Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First off, I want to say thank you for the welcome and for the help everyone has been so far. I have decided to trim my finches beak myself with great success. He's eating much better now, thanks alot!
I now have a new problem. My female finch is expelling small drops of yellowish fluid at random, I was wondering what the problem might be? Their diet has not been changed, but we DID just make a move into a new place (only about 3-4 KM from our last place), so that may have stressed them out quite a bit. Also, my pair is a proven breeding pair, might it be yolk?? She seems as lively as ever, and is eating well. I'm not sure at all, I've never dealt with finches before. Thanks for all the help anyone can give me!!
all the best,
Briona

np=no post

It could indicate some type of infection, so I believe a vet visit is in order for diagnosis and treatment. My rule of thumb for my own finches is "better to be overcautious than not cautious enough!" As you know, birds hide their illnesses and a day of illness for them is like a week of illness for us. So don't delay! Let us know what the vet says. Hope your little girl will be OK!

>>First off, I want to say thank you for the welcome and for the help everyone has been so far. I have decided to trim my finches beak myself with great success. He's eating much better now, thanks alot!
>>I now have a new problem. My female finch is expelling small drops of yellowish fluid at random, I was wondering what the problem might be? Their diet has not been changed, but we DID just make a move into a new place (only about 3-4 KM from our last place), so that may have stressed them out quite a bit. Also, my pair is a proven breeding pair, might it be yolk?? She seems as lively as ever, and is eating well. I'm not sure at all, I've never dealt with finches before. Thanks for all the help anyone can give me!!
>>all the best,
>>Briona

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PH Canary
Bird Forum Message Board Host

well, the yellow droppings ceased yesterday shortly after I posted. Her droppings seems to be normal color and consitancy now. She has not been laying eggs, but this morning they did something fairly odd... they did little dances and songs all around the cage and then the male mounted the female for just a moment and that was it. Also, the male has been going into the nest quite often and making quiet little "pfft pfft" sounds, what does all of this mean? I'm having a hard time finding a website on any of this. Oh, and by the way, I would take my baby to a vet, but the closest avian is 2 hours from here, so I wouldn't want to stress her out too badly if it isn't necessary... thanks for the suggestion tho if there were one around here, I think they'd see alot of me
thanks so much!!
-Bri

That's good news! Glad she's better. Sounds like your little couple is in a nesting mode. That doesn't necessarily mean babies. My finches regularly shred paper, putting it in their food bowl, and sitting as though there were eggs in there!

>>well, the yellow droppings ceased yesterday shortly after I posted. Her droppings seems to be normal color and consitancy now. She has not been laying eggs, but this morning they did something fairly odd... they did little dances and songs all around the cage and then the male mounted the female for just a moment and that was it. Also, the male has been going into the nest quite often and making quiet little "pfft pfft" sounds, what does all of this mean? I'm having a hard time finding a website on any of this. Oh, and by the way, I would take my baby to a vet, but the closest avian is 2 hours from here, so I wouldn't want to stress her out too badly if it isn't necessary... thanks for the suggestion tho if there were one around here, I think they'd see alot of me
>>thanks so much!!
>>-Bri
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PH Canary
Bird Forum Message Board Host

Your lady finch's quick return to passing normal droppings after a bit of recovery time following a stressful experience does fit the pattern of suffering a simple bout of stress-induced diarrhea--do hope that's all it was and that she's completely okay again. I see something similar twice a year when I move my small cagebirds out to the summer aviaries, then bring them back in in the fall--just the stress of the catching and the move to strange quarters always affects the more nervous individuals enough to cause them to pass liquidy droppings for the rest of the day. As long as it's temporary, the bird behaves otherwise normally, and I know there's a good reason for upset, I try not to worry about it too much and so far so good. A vet visit's in order if the problem persists much beyond 24 hours or ever suddenly developes for no apparent good reason.

As for the dancing, mounting, and rustling around in nest boxes, sounds like someone's in the family mood all right! Male birds of quite a few species will sometimes try and entice a female into a good nesting cavity by fussing around inside it and making silly sounds. Even some of my big chicken roosters do this. They climb into a nest box or into certain types of nooks and then scratch and lie down, scratch and lie down, over and over, all the while making a distinctive, rather goofy-sounding gurgling noise. Quite often a hen will come over to check things out, so it obviously works!

oh, great! I'm glad to hear it, I can't wait until they have babies... it will be amazing to watch! As for the droppings, yes, they stopped almost as suddenly as they began, about 15 minutes after my post, so I think she's fine.
Thanks again!
I can't wait to see some eggs in the nest ^__^
-Bri