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A Little Worried about my Canary

arayabd

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Hello all!

I hope everyone's doing well! I'm a little worried about my canary, Pablo. Within the last week she's (i'm assuming) has become a very quiet. She's not singing as much or hopping around as much. She usually is usually sitting and resting on her perch, often just bobbing her tale lately. She has no discharge around her eyes or beak, her eating habits are normal (in fact she might be eating more), she just seems a bit tired over all. I'm wondering if this is because of molting season? Or could this be something else? She hasn't started losing feathers yet, and I don't think she's nesting as I left some papers in her cage for her and she played with them only briefly.

Any ideas as to what this could be?

I lost my lovebird to egg-binding a while back and am still scarred from the experience, so I think I am being a little over paranoid about Pablo's health.

Thank you so much!
 

Monaco

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Maybe add some protein and calcium rich foods. If he's a he, he will appreciate it...if she's a she (the girls don't usually sing) it will help her make new feathers and give her some calcium in case she needs it.

Lots of similar posts lately... It's definitely molting time, I think.
 

finchly

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Tail bobbing worries me. if you hold her to your ear do you hear clicking as she breathes?

What are you feeding her?

Has she ever laid an egg?
 

arayabd

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Hello,

I held her up to my ear and heard no clicking. She is on a seed and pellet mix diet, but I am considering get her more pellets as the mix has too little. She eats both.

Her tail bobbing is very very slight, I tried to attach a video but the site isn't letting me. I've attached some pictures instead; she's usually sitting on her mirror toy and getting random bursts of energy. She's never laid an egg before.

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it.


Tail bobbing worries me. if you hold her to your ear do you hear clicking as she breathes?

What are you feeding her?

Has she ever laid an egg?
 

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Monaco

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I don't know if it will help, but I have removed the option for mirrors here. It got to a point during the molt that he would only sit near the mirror, and it was too out of the usual behavior to let it continue. I actually caught him there today, sitting in the dark near the mirror. Try taking it out for a while.
 

finchly

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She does look ill, do you have a veterinarian?
It is impossible for us to know what is wrong with her. I don’t think this is molt since you aren’t seeing feathers. It could be yeast or an infection.... almost anything.
 

arayabd

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Hi all!

I tried @Monaco 's solution and took her mirror out. She's been more active and is singing a bit, but mostly seems to want to know where her mirror is. I feel a little bad that she seems distressed without it!

I've also added more pellets to her diet which she is happily eating up. It seems she's lost a couple small feathers around her left eye, I think I remember this happening last year or the year previous before she started molting. Do you think I should wait a couple days or take her to the vet? What behaviours should I be looking out for?
 

Monaco

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Is she still bobbing? I like that she's more active, but watch closely! They can go down so fast.
 

arayabd

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Is she still bobbing? I like that she's more active, but watch closely! They can go down so fast.
No bobbing yet. She's just been flying around the house and (I think) looking for her mirror. She's more active than usual which is a little weird.

Usually she's be resting on her mirror of her stick and seem to be breathing so heavily that her tail will bob a bit. That is until I stick a finger in her cage or get a little close, in which case she'll just hurry over to another stick completely normally.
 

Monaco

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@finchly ? Is this depressed/searching for a mate behavior or something medical?

@arayabd was there a molt in the last 2 months?
 

finchly

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@finchly ? Is this depressed/searching for a mate behavior or something medical?

@arayabd was there a molt in the last 2 months?
It is really hard to say from these signs. Does she have the mirror now, or is it still gone?
Is she fluffed up? I hate to say wait.... are there any feathers dropping (look on the floor)
 

Monaco

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Please excuse my confusion... There have been a few similar posts lately. Is this the bird that recently lost it's mate? How long has the behavior been happening? Are we over a week now?

Has she ever laid eggs? Are you sure about the sex?

Do you follow any treatment regimens, like quarterly scatt or something similar?

To post a video you have to link to one posted somewhere like YouTube or Instagram. Just paste the link and it will embed in the post.
 

arayabd

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@finchly @Monaco

She's never had a mate before, but I did have a lovebird that has recently passed away. Perhaps she misses her? She's gotten a bit more clingy as she'll start chirping if I leave the room.
She's never laid eggs before and I am guessing it's a she, but I am unsure. The area by her vent is flat. This behaviour has been happening for almost two weeks now. Since earlier today I put the mirror back in her cage where she is once again sitting, I felt bad keeping it out for a long time so I thought be okay to take it out for short periods of time rather than quitting cold turkey.

Thank you for the video advice; Video of Pablo Outside

After bobbing like this, she will get a completely normal burst of energy or will easily eat, drink, and fly around the house when her door is open. Or, she will stretch and then stop bobbing.
Also, you can see in the video that she is losing some of the feathers around her eye, I think this happened before a year or two ago but I can't remember exactly if she began molting after or not.

Thank you so much!!
 

Monaco

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I don't like the look of her eye, I would expect to see the other eye look similar if she were molting. But, molting can be messy, and tail and wing feathers are the only ones that are predictably symmetric. I don't have enough experience to tell. I understand your worry, and can commiserate. Mel was practically stationary after his molt. The normal thing to do is show off those new feathers to a mate. That's why I took the mirror option away. It's just unhealthy to sit all day hoping for something that won't happen. It took a couple days, but he's pretty occupied now looking for food in foraging spots I spread throughout the house.

I think the primary concerns are mites and a little depression. Failing mites, making sure that the breathing is not different respiratory issue. After that it's physical activity and psychological health.
 

finchly

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Have you seen her rubbing her head/eye? Sometimes with a sinus infection they’ll rub it a lot.

She looks fine to me.
 

arayabd

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Thank you so much everyone! I will keep an eye on her and will be sure to update (but hopefully I won't need to!)
 

arayabd

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A small update, Pablo has retreated to sitting in her food dish like this:

I've fixed her a little nest with cotton nesting pads just so she could relax comfortably and not be laying in her seeds. However, she's still just gravitating towards sitting in the seeds like this. I'm assuming she is due to lay an egg? I'm quite paranoid as I lost a bird earlier this year to egg-binding.
 

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finchly

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She might be going lay an egg. Some just like to sit in the food. If she is looking stressed or breathing open beak watch for An egg. If it isn’t laid after about 15 minutes,
Get to a vet if you can. Otherwise
Give electrolytes like Thrive, Guardian Angel or pedialyte
Put her in a small cage near humidity like running a hot shower
Do not try to expel the egg
 

arayabd

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Sorry to bother again - no egg yet! Her faeces is bit more dark brownish than her usual dark green since I've added the pellets to her diet. I just wanted to check if this was normal? It still has urates and is completely normal just a colour change.
 
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