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I've never had a bird in my life, until I went to the pet supply store for my dog. I always check out the birds just to see.
Happen to notice one lil' guy who is bald and one by one is being pecked at by alot of others. I brought him home with a new birdcage and the basic supplies. He or she is eating and drinking water and until today not making any chirping noise. He opens his mouth as if to stretch but nothing comes out. Now he's mostly on the bottom and breathing like panting with his head tucked in his wing. I cover him at night and I just found out how important sunlight is which I haven't been doing. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm afraid He's dying while all along I thought I was rescueing him from that. Poor little guy. If I got another one for company wouldn't that one start pecking at him? Please advise and how to care for him if he passes. He's totaly bald on head and neck. Thank You.

Definitely doesn't sound good. It is always very challenging when you rescue an animal from a pet shop. You might want to definitely consider getting him to a qualified avian vet for a fast checkup. A bird that is sitting on the bottom of the cage (unless it is a baby), is not usually a healthy bird. And birds wait to show any signs of illness until they are pretty bad off.

With that said, finches are social creatures. You almost always have to have at least two finches in a cage. You might be able to get away with having two cages, side by side, so they can see each other and hear each other, though.

What kind of finch is he? I have heard from several sources that zebra finches are notorious at picking on each other.

Let us know how he does.

>>I've never had a bird in my life, until I went to the pet supply store for my dog. I always check out the birds just to see.
>>Happen to notice one lil' guy who is bald and one by one is being pecked at by alot of others. I brought him home with a new birdcage and the basic supplies. He or she is eating and drinking water and until today not making any chirping noise. He opens his mouth as if to stretch but nothing comes out. Now he's mostly on the bottom and breathing like panting with his head tucked in his wing. I cover him at night and I just found out how important sunlight is which I haven't been doing. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm afraid He's dying while all along I thought I was rescueing him from that. Poor little guy. If I got another one for company wouldn't that one start pecking at him? Please advise and how to care for him if he passes. He's totaly bald on head and neck. Thank You.
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sue

Hello,
Thank you for your respones. He is still with us. I got him a much larger cage and a full spectrum light. I started putting a skin and plumage supplement in the food. The place I got him told me he was under 1yrs. old. His feathers are slowy growing back on his head. But, all he does is sleep and eat. He stays pretty much on one perch and sleeps w/ his head tucked in one wing. Really have to make an effort to wake him up and when he does open his eyes he goes back to head in wing thing. As if his reality is too much to bare awake. I keep everything clean, fresh water, hanging mullet, cuttlebone, a nest(not sure if I should). Maybe another buddy would be the answer. Should it be same sex? I don't want to breed. Thanks alot for your response. Like I said before, never had a bird.
Sincerely,
Bolter95

I would definitely get him another finch, although you will have to quarantine it to make sure that there is nothing contagious from either one. You can put the two finches in the same room so they can see each other and hear each other (although technically you SHOULD quarantine in another area of the house). After about a month or so, you can put them into the same cage.

What kind of finch is it?
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sue

Hi
It's a zebra finch. What about same sex together or would that cause a problem? I can't have them mating here where I live.
Thanks.
Bolter95

are pretty darn prolific, so you would want the same sex. HOWEVER, zebra finches can be pretty darn aggressive. So you have to watch for that. Kind of a catch-22 situation. Perhaps if they started fighting, you could have the one cage set up right next to the other one, so they have company, but no physical contact.

If you do end up with the opposite sex, you can just take the eggs and throw them away. I know people who do that, also.

I have gouldian finches, and I have to have one finch outside of the other two, cause the females fight. I am having a bigger cage built, so I hope that with the increase in space, the fighting will stop. Plus I will be adding more birds in there, as I have heard that you can have two gouldian finches in one cage, or six or more in a bigger flight cage, but not any numbers in between.

Hope that this helps.
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sue