales in the next few months so try and attend some of those, they may sell them their, i got mine from a bird sale.

misso

[JEWEL]

Thank You; an investment i will need to make if i plan on going further into finches!

[jusdeb]

A make shift hot box is just as good in a pinch .
A small cage + Reptile heat mat or heat lamp ( although I find heat lamps very short lived when they are turning on and off frequently ) + a thermostat ..throw a towel over for some darkness = very cozy . I hand reared my last clutch this way as my brooder box was full .

[Diane]

Sorry to hear about your bird Jewel.
I dont know of anyone that actually makes the hospital boxes, I have seen them on ebay.
I struck lucky with the one I got, someone was getting out of birds and selling all their stuff.
Before...............

P5180008 (480x640) before.jpg

After................

P5180009 (480x640) working.jpg

Prior to getting a hospital cage I used a reptile mat under a wire cage and covered just about all the cage with towels to keep the heat in.
In case you decide to have a go at making your own hospital cage check out these links to other members hospital cages.
viewtopic.php?f=84&t=4302&p=26517&hilit=hospital#p26517" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.aussiefinchforum.net/viewtop ... =40&t=1284" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
viewtopic.php?f=84&t=4302&hilit=hospital" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
viewtopic.php?f=84&t=7580&p=62867&hilit=hospital#p62867" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=8808&p=76791&hilit=hospital#p76791" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
viewtopic.php?f=75&t=3860&p=21144&hilit=hospital#p21144" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re sales, the first sale in SA is the Gawler bird club 25th March held at the Sandy Creek Oval. If you can make it, would love to meet you. Im usually helping out in the food area.

[JEWEL]

Thanks jusdeb & bluebutterfly. I helped my hubby build my aviaries and ended up doing most of the work while he acted as TA ; so i reckon i could knock up a hospital box, going by the pic you posted of yours.
And i would LOVE to go to a bird sale, i could do some serious damage to my bank balance ......but unfortunately i always working when these fun things are on. ( hospitality, gotta love it ! The job not many others want )