Need help. I can’t identify whats on my cousins yellow canary

[diamondy]

Could anyone tell me what is going on with my cousins bird?

A week ago my cousins asked me to take care of their bird so they can go on vacation. Could anyone tell me what this is? She is very fluffed up yellow canary, looking very deprived of vitamins from commercial food and has dry scaly skin, cannot fly properly or chirp. The family suspects old age, but i highly doubt that, she may be 6-7 years old. I bought a multi vitamin probiotic, but its all the money i can spend to help her. What can i do to help this poor bird?

 

[WillowQ]

I’m thinking it could be scaly face mite, vitamin A deficiency, and/ or an eye or sinus infection.

birdy probably needs vet help. I guess I would ask if this canary gets any vitamins, Supplements, pellets, or dark green or orange vegetables. If the bird is on a plain seed diet maybe it could have vitamin A deficiency. The face and beak don’t look crusted enough for scaly face mite (imo).

Vitamin A deficiency is the most common deficiency in pet birds.

“All birds should also be provided with foods that are rich in vitamin A, such as red or orange vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, red peppers, squash, mango, papaya) and dark green leafy vegetables (spinach, broccoli, collards). In addition, beta-carotene supplementation is effective..”

(that’s a quote from Nile veterinary center.)

an eye or sinus infection needs opthalmic treatment or antibiotics.

I can’t guess what this is. Doesn’t have enough plaques for scaley face mites. Fits the criteria for vitamin a deficiency, though, if owners only feed seed with no supplements.

Find out if the bird gets any vitamin A. If not I would supplement it. She needs a lot of it so I’d go for vitamins but feeding orange or dark green leafy vegetables would help. It could always be an infection, too.

 

[Icey]

Poor wee bird needs to see an avian vet as soon as possible.

 

[WillowQ]

Absolutely. One could mess around with vitamin a supplementation, etc but if the bird has that much eye inflammation and skin damage, it’s so likely to have a bacterial infection.
Unfortunately I know many people aren’t willing to spend money on a tiny bird. So I’m giving as much helpful info as I can. I can make some educated guesses from the photo of the birds external condition but she needs vet care. She’s got to be miserable. Look at those eyes and the scabby rough skin. Poor thing.