Fledgling with Curled Feet

[Nerien]

Struggled with him and gauze strips and a cut-down individual size pringles' plastic cup for a long, long time.

Could not get a harness made. He won't stop struggling long enough to put anything in place. Get one gauze strip under a wing and across his chest, start to even just think about the next one, and the first was out.

Tried straps across the cup, he'd push himself up and over them, or back out. This is one FIERCE little bird.

Finally made a ring of rolled up paper towel. stretched each wing over it. had to hold him off the ground so he didn't push himself out with his feet. set that on a strap across the pringles cup at the front, quickly strapped across his back at the shoulders. Then just taped the back end of the paper towel ring up across the back of the cup.

Watched him sitting in my picnic net basket on the table a while, fed him, then put him in the big cage to see what happens. He's just sitting there. Have heard him begging, seen Dad looking at him, but don't think Dad's gone near him yet, he looks rather strange all rigged up. Dad is pretty adventurous with new things in the cage, tho, so maybe he will get brave and feed his chick.

Dunno. Not a good solution, other than he's not fallen over & laying there, and his wings are slightly stretched by being over the paper towel ring. But I am beat for now. My near vision is extremely compromised, and here I am trying to rig tiny things on a tiny bird when I can't see him, his tiny feet, tiny shoes, little wing feathers, or my clumsy fingertips clearly at all. Will let him loose in a while, it can't be much fun in there.

He seems to prefer being in with his family to being out with us, even tho with us he's not fallen and stuck laying there like a flipped turtle. Not working well having him in there, tho. I can't keep sticking my hand in to right him every 30 seconds. Still prefer that Dad does some feeding, don't know if I feed him enough, or right, and he doesn't seem interested in anything that isn't mush, yet. Want to do what's best for him, tho.

BTW, since they left the nest, Dad has done all the feeding. haven't seen Mom even look more than slightly interested in the chicks at all. Is this the usual?

[finchmix22]

Yes, the fathers are usually the best feeders and do most of the chick care. The mom's just incubate and feed a little in the beginning. My owls are better at taking turns. As far as your attempt at a pseudo-walker, at least he got some physical exercise by struggling with what you were trying to do. LOL. I can imagine he was quite a handful.

[moonrise]

What a precious baby! You're doing a wonderful job with him.

I wonder if making the shoes wider would keep him from tipping over as easily? In other words, what about positioning his feet on the inside edges of the shoes (like they are now), but have the outside edges stick out further? The extra width might work like training wheels on a bike, making it less likely for him to fall over.

Love the photos!

[Nerien]

New shoes again today. First took off pair #2, he stands with his feet flat until he tips or attempts to move, then in scrabbling for a grip, curls them up again. So strapped him in the walker with just lots of gauze strips in front of his chest and across his shoulders, so only his head was sticking out, so he was held there, standing with his feet flat.

Fed him, so he would stay put, and then he slept there for a bit. After a nap, he kept trying to push his way out. So time for new shoes so he could go back with his family.

This time, he has a flattened roll of paper towelling under each foot, to give it a more natural shape, with a cardboard sole. Tape is directly on his toes again, it holds better that way, the last pair of shoes with the tissue covering let his feet shift inside a bit, and destabilized him. Shoes are wider still towards the outside, hoping for stability. At first it seemed to work, as well as the thicker shoe because of the paper towel, but he just started lifting his right foot higher, so it still ends up on top of his left shoe. Or else he keeps lifting the right foot, as if he can't decide how to put it down, and then topples off his left foot. So he's spending most of his time toppled, it seems, until I wak by and stand him up again. and again. and again.

He is not using his wings at all. they stay clamped against his sides. I can gently stretch them out a bit, but not much and not willingly, tho I am afraid to try to hard, he's so little and delicate. If he can't get good with his feet, and he doesn't use his wings, what do I do? I will have a little finch who plows around the ground on his chest.

How do I find another floor-finch to keep him company down there once his sibling Eaglet is up in the branches with the other finches?
Floor finches need a different cage than regular ones--solid floor, no seed or litter on it, smooth surface so they don't rub their knuckles raw (I suspect it's simply the paper towel layer, tho seed litter & stuff isn't helping, either). If I can even find a breeder somewhere near me, do I ask if they have any flightless floor-finches for me?

