Quail Sick and Acting Funny

[silverbird317]

Hi, my quail has been sick for a while and losing a lot of weight. Her poop is watery. Today, her head kept on point up, and she keeps on rolling when someone’s not holding her. Does anyone know what’s causing this? Here’s a video of what’s happening. Thank you!

 

[Susan Skylark]

She has neurologic problems (brain issues). Could be viral (west Nile or sleeping sickness possible but not directly transmissible to you), toxin exposure (pesticides, etc), could also be a tumor. Prognosis is grave, but little threat to you or other birds.

 

[silverbird317]

I see. Is there anything that I can do for her?

 

[Nabiki]

I agree that her chances are good. Watery poop implies that she hasn't been eating.

What have you been feeding her?
How old is she?
Has she been out in extreme heat?

 

[silverbird317]

I've been feeding her game bird feed, also watermelon rinds. I also gave her a bit of aspirin. She had a fever last night, so I gave a fourth of a tablet. She's about 8 months old. She was outside a couple weeks ago, but we gave her plenty of cover, and its been too hot for her to go out these past few weeks.

 

[Nabiki]

The watermelon rinds should be fine as long as it is 10% or less of her diet, but aspirin is toxic to birds!

8 months is in her prime, so it's not age related. Is it possible that she hit her head? That wouldn't explain the weight loss, though. You could try giving her some Nutri-Drench to give her an energy boost, but I'm not sure if it would do any good.

Is a vet an option? I don't know that a vet will be able to help at this point, though.

I hate to be morbid, but you may want to send her to your state necropsy lab if/when she passes.

 

[silverbird317]

I'll cut back on the watermelon rinds. I didn't know that aspirin was poisonous to birds. I saw online that quails could be given a small amount, and I've given them to my quails before, but I’ll stop doing that since they’re poisonous. I'll keep watching her and give her the NutriDrench.
Unfortunately a vet isn't really an option anytime soon. Is there a reason you're suggesting a necropsy lab?

 

[Nabiki]

I'll cut back on the watermelon rinds. I didn't know that aspirin was poisonous to birds. I saw online that quails could be given a small amount, and I've given them to my quails before, but I’ll stop doing that since they’re poisonous. I'll keep watching her and give her the NutriDrench.
Unfortunately a vet isn't really an option anytime soon. Is there a reason you're suggesting a necropsy lab?

Just in case it's disease. That's something you want to know for the health of the rest of your birds. I think the standard tests are about $30, but with inflation, it might be more these days.

 

[silverbird317]

I see. Thank you for the help!

 

[silverbird317]

She didn’t make it, unfortunately. Thank you so for the help!