HEALTH

Dear Dr. Rob, I have a male canary that is very active, alert, and healthy. However, he has made noises like sloshing wet shoes when breathing and opens his beak to clear something from his throat. During the daytime, his breathing is mostly normal followed by a few times trying to clear his throat by opening his beak and making a slushy noise. During the evening, his breathing is frequently labored. He does not expel any liquid from his mouth or nostrils. I thought maybe he had airsac mites. So I ordered S76 and treated him for 2 consecutive days in the morning for 3 weeks in a row. That didn't help. In fact he has gotten worse where the noise is more pronounced and he has stopped singing. His singing stopped when he started molting a week ago. He did try to sing a few days ago and his voice was raspy and he hasn’t tried to sing since. He is still very active and alert. Right now I have a heat blanket at the top of his cage and a warm humidifier running at night. The temperature around here has been in the 80s during the day and night time of low 70’s. His droppings is normal, he behaves normal jumping from branch to branch, staying more active than his companion (his hen) who is housed with him. She breathes normal and seems to be healthy, thus his symptoms does not appear contagious. What do you think is wrong with him? What do recommend I do? Thanks for your advice. Syn