My Experiences with Parrot Finches
(The Avicultural Review July 1985 Vol 7 No 7)
(Printable Version - PDF file - Free Adobe Reader download)
By Frank Gibson
This article may be of help to other breeders whose birds may have worms. I have bred Blue and Red-faced Parrot Finches, as well as other varieties successfully. I have wormed my birds every month with Nilverm for Gizzard and Roundworm. For Tapeworm I had used Mansonil every three months. I had administered Mansonil in the water, stirring every two hours for two days (what a job!).
Every four to six months one would die for no apparent reason. In desperation I took one to the Vet for an autopsy. The result was that it had tapeworms badly.
The Vet mixed up Droncit with icing sugar and I mixed it with cake and sprouted seed. I took away all other food and gave it to them for one day. Five days later I took samples of the droppings back to the Vet – the results were clear. What a relief! That was March 1985 and so far they look 100% fit and are breeding well again.
The Vet said that he had seen tapeworms in Finches so bad that they were hanging out of the vent. He also said that tapeworms are more prevalent in Finches than other types of worms.
I thought this may be the trouble that we have with Parrot Finches.
See Also:
"Some Thoughts on Worms" and "Tapeworms and Gizzard Worms"
(The Avicultural Review September 1986 Vol. 8 No. 9)
"The Red-faced Parrot Finch
(Erythrura psittacea)"
(ASNSW Meeting - December 2012)
"The Blue-faced Parrot Finch
(Erythrura trichroa)"
(ASNSW Meeting - August 2013)