sick bird?

Yellow Billed and Red Billed (Hecks)
Includes Species Profiles
Post Reply
User avatar
meepmeeps
...............................
...............................
Posts: 76
Joined: 16 Jul 2012, 06:37
Location: England

my hand reared shaft tail is acting weird. a few times in the last few days ive seen him sit with his beak open but didnt seem to be gasping for breath. today i come home and he was sat quietly with his girlfriend with his beak open sleeping a lot. he doesnt seem as active at all but he doesnt looked puffed up at all. he sits there with his wings slightly away from his body as if you were rubbing his tummy and beak open with eyes closed. normally when i call him he opens his eyes and looks very alert but not today, something is wrong! as im writing this he is in his nesting box sleeping and his mate is out flying about the room. i put one drop of ivametrin on his back shoulder since i thought it might be the dreaded air sack mite infestation. i treated his partner for it too at the same time. since their feathers are so dense i had to use a cotton bud and applied the stuff that way (hoping it touched the actual skin). does anyone recognise these symptons combined or know if it might be something else wrong with him? he appears to be the only one who looks bad. thanks
User avatar
Buzzard-1
...............................
...............................
Posts: 4721
Joined: 27 May 2010, 21:24
Location: Narrabri North West NSW
Location: North West NSW

I think your on the right track with the air sac mite,Any clicking or wiping beak on perches?
User avatar
meepmeeps
...............................
...............................
Posts: 76
Joined: 16 Jul 2012, 06:37
Location: England

i dont hear anything unusual when listening to him breath and ive not noticed him beak wiping but i have seen him sneeze or cough a few times in the last week or so. im not sure how long i should expect to see any results when using ivamectin but if i have to treat all the birds in my room im going to need some more bottles since i now have about 40 or so birds in my room but not all in the same cages. the bird who has the problem is a free flying bird so he would have had direct contact with all the birds through the cages. im not 100% sure the treatment actually reached the skin since his feathers are pretty dense and i used a cotton bud to wipe it on the back of his net between the shoulder blades.
User avatar
Craig52
...............................
...............................
Posts: 4979
Joined: 11 Nov 2011, 19:26
Location: victoria

To me your bird is very stressed,be it heat or it has eaten something toxic as it is free flying.Medicating the bird will make it even more stressed,and possibly kill it.
All you can do is place it some where quiet and keep the fluids up to it,you may have to use an eye dropper with electrolyts in it. Craig
User avatar
meepmeeps
...............................
...............................
Posts: 76
Joined: 16 Jul 2012, 06:37
Location: England

this morning he seems a lot better and i will say it does get pretty hot in my home. i keep the windows open only a fraction and i have a extraction fan on 24/7 that is very high powered to remove old air as well as force fresh air into the room. i do worry about this particular bird as i have a very soft spot for him as he was my first hand reared finch :) and he's very cute :D he is a lot more vocal for sure and flying about again. you might be right, he does seem to eat everything he can get his beak on :D ive removed all of the toxic plants long ago so i know its not a plant, i only keep herb plants that are good for them now so they have something to nibble on :) will keep you updated if there is any change. thanks
Post Reply

Return to “Long Tailed”