Well... my baby has one eye and a crossed beak.

[Lithium]

Have you taken out the nest yet? That probably was what was causing the dad to pluck the baby.

[fhgwgads]

I am going to... I took the Dad out first to stop him... but I didn't wanna stress them too much so I am waiting for them to settle down a little bit then I will take it.

Does anyway have any advice on what to do if Mama doesn't feed him? I am afraid to put him back in with the Dad now... I hope that removing the nest would help but still... I need to keep him fed!

[Lithium]

Removing the nest should make the male less prone to pluck. He was probably plucking the baby to have some fresh materials for the nest.

[Nanajennie]

fhgwgads I remember experiencing this. I had to take dad out and leave mom and three chicks in, and I didn't know what to do about the nest, I was advised to remove the nest and I REMEMBER BEING SO NERVOUS THAT THEY WOULD ALL DIE WITHOUT A NEST. The reality is, they thrived and all three chicks made it. They can sleep on perches just fine. If your bird has fledged and mom is feeding, she will feed on the perches/floor etc... I say take the nest out and put dad where they can't see eachother.

Good luck!

[fhgwgads]

Thank you for the encouragement Nanajennie! I know they will be fine without the nest and that they do not need it at all. They will be perfectly fine sleeping on the perches. I just didn't want to add extra stress considering it took around 20 minutes to try and catch the Dad and of course they were all freaking out.. and I already took the baby out previously. I figured I would just leave it in for tonight, let them settle down and relax, and remove it tomorrow for good.. or at least until the baby is weaned and on his own then I might just provide it for him in his own cage.

I am concerned that Mom might not feed the baby because Dad was feeding him for the most part. Hopefully when I take the nest out her attention will be on him and not her eggs.

And Lithium, at first I thought they were plucking for material but Dad was pulling out clumps and dropping them all... not bringing any into the nest. I caught him in the act several times and he would grab them from the baby's butt and then drop them all... and he also took out all 6 of the baby's spotted tail feathers. I don't know if that is because the tail is his idea of the most attractive part or if it's just an easy target.. but I am pretty sure that he sees the baby as a competition.. the baby has been starting to copy the way the Dad sings a little bit so I am assuming he will be a boy.

But I am taking things one step at a time! Thankfully I did see baby trying to mimic the parents today as far as feeding.. he was over by a millet spray picking at it.. but he wasn't picking at the seeds.. just the spray itself.. and then he went to the bottom on the cage and started picking at sprouts, eggs, and broccoli.. so I hope he will figure it out! I am just glad that I have advice and info from everyone here! I have kept parakeets for over 10 years but none of them had babies. I know quite a bit about birds, and have read a lot of info on Zebra Finches but no matter how much you read once you are faced with a situation personally it's like you still have no idea what you should do even though logically you know what is right! And of course I don't want to stress my babies out too much. Thankfully dad has settled down, Mom is in the nest for tonight, and baby is sleeping on top of the nest.

Should I wait until baby is completely weaned before reintroducing Dad? Or should I attempt to put him back with them a few days after the nest has been removed?

If baby isn't being fed by Mom I might have to put Dad back because he was the one feeding baby.. but should I then remove Mom? I don't think baby will eat from me if I try again and I can't force him... all I can do is provide eggs, seeds, pellets, etc.

I hate having to separate them and catch them to put them in different cages or stress them out. I don't want to destroy their trust in me but I don't want to do what is wrong for any one of them. Especially baby since he already has slight scissor beak and one eye!

[Zebrafincher]

The handicapped finches are the ones that get into your heart! I lost my little star finch Fruit, who couldn't fly (had a broken wing at a year old).He adapted very well, and lived for about 7 years. Good luck with your little one

[fhgwgads]

Soo... Dad was out yesterday evening and just went back in. Baby was SCREAMING in starvation.. and I watched Mom do NOTHING. And since Baby won't eat from me I put him back. I had taken out the nest too but when Dad got back in he was too busy looking at where the nest used to be and ignoring the starving baby so I put it back in for now... baby is fed... I will wait a little longer so he will catch up and then nest comes out. Hopefully this will stop him from plucking the baby. But apparently Mom doesn't know how to feed big babies only little ones? UGH.