The good news today is that both fledglings were picking at seeds on the ground. Don't know if they actually ate any of them, but today is the first day they seemed intereste. Maybe because today I got smart and removed the raised seed dish the parents have been using, and only put seed in a jar lid flat on the floor of the cage, so the parents were down on the bottom with the chicks a lot more, and the chicks got to see the parents eating seed. They only left the nest a week ago today, so I guess that's right on track? Eaglet does flap some, but shows no real interest in flying. He will perch on a branch on the floor of the cage if I put him there, but otherwise shows no interest, he likes to perch on the integrated food bowl on the bottom of one end of the cage, and that's it. Except for sitting on the floor in the corner that's right under one of his parents' favorite perches, I keep wiping poop off his head, so today I put up a little shield over his head. Silly bird.

[finchmix22]

Wow, those finch babies are blessed to have you putting so much effort into their adjustment and happiness! Good Job! As I mentioned, I have two handicapped finches. One flies fine, but has trouble perching. The other is missing one leg, so has difficulty perching and is only a fair flyer. So, they are in the handicap cage set up I posted. The one without a leg uses her wings for balance and is always in motion on a perch to keep her balance. I have thicker/wider perches and the platform, plus a ladder. She has the most trouble with water dish, but manages.

[Nerien]

Right now, it appears I'm looking at absolutely no flying, no wing movement/pushing/balancing, and no standing/walking/perching, just pushing around the floor on his belly, unless I invent actual little finch orthopedic shoes, that can slip on in the morning and off at night, no tape or taping involved.

He keeps most determinedly trying, but is actually defeating himself in doing so much of the time, as if he would just STAND STILL once in a while, he wouldn't fall over as much and then wouldn't be spending so much time laying there waiting to be stood up again.

Gotta try a new shoe design tomorrow. These are just not working out today. Too heavy/bulky, I think. Wondering if I can find some styrofoam peanuts tomorrow?

[debbie276]

Your doing a great job!
What if you tried to reduce the shoe rather then make it wider? From what your posting it seems he's able to use his legs and lift his foot? Maybe a much smaller "shoe" so he can get his feet under him when he tips would work better.
It's very strange that he doesn't try at all to flap his wings, nor does his sibling seem to want to fly either. If you hold him high and kind of drop him down quickly (while still holding his body) does he flap at all thinking he's falling?
Have you considered that this may be a genetic thing, maybe these parents should not breed again.
Keep up the good work, best of luck

[Sally]

I have to agree with Debbie here, I've never had a fledgling that didn't try to fly. Even when they leave the nest too early, and wind up on the floor of the cage, they usually make their way to a perch by nightfall. With two of them not wanting to use their wings, which is such a basic function, makes you wonder if it is something genetic.

[Nerien]

Eaglet does flap, and can flap. He's just either passive or lazy, or both. Dad is still feeding him, so why should he try? And his sibling stays on the ground, so why shouldn't he? They snuggle for naps and night. So he's getting mixed messages. If Hopper could flap, I'm sure he'd be flying by now, and Eaglet would follow.

Hopper does indeed seem to have a problem. His wings are clamped tight to his sides at all times. You'd think when he flops over, he'd be flapping and floundering like crazy to try and right himself, but no, nothing at all. Just feet kicking. When I stand him up, he stretches one foot, the other, his neck, his back, diagonally this way, that way, but no wings. When he was a tiny nestling, his wings were flopped outward like normal, I have the pictures, but somewhere along the line they pulled in and stiffened up.

This breeding was just a one time thing, we certainly don't need more pets (this is just a little ranch house. my living room has more pet-furniture than people furniture.) And only let them breed now because they were going to do it whether we agreed or not, without nest box, without nest materials, Dancer was sitting on her egg (number 5 in a row, the others cracked) on the bottom grate, in the corner she rolled it into. But seeing this, I'd say no, not this pair again. Which is a shame, because they are such good parents. Really really good. But if they start up again, then males go in one cage and females go in the other. Just hoping one of the chicks, which I guess has to be Eaglet now, is a female, as the Spices are male, near as I can tell. (Know for sure at least one is.) But Hopper is going to need a special habitat, and a floor-finch friend like him as well.

