INTESTINAL COMPLAINTS.
Intestinal troubles in canaries arise in most cases from the food or water supply and are avoided by cleanliness and proper care. Dirty water cups with foul water, decayed or soured fresh or soft foods, or a poor seed supply lead inevitably to trouble. Should the canary contract diarrhea, remove all green and soft foods from the cage for a time and give only the normal seed supply. As a remedy, add a small quantity of Epsom salts to the drinking water for a day. If there is no improvement, feed the bird a bit of moist bread, with the surface covered lightly with bismuth (subnitrate), or place an ounce of water in the drinking cup, to which have been added three or four drops of tincture of opium. For constipation, the addition of lettuce, apple, chickweed, or other green food to the regular menu is usually sufficient; if not, a pinch of Epsom salts may be added to the drinking water. The quantity of the purgative should be enough to impart a faintly saline taste to the solution. Castor oil is not a good corrective remedy for small birds.
Occasionally birds in confinement “go light,” or waste away until they are far below their normal standard of plumpness, without marked symptoms of disease. In such cases change the seed supply, making sure that the seed is fresh and wholesome, and vary the diet with green foods, and with bread softened with milk. It is also beneficial to change the location of the cage; if possible, place the cage where it will receive the sun for a few hours each day, except in the heat of midsummer. Make sure that the canary is not infested with mites.
When worms are present, as sometimes happens, small fragments of these internal parasites may be seen in the droppings when the cage is cleaned. As a remedy, place in the drinking cup 8 or 10 drops of tincture of gentian in an ounce of water. This may be given for two days, and, in addition, two drops of olive oil may be administered in the bill by means of a medicine dropper.
For more serious complaints than those enumerated it will be well, if possible, for the amateur to seek the advice of some person with experience in handling cage birds.