URGENT - fledgling needs help

[Ontariomama]

Came home yesterday to find a zebra fledgling on the floor of the cage. He can't fly at all, but can walk around the cage bottom. I think he fell from a nest about a week too early, but I honestly had NO idea he was in one of the nests - saw no sign of nesting by any of the brown zebras I have. So, no idea who the parents are (I have several pairs of brown zebras. There are lots of nests, but no nests have any babies his size in them. Right now, he is cowering in a corner of the cage. Parents are nowhere to be seen around him. Hasn't moved from the corner at all since last night. Not cheeping for his parents. Now what? Do I try to feed him? Give him water? HELP ! ! ! ! ! !

[Sally]

Is the baby fully feathered, or only partially feathered? If he can move around the bottom of the cage, but not fly, he may not be quite as young as you think. The problem is that he cannot feed himself, so unless the parents will feed him, either you handfeed or he doesn't make it. Can you check his crop to see if any food is in it at all? Sometimes parents are still feeding, but we just don't happen to see it, and the feathers hide the crop. It sounds like you are colony breeding, and this is one of the problems with colony breeding--no idea where he came from. Is there an empty nest that has obvious signs of recent occupation, like lots of poop? There is always the possibility with a single baby that the parents lose interest and abandon the baby in order to start another clutch.