[Diana]

Soo... Dad was out yesterday evening and just went back in. Baby was SCREAMING in starvation.. and I watched Mom do NOTHING. And since Baby won't eat from me I put him back. I had taken out the nest too but when Dad got back in he was too busy looking at where the nest used to be and ignoring the starving baby so I put it back in for now... baby is fed... I will wait a little longer so he will catch up and then nest comes out. Hopefully this will stop him from plucking the baby. But apparently Mom doesn't know how to feed big babies only little ones? UGH.

Giving him more nesting material should help with the plucking. At least he has something to play with. That is what I did with mine in a similar situation, then removed the nest for a couple of days, by the time I put it back he had forgotten about plucking.

[fhgwgads]

I had tried that yesterday but he was still plucking the baby... it seems that being in solitary all night and part of the day has caused him to settle down. He did a good job feeding the baby once he was put back in so for now they are all calmed down. If it starts up again I will try giving him some more but hopefully the nest being absent will curb it as well. I just need this baby to wean! I don't know what to do if he isn't being fed... especially if Mom won't feed him. The baby was flipping out, even jumping on her to get her attention and she just sat there like, "Derp?"...

[fhgwgads]

I had tried that yesterday but he was still plucking the baby... it seems that being in solitary all night and part of the day has caused him to settle down. He did a good job feeding the baby once he was put back in so for now they are all calmed down. If it starts up again I will try giving him some more but hopefully the nest being absent will curb it as well. I just need this baby to wean! I don't know what to do if he isn't being fed... especially if Mom won't feed him. The baby was flipping out, even jumping on her to get her attention and she just sat there like, "Derp?"...

[Ginene]

fhgwgads
Unreal!!! And zebras are "suppose to be good parents." Well, after hearing about your pair and finding 2 of my zebra hatchlings buried alive by their parents, I'd say that statement is not true...I hope your baby weans asap!

[Nanajennie]

Ginene my zebbies were great parents And my mom raised tons of them with a lot of success .... It's seems like you two just had bad luck Don't give up!! Sounds like everyone has had some amount of bad luck. I am sure I will in the future ugh. I dread it I pray not though

[Ginene]

Nanajennie
Honestly, Peach and Marty have been the bullies of the bunch since day 1. They have continuously sat and sat on clutch after clutch, only to tear the nest up and bury all of their fertile eggs 2 days before hatch date. And now they've buried 2 healthy babies alive, expecting to start another clutch. I think it's actually Marty who's the problem. He is a real head case and doesn't know what to do with himself when Peach is sitting in the nest. Peach was doing so well...a really protective mommy bird...Marty just wants to mate, mate, mate!!! UGH! Men...

[fhgwgads]

Ginene, I think that is the problem with my boy too.. he is never happy with the nest and if I continue to give him more nesting material he won't even be able to fit in the nest anymore and the eggs will be buried. They had already laid eggs when this baby was still in the nest! They didn't even wait until he was out! And it seems like Mama knows how to lay eggs but then nothing more. She sits on them... but she doesn't take care of the babies. And it's sad to see this poor little baby treated this way. Having his feathers plucked, being stuck outside when they sleep in the nest.. and he is so eager to be like them! He was picking at the millet spray yesterday... not actually at the seeds but just the spray itself mimicking them, and then he went over by the plate of fresh food and was pecking at that too! Before he even came out of the nest he was mimicking them by moving pieces of nesting material around inside the nest. He is such a darling pirate baby! And he is definitely trying to sing! I hope everything gets better from here on out, and I hope he weans soon! And I hope your little guy stops burying his babies!!! I am just baffled that all my bad luck is with my first pair! Between the laying eggs on the day I got them, packing the nest several times, one baby dying, the other one with one eye and scissor beak, and the plucking, Mama not feeding... but that's just my luck! I wouldn't be surprised if the reason the baby is like this is because of something the Mom did. She seems to be a little stupid, haha. And of course my mail is on par with Marty! He want's to mate several times a day and is constantly wagging his tail all over the place!!

I am also not sure if it has something to do with having one eye... but a lot of the time when jumping from perch to perch the baby will try to land on one of his parents. Of maybe he is trying to get back at them. I offered them a bath today and baby was the first one in! He tried to splash his wings around a bit and it was the most adorable thing ever!

[Diana]

fhgwgads
Unreal!!! And zebras are "suppose to be good parents." Well, after hearing about your pair and finding 2 of my zebra hatchlings buried alive by their parents, I'd say that statement is not true...I hope your baby weans asap!

My 2 pairs of zebras have been great parents too although one pair had the chicks falling off the nest because the daddy did not build it deep enough. Other than that they have been great parents!!!