Hi From Texas

[shell2703 2]

Hello from Texas... I am proud momma of two finches I have had since July, They have just had their first clutch hatch and now I am a nervous Grandma.... Any advice would be welcome as I am so new to the world of Zebra Finches. 

 

My biggest fear is the males reaction. I ended up with this pair because he rebelled when the group he was living in had two babies... He started pecking all the feathers off the other adult pair. But so far he appears to be a doting dad spending time in the nest with the babies. So maybe it was the fact that he felt too crowded in the other house with 4 adults and 2 babies.

 

Also is it normal that they are drinking more water and taking baths all of a sudden?

 

Michelle

[norfolk flyer 208]

Michelle,

                First of all welcome to the forum, hope you enjoy your stay on here,

 

We're all a great friendly bunch any questions no prob's someone will have the answer,

 

As this is your first brood try not to interfere with the nest, I now it's hard and you're excited but try to leave them to their own ways,

 

As the young are now hatched I would give them a mashed up hard boilded egg once every two/three days, one egg mashed up and put into a dish,

 

Don't leave it in the dish for more than 24hrs in case it goes off,

 

What colour are mum and dad ? 

 

About 12/14 day from hatching you should see them looking out,

 

Hope this has helped you,

 

Keep us all posted with what happen and poss' any photo's off the family when they're out,

 

Nice one,

 

Trevor

 

Ps Happy Birthday from the Uk

[Emmy 528]

Hi Michelle
First, I'd like to send you Birthday Wishes from Scotland and hope you have a very happy  day  
 
A big Welcome to the forum too. I'm sure you will enjoy posting questions and one thing for sure no matter what your questions are they will always be answered. So don't be afraid to ask if you are concerned about anything at all.
 
Re your question about the water. Not 100% sure about them drinking more- I use similar drinkers to those that you would use in a rabbit's cage  but the  ones I have  are for birds and they just go at peck at the nozzle and get a drop of water at a time. So I'm not sure if any of my birds  drink more at any given time. Hopefully some other member may be able to answer that one
 
Now the baths - they just LOVE having a bath.
I try to let mine have the bird bath fixed onto the cage every 2nd day. If you don't have a bird bath to fit onto your cage then a shallow dish with water in it would do just the same - but if you use a dish be prepared for the water going all over the place.   Bathing is good for their feathers.  I'm sure you will have noticed how funny  they look when they have soaked themselves.

 

This is a photo of one of my birds using the drinkers I was telling you about.

 

 

Looking forward to reading your posts

Emmy

 

ps My grandson was over in Dallas last March.

[shell2703 2]

thanks yall.. I am being good and not touching the nest. but your right it is hard. Mine are the brown zebras.

 

Thanks for the hard boiled egg tip. I will make some today for them.

 

They have two water/bath bowls and then one drinker attached to their cage..I have been contemplating a bathing mister... But have not done it yet.. I am heading to the bird pet store today to look around at all the items they have there. So fare have done most my shopping online or in the big general pet store

 

Thank you for the Birthday wishes!

[Emmy 528]

Michelle

 

 I am heading to the bird pet store today to look around at all the items they have there

 

 Take care when you're there -  just hope they don't sell zebra finches and cages     you will probably finish up like the rest of us on the forum- I started of with one pair of zebra finches and now I have over 25 and  now also  have 10 canaries,4 cockatiels,10 Texan white quails   and 3 Chinese painted quails.

(Zebra Finches are a very infectious disease   ) Now I'm in the process of getting an outside aviary built.

Enjoy your shopping but don't forget I have warned you  

Emmy

[speedwaybaz 69]

Hi she'll. welcome to the forum are the zebras in Texas as big as everything else .Baz

[shell2703 2]

I might leave Credit Card at home when I go to store... lol   Everything is bigger in Texas... hee hee

[Emmy 528]

I might leave Credit Card at home when I go to store... lol  

 

That would be a good idea but don't take ready cash either

By the way did you buy anything when you went out or did you resist the temptation? (lol)

Emmy

[shell2703 2]

I got some food... and some mullet sprays....and a toy that lets them pull little tiny fibers out of it... I thought that might interest him since hes been looking for hay to put in the nest... lol he is digging it out of bottom of cage... but takes him long time so I not worried about him burring the babies.

[Emmy 528]

 Michelle

Be careful about giving them more nesting material when they have chicks in the nest this may encourage them to want to start breeding again and maybe start neglecting the chicks.

 

What you can do if the male bird is looking for nesting material is to tie 2 or three bunches of string (string you would use tie up a parcel.)onto the cage front - I usually cut about 4or5 10cm lengths then fold it in half and loop it through the cage wires this keeps them busy teasing out the string but doesn't give them material to add to the nest. this also helps if they start pecking each other.

 

They love the millet sprays, another seed the do like is Panicum millet - this is good for the chicks when they begin to start feeding on  their own.

 

Hope this helps

Emmy

 

ps Did the pet store not have any zebra finches for sale  

[birdfan13 34]

Hi There

I started with 2 and now have erm 17 with 6 eggs in a nest at the moment.

I am banned from our bird shop 

As Emmy knows I am always tempted to get more birds if I visit the shop so my husband said no more! Ha Ha.

Marie