Drache
Songster
Hey all,
At my job I am in charge of an aviary display that houses about 70 finches, canaries, button quail, and diamond doves. We recently overhauled the whole thing and replaced all the nests and everything. In the process we ended up disturbing a nest that had a single baby in it, and even though we replaced it right away, the parent birds never returned to the nest to take care of the baby. Unsure which birds are responsible for this little one, we took him out and put him in an incubator. He has zebra finch tail stripes but his beak is black, so I'm wondering if he may be a zebra/society hybrid as opposed to a full-bred zebra finch. I don't know when their beaks change to orange.
Regardless, I have been hand-feeding him with Harrison's juvenile parrot formula for about two weeks and he seems to be doing well. He has steadily gained weight, his plummage looks good, and he is very active. He has learned to jump/fly from the ground of his small cage to a perch I placed in his small cage. I have started offering him millet, seeds, and water in a bowl but he does not seem to be eating it with any consistency. When I hand-feed him his skin is so thin I can actually see the seeds in his crop, but he still cries and postures for me to hand-feed him when he sees me.
Does anyone know how long it takes zebra finches to wean and fledge? And how should I go about doing that? My goal is to eventually put him back in the big aviary. Do I just need to start spreading out the time between feedings so he is forced to eat seeds? What about teaching him how to drink water? Any advice is appreciated.
-Bex
At my job I am in charge of an aviary display that houses about 70 finches, canaries, button quail, and diamond doves. We recently overhauled the whole thing and replaced all the nests and everything. In the process we ended up disturbing a nest that had a single baby in it, and even though we replaced it right away, the parent birds never returned to the nest to take care of the baby. Unsure which birds are responsible for this little one, we took him out and put him in an incubator. He has zebra finch tail stripes but his beak is black, so I'm wondering if he may be a zebra/society hybrid as opposed to a full-bred zebra finch. I don't know when their beaks change to orange.
Regardless, I have been hand-feeding him with Harrison's juvenile parrot formula for about two weeks and he seems to be doing well. He has steadily gained weight, his plummage looks good, and he is very active. He has learned to jump/fly from the ground of his small cage to a perch I placed in his small cage. I have started offering him millet, seeds, and water in a bowl but he does not seem to be eating it with any consistency. When I hand-feed him his skin is so thin I can actually see the seeds in his crop, but he still cries and postures for me to hand-feed him when he sees me.
Does anyone know how long it takes zebra finches to wean and fledge? And how should I go about doing that? My goal is to eventually put him back in the big aviary. Do I just need to start spreading out the time between feedings so he is forced to eat seeds? What about teaching him how to drink water? Any advice is appreciated.
-Bex