He's just so ALIVE, I will just have to keep figuring out what to do for him.

[Meagan83]

I think the harness idea sounds good for multiple reasons. He will get good exercise. You won't wave to worry about him falling over. And most importantly for floor bound finches, no sores and no dirty bums. I have reached a point where I have to keep a hand towel in the cage of my one legged finch because she started to get sore spots on her stump and on her good elbow. I was originally using paper towel. I guess it was not enough cushion. Even so, I occasionally have to wash her tail because it gets dirty. When she poops, she hops away, but her long tail drags through it.

Do you know anyone who could help you sew something? I bet you could use some elastic strips and sew them together to make a tiny harness. Then you could suspend the little baby about an inch from the ground and let her/him exercise those legs.
Here is a link to a craft store I frequent. Something like this might do the trick?
http://www.joann.com/knit-non-roll-elas ... /prd48337/

[Nerien]

I have spent the whole morning working on that darned little finch. Took off the bulky shoes. Tried using vet wrap. Tried using vet wrap as a leg-spacer, like for splayed legs only in reverse, holding him in a wider stance. Tried him with nothing. Tried to keep him in the little walker. Fed him. Tried a new walker. Tried just a propping device. Tried him in the cage numerous times. Tried to prop & wedge him in with perch branches on the floor, he climbed/leaped/pushed & tumbled over them each time. His determination is his downfall.

Now, every time he falls over, he cries out nonstop for help. He cries out for food, but when a parent comes down to him, he struggles so hard to get upright he misses them trying to feed him, and they fly away. When I take him out of the cage, he and parents call frantically to each other. So I put him back in and prop him up, but by the time they decide to come down to him, he topples himself, then lays there crying out and struggling away. So I fed him myself, tho I'd prefer it if the parents would keep up that responsibility.

I don't know who's more frustrated at this point, me or him.

He's sitting in a ring of paper towels at the moment, so that I get a moment's quiet. Until he decides to push his way out of that.

If I can make a harness, then he can't get food or water unless someone brings it to him. How often would I have to do that?

[Meagan83]

If I can make a harness, then he can't get food or water unless someone brings it to him. How often would I have to do that?

You could place him near the side of the cage and put food/water tubes next to him. (The little vacation feeders that attach outside the cage)
This would not be a perminent fix, but perhaps might be good for a few hours throughout the day. Perhaps enough to strengthen his legs but prevent him from falling over all the time. Might give you a pretty nice break.

[cindy]

If it is the mits that you made that are to big for his feet...on one of the chicke sites I posted earlier in the thread it shows a solution of using little pieces of pipe cleaners and sport wrap around each toe to uncurl the toe. This way it would be more like his own feet spread out as they should when standing flat.

The other option is to fix his feet as they should be extended as if standing but set him in a cup like a dixie cup, he would be stationary and you would need to provide him with food and water within reach and you would need to clean the cup and possibly him often.

I have seen this done with hookbills that are curled footed or splay legged.

[Nerien]

New development--any reason why Dad would be humping his not quite 5-week old chick? It certainly isn't helping.

If it is the mits that you made that are to big for his feet...on one of the chicke sites I posted earlier in the thread it shows a solution of using little pieces of pipe cleaners and sport wrap around each toe to uncurl the toe. This way it would be more like his own feet spread out as they should when standing flat.

Saw that. There is no way on this earth that I could accomplish this. Baby finch feet are smaller and finer than baby chicken feet. And he fights too hard. They say lay the chick on its back and it goes to sleep. Hopper FIGHTS and struggles and twists and clenches and puts his whole body into it, he will NOT be docile and he will NOT be upside down. Even wrapped up like a mummy in toilet paper. He will NOT be still, right side up or upside down.

Gee, maybe a pipecleaner going up from the cardboard shoes in a loop over his body would keep his feet wide and stable, but still let him attempt to walk.

When babies think they are going to get fed, they are now cheeping (okay, squawking) louder than my parakeets. Unreal. I am going to lose my mind.

[Meagan83]

When babies think they are going to get fed, they are now cheeping (okay, squawking) louder than my parakeets.

Is that why one of your parakeets is named "Thunder"?