Bad news: Canary had a concussion?

[Adam21]

Woke up and went downstairs quickly, uncovered my birds cages. And I wasn't wearing glasses but I heard one of the daughter birds chirping loudly and went to see what's wrong. My father canary(our very first one) is gazing at the sky and twisting his neck a lot more than usual with wide open eyes. He is struggling to eat and drink. I don't know what went wrong, I added a weave rope to their cage so they could have more fun, I don't know if another canary was chasing him and he hit his head or what. I separated them all from him and I think he is having seizures. He is a bit scared and I plan to call a vet after I take a quick test at school.

Is it possible this is a concussion and can he recover or what? This is really unfortunate as he is our first pet canary and I'm really attached to him.

 

[Adam21]

Not sure what it could be, diet related or injury related? Would appreciate any help.

 

[Adam21]

Contacted vets, only one I found that treats birds and the vet is not available until tomorrow. He is able to calm down for a little but it repeats itself. I think he is having seizures, I don't know if he got scared while asleep and hit himself or was he chased. I'm removed the perches to keep him at bottom and trying to remove the weave rope without scaring him. I'm hoping this seizes soon and I can get him evaluated tomorrow.

 

[danadear]

I'm so sorry. How stressful! Hoping he recovers quickly.

 

[Adam21]

I'm so sorry. How stressful! Hoping he recovers quickly.

Thank you! It is indeed sad, he is otherwise healthy but he is a more anxious bird and doesn't like to be tamed. He is very comfortable around me, however. Not sure how this happened, I wonder if he got startled during sleep and flew around and hurt himself or what. I have caught him wake up suddenly at night and fly in panic before. Or if it is another bird chasing him. I have him separated now and took out everything. He is surprisingly eating and drinking and seems a bit more calm but his neck is still doing the same thing. Hopefully it's not bad brain damage and can recover.

 

[danadear]

Poor baby. It's so hard to see them sick. Ugh.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Hope your canary will be OK. Good that you separated him from the other birds. Keep monitoring him, make sure he is eating but especially drinking. Do get him to vet ASAP if he is still acting "off".

 

[Adam21]

Hope your canary will be OK. Good that you separated him from the other birds. Keep monitoring him, make sure he is eating but especially drinking. Do get him to vet ASAP if he is still acting "off".

Thank you, I am monitoring him and he is getting more calm and he does not appear to be having any more seizures(if that is what he's having). I am relieved that his head now appears more still but his neck is still slightly tilting to the right. I am gonna keep monitoring him until tomorrow where I will see a vet who specializes in treating birds. She is the only one in my area.

 

[finchly]

Be sure to let us know what she says is wrong. It could be one o several things.. You are probably right that he had an injury.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Keep us updated. Hope all will be well!

 

[Adam21]

Thank you all, it's been horrible seeing him like this, I have an appointment tomorrow and hoping to get good news. The good news so far is he able to fly, eat and drink. He wants his wife back in the cage with him but I can't do that yet. Hopefully he sleeps comfortably and that neck movement doesn't affect him. I have read that it could be due to trauma or ear infection among other things and the neck twirling is vertigo. Which should wear off hopefully.

If I get news that he will be okay, will probably only allow the mother back in with him so as to not stress him out.

 

[Just-passn-thru]

Oh no, how frustrating and stressful not knowing what's wrong, or what happened. It's encouraging to know that he is recovering from whatever happened. He may have had an accident that temporally knocked him out of sync, and disrupted his equilibrium. This happens with wild birds outside when they hit a window, if the injury is not to severe they usually recover. Hopefully this is what may have happened to your Canary.

 

[saroj12]

How big is their main cage and how many canaries are in it? I hope he recovers soon.

 

[Familyof12]

I'm so sorry to hear what happened.

Here is a link to what to expect and what you can do during the meantime when a bird has seizures.

January 2012 Newsletter

Please keep the bird in a low light, as calm as possible and as comfortable as possible. I hope he's okay. Please give us an update after the appointment. I'm so worried now about the poor baby. Thank you!

 

[Adam21]

Oh no, how frustrating and stressful not knowing what's wrong, or what happened. It's encouraging to know that he is recovering from whatever happened. He may have had an accident that temporally knocked him out of sync, and disrupted his equilibrium. This happens with wild birds outside when they hit a window, if the injury is not to severe they usually recover. Hopefully this is what may have happened to your Canary.

Hoping so too, I wonder how they will treat it and if it is treatable. He is sleeping on a small perch right now(the only one and at bottom of cage to help him eat and drink easily) and he seems comfortable but his neck position is worrying.

How big is their main cage and how many canaries are in it? I hope he recovers soon.

30 inches wide, I had 4 in the cage and they seemed to be fine for many months now. I did add a weave rope that they can chew and put it all around the cage. I'm hoping this didn't cause it. I don't know how this could happen. Could it be another bird attacking or he hit his head hard in the water dish? Because he likes washing his face in the water dish and sometimes comes close to hitting his head on the lid of it. Another possibility is the weave is circular shaped, and he slept on top of the bundle which put his head close to the ceiling of the cage. I wonder if he had a night freight and flew up and hit his head hard. Either way, that doesn't matter anymore, all that matters if it is treatable.

I am very empathic as a person and was the one who took care of the birds in the family. So it's been stressful and I have an headache but I believe this happens with other owners too and the birds recover.

I'm so sorry to hear what happened.

Here is a link to what to expect and what you can do during the meantime when a bird has seizures.

January 2012 Newsletter

Please keep the bird in a low light, as calm as possible and as comfortable as possible. I hope he's okay. Please give us an update after the appointment. I'm so worried now about the poor baby. Thank you!

Thank you , he looks better but needs attention on his neck. Or it's a neurological issue that may take a week to fix itself. We will know tomorrow.

 

[finchly]

I am so glad you’re taking him to the vet. If your 30 inch cage is a flight cage, I have 4 canaries in mine and it’s fine. If it’s the 30x18 honestly that’s not quite big enough. It could house 2 but not 4.

The neck thing can even be diet/nutrition related! If one of the other birds is a male it could be attacking him... I doubt it’s the toy... night frights can be dangerous to birdies. Do they have a night light?

 

[Adam21]

I am so glad you’re taking him to the vet. If your 30 inch cage is a flight cage, I have 4 canaries in mine and it’s fine. If it’s the 30x18 honestly that’s not quite big enough. It could house 2 but not 4.

The neck thing can even be diet/nutrition related! If one of the other birds is a male it could be attacking him... I doubt it’s the toy... night frights can be dangerous to birdies. Do they have a night light?

Yes I believe it is 30*18. I'm not sure if it is nutrition based because he was pretty anxious and in shock in the morning. There is a female canary that occasionally they bicker at each other but no serious fighting. I'm hoping she wasn't the one who hurt him. She's the one who got my attention and kept chirping at me as if she needed me there. That's when I noticed.

There is no night light, it's completely dark and I cover them with a sheet.

 

[Lady Jane]

I hope he gets better. Can you show us a photo of the weave rope you write about. It very well could have been night frights since the birds are in total darkness. Please use a night light for them. Canaries tend to be quite fragile birds.

 

[Adam21]

I hope he gets better. Can you show us a photo of the weave rope you write about. It very well could have been night frights since the birds are in total darkness. Please use a night light for them. Canaries tend to be quite fragile birds.

Thank you, it is like this but without toys:

.........

I will get them a night light.

 

[Lady Jane]

I see hooks on the bottom a toe or neck could get stuck in. See what others say about the toy. Thanks for the photo.