I'm clueless. I've had the parents for 3 hours and the eggs just hatched but they won't pay any attention to them. I'm kind of freaking out. Do they need to be kept warm? Have a special diet? How do I get them to care for the babies?

Ok so this is my setup for my zebra finches. In the past 2 months I have lost 2 male zebra finches I did not have them at the same time when I lost the first I got another male and I guess I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I am feeding them the bulk seed from my local pet store and both times the feeders have had plenty of food in them same with water could my female possibly be killing them for some reason? She seemed bonded with both males sleeping in the small in the back of the cage together so I though that was unlikely I also know these finches are not babies they came from an old folks home so is there a way to tell if a finch is elderly? Both males had very bright coloring and seemed very lively and both times I came home from work and they were just laying at the bottom of the cage dead I would really like to get another male for my female but I'm worried I might be doing something wrong that is causing them to die. I've had the second male for about a month and the first make I got at the same time as the female. They were together about 3 months. The female is absolutely fine eating and drinking just fine so to me that kind of rules out illness.

So, I made a post a little while ago about having one of my males becoming a hormonal terror. It kind of died down for a little while but now it's becoming something I'm becoming quiet upset watching. I know birds squabble and that's fine, but he's now going after three birds. This is an all male aviary. He seems to have his mind set on courting another one of my least dominant males who is outright not interested and makes efforts to get away. And then he seems to redirect his frustration onto another male gouldian who is more often than not, an indifferent little rock who does nothing unless he's being pecked at. He's also been going after my male shaft-tail who, as far as I can tell, isn't doing anything to provoke this. I just bought a new cage that has a divider (The amazon ones that are like 63 inches long, about 30-something tall, it's BIG). What should I do at this point? I feed pellets. I don't have places that resemble nests and actually removed my fake foliage because he was trying to set up stake up in those and it was making things worse. The cage is quite literally as bare as I can get it. I try to keep a rule of at least having as many perches as there are birds so I have six birds and eight perches so everyone has a chance to sit independently. It's probably unconventional but the only thing I can do to stop him from chasing is using a spray bottle because it doesn't scare them like it would if I physically try to interrupt it by setting up a barrier or idk what. I'm getting quite distressed myself seeing this behavior and watching my other birds be hassled. I know it's spring but this seems like overkill seeing as no other birds are displaying this level of tenacity. My other two male gouldians have for the most part paired themselves up and are very good about minding one another in terms of knowing when the other is asking for space. My least dominant male is a legitamate sweetheart and I hate seeing him being chased. I'm more upset that the bird doing it happens to be the bird that got me into gouldians so there's some sentiment there. If he wasn't, I may have already looked into rehousing and selecting a bird that's more docile. Not to mention, he's been trained to some extent as I handle my gouldians regularly when they come to me for treats. I'd appreciate some insight on what do to. I already reduced light hours, I make sure their diet doesn't have too much protein, etc.

I have two male zebra finches, pika and Hiko. Hiko has always been way more vocal than pika, but they both still vocalize quite a bit.

Well, when I let them out to fly around; Hiko starts SCREAMING. He meeps super loud and just flies around my room in circles. He seems to be having fun, but pika never really meeps that loud. I thought I might add, Hiko only does this when I let him fly around. I just let them back in their cage and Hiko is back to his normal chirp noise levels. He’s eating just fine, also drinking water fine. I checked his breathing levels and they seemed normal as well. Is he just a happy birb? Thanks!

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Hiii! I need someone experienced in house finch behavior to let me know if I seriously messed up because I’m feeling awful and panicking. We had a house finch nest in a bush outside our window for the past week that I’ve noticed them. I loved watching them grow and hearing their little peeps when momma bird would come and bring them food. I even put up a bird feeder to make it easier for her. Well today I was outside doing some yard work and noticed that the house finches in my yard were chirping like crazy and flying around. Then I see one of the babies about 20 feet from the nest hopping on the ground. It’s parents were flying frantically over it. I thought maybe it was knocked out of its nest so I picked it up and put it back in it’s nest and then noticed that the other 2 were gone as well and the nest was empty. I looked around and then saw the parents flying in circles farther away near my neighbors yard and saw another of the babies hopping in the ground. But this time when I tired to get it it actually flew! Only short distances, but it managed to get itself into a tree. Then the third baby I saw glide from a tree with its parents into the street. But then all it did was hop and a car came and almost hit it and all it could do was hop and fly/hop to the grass. So that one I caught and put back in the nest with the first one I had caught. Here’s where I’m nervous that I went wrong though: the whole time the parents were panicking and flying around above. I thought once I put them back in the nest the parents would come back once everything settled down even though the third baby was missing. But my husband said they were learning to fly and I just kidnapped them and essentially killed them now bc they’re lost from their parents. BUT then about 40 min later the momma bird came back to the nest…. But the baby birds were gone!!! And now the birds are still flying around frantically and chirping and the poor momma bird looks so distressed. Did I just doom these little birds, traumatize the mother bird, and prevent any birds from ever nesting near my house again 😭?

Can someone please tell me if this is bumblefoot? Or something else?

If you have girls, make sure that they aren’t laying eggs too often, especially if you aren’t trying to have babies. I was not diligent enough and my poor girl laid herself to death at only 4 years old.

I decided too late to separate her from her friend and she died over the night, almost certainly from laying year round. I should have been more cautious about it, but it’s too late now. So in her memory I’ll pass this along to others who may not know that excessive laying can be fatal.

Hi,

My finch birds have been napping in the day for 30 min in the afternoon, they have no other symptoms they walk around and fly around the house. They look great. We left them fly and did not cage them and they stay in the conservatory it can get quite cold. Do you think they are fine?

I have a new baby zebra finch, my 3rd😊. It is now able to fly (clumsily still) across the cage in short distances. It moves from the nest to the branches, to the swings, and down to the cage floor —where the food/water is and where the parents eat. It is also where the baby gets fed by the parents whenever they are there together.

Sometimes, the baby finch flies back up to the nest/house area and goes inside the wrong house. During these instances, the ‘wrong’ house always happens to be empty. For some, the tenants tolerate it and just perch at a nearby branch, looking in, wondering when Goldilocks is stepping out of their home. But other times, the baby is immediately clobbered (pecked viciously) by the finches who swoop in when they see the intruder. The baby manages to fly out a few seconds later.

I have observed these encounters several times and just let it be. I figure the baby finch learns from all the pain and realizes how important it is to find its way home correctly. The baby is in a way ‘battle-scarred’ from the scuffles, with a few cuts and bald spots.

But there have been a couple of times it takes loooonger than usual and the baby finch just stays put inside😱. I hear the ruckus going on and I take a peek and see the baby seemingly curled into a ball. Like it is in shock. Enduring the pecking. At that point, I fear the worst and interfere with nature and grab the baby and take it out. I then place it on a branch near its own nest, and it knows to fly home.

I am not watching the cage 24/7 lol and realize that whenever this happens, the baby eventually does fly out. I’m not sure how long it is curled in shock enduring the beating, but it does eventually fly out. I mean, it’s still alive and I’m writing about it.

The question to my long story is: are the adult finches pecking the baby to scare it away? Or are they pecking the baby with the intent to maim or kill? Are there cases where baby fitches die due to this type of aggression? Intent to kill or not?

And second question: Is the baby’s homing instinct really bonkers at this stage? Or is it just curious/adventurous and checks out other fitches’ home?

I need to get my bird kicks somewhere, but I'm not in a place financially, or responsibility wise to have my own birds - like I'm a hotel night steward in my early 20s having something that requires daylight and makes noises would not fit my lifestyle atm.

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who/what should I follow?