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Question

WE have had zebra finchs for over 15 years and have never had a problem. Now we have lost 3 birds in3 days to some illness. I am putting a sick bird in a hospital cage as soon as I can see that it is sick. Our local pet shop only has ornacycline which we are using, but birs continue to get sick. I notice when one appears ill, another finch appears to become close to it and then that bird gets ill. any suggestions. The birds are in an outside cage on our patio, with daytime temps in low 90s, and nights in the 60's. cage is shaded most of the day. I inspected a dead bird and cannot find any external scabs, scales, or open wounds

Submitted: 891 days and 12 hours ago.
Category: Pet
Value: $15
Status: CLOSED
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Optional Information

Optional Information:
Age: 2; Male; Breed: Zebra Finch

Already Tried:
Ornacycline

Accepted Answer

Hi Benson. First off, you are wasting your money on that over the counter junk from a pet store. It is not full strength antibiotics. If it were, it would not be available over the counter. Birds do not handle antibiotics well anyway and it should never be given to them unless there is a specific need for it and unless a qualified Avian vet has prescribed it in a doseage based on the bird's weight and health factors. The only thing that weak mixture from the store will accomplish is to cause the bird to build up a resistance to antibiotics, making it that much harder to affect a cure when they really need real antibiotics. I'd advise you to stop with it immediately. It's good thinking on your part that you are separating one as soon as there is an indication of illness. The problem, as with all birds, is that they are not going to exhibit a symptom until they have become too weak and too ill to keep up the pretense. That masking of symptoms is one of their strongest instincts. Because of that, by the time we see something, it's almost always too late to do anything and in your case, others have become infected. We, as bird owners, have to memorize all possible symptoms and be prepared to act at the first hint of even one of them. I cannot tell you what is causing the deaths. Only a necropsy by a good vet might be able to tell you. Since they are living, basically outside, I can tell you however, they are being exposed to, and at risk of way too many airborne diseases, both fungal and bacterial and to too many parasites from outside birds. They don't have to come in direct contact with the wild birds to catch something. If you have any mosquitos in your area, they are at serious risk of West Nile Virus and that is always fatal to our birds. The best advice I can give you is to get them to a proper Avian vet for tests. What ever it is might be easily diagnosed by a test of some dropping samples. And a cure might be as easy as a proper, full strength antibiotic like Baytril or similar. The only guarantee I can give, in this format, is that nothing beyond padding the coffers of the pet store will be accomplished with their over the counter junk, no matter what an employee tells you. In case you don't already have a proper vet, I'll give you some links that should help. But depending upon where you live, do not be surprised if you have to drive further than you'd like to get to one. True, well qualifed Avian vets can be few and far between but that is what your birds need. I hope this will be helpful to you but if you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask. Patricia

Click here: Find your local Avian Veterinarian

Click here: Avian Veterinarians Recommended by Bird Breeders and Owners http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/abvpvets.htm

Click here: World Wide Avian Vet Listing

Click here: BirdsnWays - Avian Veterinarians - Vets - Vet Services for Pet Parrots & Exotic Birds

This one looks like an advertisement for Harrison pellets but they are only sold by vets so it's another good list to check. Click here: Harrison's Bird Foods is a family of certified organic pet bird diets that were formulated to make your bird as he

 

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Expert: Patricia
Pos. Feedback: 99.9 %
Accepts: 
Answered: 6/14/2007

Parrot C&onsultant

Published author, free lance bird behaviorist, adviser to the parrots at Sarasota Jungle Gardens.

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