LyricalDream
Meeting neighbors
- Joined
- 4/2/18
- Messages
- 44
A few months ago my mother wanted to get some little birds to replace her lovebirds. She decided on zebra finches since they're supposed to be super easy. We went to Petco (or Petsmart, whichever) and asked the saleslady about them. She set us up with a cage, nest, feeders, food, and a pretty male. She stressed that finches don't do well without a friend, and males hate each other, so we ended up picking up a female a few weeks later. I should have known better.
The pair that I have are fairly young, I think. My female died a few months ago (cat attack...) so I got another one in December(ish?) The petstore told us they had found nine eggs in the cage that morning, and there was only one other female, so it was probably her eggs too. So she's laid not too long ago. They suggested a calcium supplement for the female just to help her out since she'd had eggs.
About the 18th or so I was cleaning their cage and found out she'd laid more eggs in her nest. (I didn't even know he was building one. He's fast, and the cage is high up so I don't always see in) I wasn't too worried, as that's happened before but non have hatched. I give them a while and then take them out. Today was the day I was going to start removing them, buuuttt....
Two days ago I was in the room using the computer when I noticed both were very agitated. Very. So I went to go look, and she sat on the nest while he stood guard outside. He'd puff up and look adorable. A quick check confirmed my fears. I have a baby! I scratched my head, did a quick Google search, and discovered you just leave the parents be. So I've tried to (But a baby is neat, I've never seen one before. I admit to checking on them more than I should....)
Yesterday the mother was on the floor, which isn't unusual (he did 90 percent of the egg sitting) but that night when I checked on them again they'd had another baby and tossed it out of the nest. It died. This morning they have a third baby, which they haven't tossed yet.
Now I'm super worried and have a few questions - clearly I'm out of my depth here...
1) Are they going to toss the new baby? Is there anything I can do for it? Could it be that the second baby was sick?
2) What the heck do I do with the final egg? (She had five - one broke) Do I leave it until the baby leaves the nest if it doesn't hatch? I know messing with them too much can make them abandon their nest.
3) What should I be feeding them? They're on a seed diet at the moment with a calcium supplement. I assume this isn't a good time to start messing with their food?
4) How can I keep this from happening again? Or at least too soon so she doesn't overwork herself? They've been together less than two months!
5) The petstore lady was very sure that finches can't be housed together. Does this mean when the babies are old enough I need to put them in a new cage? It's not a very large cage (18x22 I think) and I know it couldn't support four birds.
Help? I have no idea what to do and I feel very stupid for not seeing this coming. I've had finches off and on for over a year and non of the eggs hatched before so I just kind of assumed they never would. I don't want the babies - or parents! - to suffer because I was clueless. It's not their fault they did what comes naturally to them.
The pair that I have are fairly young, I think. My female died a few months ago (cat attack...) so I got another one in December(ish?) The petstore told us they had found nine eggs in the cage that morning, and there was only one other female, so it was probably her eggs too. So she's laid not too long ago. They suggested a calcium supplement for the female just to help her out since she'd had eggs.
About the 18th or so I was cleaning their cage and found out she'd laid more eggs in her nest. (I didn't even know he was building one. He's fast, and the cage is high up so I don't always see in) I wasn't too worried, as that's happened before but non have hatched. I give them a while and then take them out. Today was the day I was going to start removing them, buuuttt....
Two days ago I was in the room using the computer when I noticed both were very agitated. Very. So I went to go look, and she sat on the nest while he stood guard outside. He'd puff up and look adorable. A quick check confirmed my fears. I have a baby! I scratched my head, did a quick Google search, and discovered you just leave the parents be. So I've tried to (But a baby is neat, I've never seen one before. I admit to checking on them more than I should....)
Yesterday the mother was on the floor, which isn't unusual (he did 90 percent of the egg sitting) but that night when I checked on them again they'd had another baby and tossed it out of the nest. It died. This morning they have a third baby, which they haven't tossed yet.
Now I'm super worried and have a few questions - clearly I'm out of my depth here...
1) Are they going to toss the new baby? Is there anything I can do for it? Could it be that the second baby was sick?
2) What the heck do I do with the final egg? (She had five - one broke) Do I leave it until the baby leaves the nest if it doesn't hatch? I know messing with them too much can make them abandon their nest.
3) What should I be feeding them? They're on a seed diet at the moment with a calcium supplement. I assume this isn't a good time to start messing with their food?
4) How can I keep this from happening again? Or at least too soon so she doesn't overwork herself? They've been together less than two months!
5) The petstore lady was very sure that finches can't be housed together. Does this mean when the babies are old enough I need to put them in a new cage? It's not a very large cage (18x22 I think) and I know it couldn't support four birds.
Help? I have no idea what to do and I feel very stupid for not seeing this coming. I've had finches off and on for over a year and non of the eggs hatched before so I just kind of assumed they never would. I don't want the babies - or parents! - to suffer because I was clueless. It's not their fault they did what comes naturally to them.