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Urgent My Gouldian struggles to perch and fly

MarimaChan

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Marissa
Hello im marissa, im brand new to this website and I hope i'm posting this in the right forum, okay so I have a Male gouldian finch his name is picasso, i've had him since july , he was giving to me from someone who was suffering from cancer, basically they couldn't keep up with taking care of him and his former cage mate passed away before I got him, when I first got him he was in really bad shape
, he was completely bald on his head, while I was taking care of him I noticed that he wasn't as good as jumping around and perching like my zebra finches, he was pretty much really bad at sticking a landing sometimes and I wasn't really sure if that was normal for gouldian finches cause to be honest I pretty much knew nothing about gouldians cause I never had one before, I kinda brushed it off cause I thought that gouldians weren't parkour masters like zebra finches, after a couple months of having him all his feathers grew back and he has was looking really healthy
, well anyways he has been really healthy until recently, I noticed that he has been REALLY bad at perching and he keeps falling to the bottom of the cage, I have also noticed that he can hardly fly now, whenever he tries to fly he just goes straight down, he's also been balding a little bit on the back of his neck, (im sorry but I don't have any current photos of him to share cause my phone broke) I was getting really worried about him, it turns out that he might have this thing called “twirling” I think? Is there anything that I can do for him to feel better, he keeps hurting himself when he falls and it breaks my heart so much, I put him in a really small cage for now so he cant fall from a High height, I love my picasso with all my heart and It really hurts to see him suffering, is there anything that I can do for him?
 

MarimaChan

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im really worried about him he also kept getting his wing stuck to the grate at the bottom of the cage, I put a paper towel down so he cant get his wings stuck again
 

MarimaChan

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Can you take him to the vet?
I definitely want to but I might not be able to take him for a few weeks until I start working. I just wanted to see if there is something to at least help him for now so he doesn't suffer as much :(
 

finchly

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It doesn’t exactly sound like twirling based on your description, but you know better than I.
Here’s an article on twirling.
Are his nails trimmed? Do you have any perches other than the plastic one?
I see him beside a zebra finch. That one could be plucking the feathers on his neck. Usually I don’t recommend keeping zebras with Gouldians because they’re more rambunctious.
Also if he has mites that could possibly cause his clumsiness, and the missing feathers.
 

MarimaChan

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Marissa
It doesn’t exactly sound like twirling based on your description, but you know better than I.
Here’s an article on twirling.
Are his nails trimmed? Do you have any perches other than the plastic one?
I see him beside a zebra finch. That one could be plucking the feathers on his neck. Usually I don’t recommend keeping zebras with Gouldians because they’re more rambunctious.
Also if he has mites that could possibly cause his clumsiness, and the missing feathers.
Thank you so much for the reply! 1: Thanks for the suggestion I should get his nails trimmed just in case. 2: yes they have those uneven bendy perches in the cage, it's just not shown in the pictures. 3: He started balding after I separated him and put him in a smaller cage (so he doesn't fall from a high height and hurt himself) . 4: There might be a possibility that he could have mites but I'm not exactly sure. Is there a way I can get rid of them? Do you have any recommendations to get rid of the mites?

-Also I forgot to mention this but the only reason I have him with zebra finches is because his former cage mate died before I got him. I would love to get more gouldians but i'm on a tight budget for now, gouldians can be a bit expensive, should I get a more budget friendly finch for now like a society finch to be his cage mate? Are society finches more friendly to gouldians?
 
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finchly

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I like that you moved him to the small cage. That was a good idea.
Mites are easy to get rid of. If you’re in the US look for SCATT. You put a drop on the thigh or back of neck. Follow directions on the package exactly (another treatment at 21 days).
In the UK I believe you’d look for moxydectin.
 

MarimaChan

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Marissa
It doesn’t exactly sound like twirling based on your description, but you know better than I.
Here’s an article on twirling.
Are his nails trimmed? Do you have any perches other than the plastic one?
I see him beside a zebra finch. That one could be plucking the feathers on his neck. Usually I don’t recommend keeping zebras with Gouldians because they’re more rambunctious.
Also if he has mites that could possibly cause his clumsiness, and the missing feathers.
Also thank you for sending the link, my gouldian does the same thing as the finch in the video, he twitches his head alot and when he tries to fly he flies in circles at the bottom of the cage. I'm gonna try some of the stuff that was in the article to see if that would help.
 

MarimaChan

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Marissa
I like that you moved him to the small cage. That was a good idea.
Mites are easy to get rid of. If you’re in the US look for SCATT. You put a drop on the thigh or back of neck. Follow directions on the package exactly (another treatment at 21 days).
In the UK I believe you’d look for moxydectin.
Thank you so much I really appreciate the help :) :finch5:
 

finchly

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Also thank you for sending the link, my gouldian does the same thing as the finch in the video, he twitches his head alot and when he tries to fly he flies in circles at the bottom of the cage. I'm gonna try some of the stuff that was in the article to see if that would help.
Ahhh so it is twirling. I hope you’re able to fix him.
 
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