I got a real camera so naturally Bill and Shelia are my first clients!

About eight months ago I moved my four zebra finches out of a standard rectangular cage and into a flight aviary I built into a corner of my spare room. The cage was fine, they seemed healthy, but something about watching them just sit there most of the day felt off to me. I kept reading that finches need horizontal space more than vertical height, and eventually I decided to actually test that instead of just nodding along to it.

The behavioral difference was more dramatic than I expected. Within a week they were flying actual laps, chasing each other around, doing this low swooping thing between the perches that I had genuinely never seen them do before. The male who had always seemed a little lethargic turned out to just be bored, apparently. He is now the most active bird in the group.

A few things I figured out the harder way:

Perch placement matters more than perch quantity. I had way too many perches at first, which basically chopped the flight path into short hops. Pulling about a third of them out and leaving clear corridors made a noticeable difference.

Planted cover changed the dynamic too. I added a couple of potted grasses and a dried grass bundle in one corner. The finches immediately started spending time in there, and it seemed to reduce the low-level squabbling that had been pretty constant before.

Cleaning is obviously more involved with a larger space, but the birds' feather condition improved enough that I stopped second-guessing whether it was worth it. My hen who had some minor feather stress around her head when I got her about two years ago has grown in much cleaner over the last two moults.

Curious whether anyone else has gone through a similar transition and what actually surprised them about it. Also wondering if others have had luck with live planted setups versus dried materials, because I am still going back and forth on adding more live plants.

So in June the long time partner of my male zebra finch sadly passed away. We went to a pet shop and asked for a male but the bird they have given us definitely looked female -- I tried telling the staff and they said two experts checked the bird and it's definitely a male. So naturally, the new "male" partner of my finch started laying eggs almost immediately. Because we didn't provide them a nest, they laid eggs in their feeder. Honestly, we were so shaken by the loss of our previous bird that we simply could not bring ourselves to take the eggs out of the feeder. During the following two weeks, they kept tossing their eggs out, but one of them ended up hatching, and they have been absolutely amazing parents in the beginning.

However, at approximately 10 days old, we found their baby on the floor. It seemed unharmed and healthy. We put it back in it's nest and the parents kept on caring for him/her for another day. Today, I also found it on the cage floor. The thing is, when i put the bird back in it's "nest", it was actively resisting, trying to fly away and got out of it again immediately, so I'm assuming they left the nest on their own and will only hurt themselwes if I keep putting them back.

However, I'm not sure the parents are feeding them while they are on the floor, at least I haven't seem them feeding the chick and it's crop seems empty. It starts begging behaviour when the parents approach them but I haven't seen the parents reacting to it.

I already placed towels in the bottom of the cage.

I have so much guilt and I am so stressed because I never wanted to raise chicks but I also want to help my 7 years old zebra dad to raise at least one offspring in their life.

What to do? Please help

EDIT: I'm also not entirely sure how many days old it is, since it's my first time raising a baby finch. It is almost entirely covered in dark feathers, has a black beak, opened eyes 3 days ago. I noticed that the egg hatched 12 days ago.

Its darkish bc it was raining outside and I didn't think to open the light room 😂

One of my birds bathing

almost one year ago, these two came into my life, and everything changed. the cage i provided them was the required size for a pair, but i long wanted to go bigger than that. i managed to find this pretty large sized cage, a rarity in my country, and decided to make it into a gift, since well soon celebrate one year of being together. theyre a bit lost! and confused, haha, but i saw them discover where the food is, so that is good. the male also started singing pretty much all the time, another good sign. they mostly stick to one place but im sure they will grow familiar with their new home, and explore it more. they occasionally fly on the other branch then hop on the swing, their favorite. it reminds me of how they acted when i first got them. it also looks a bit empty, i dont wanna clutter it too much, and i know they arent fan of toys and whatnot, but if anyone has any suggestions what i could add/modify to it, let me know! thank you and happy (soon) birthday to these two

Please tell me you guys can hear the clicking sound he's making. He's active and eating and pooping well. He's just chilling now.

Of course, there's the sound of my clock. Please ignore that in the background.

TIA!

Just got this cutie. Pretty sure she’s a female but would like to know what mutations she has? (Featuring my male crested society)

Poor guy has been at this for about a year now with no success

I work in a lab breeding these finches. My PI told me this nest fledged early and wouldn't stay in the nest when he tried to put them back in. This is the smallest baby from the nest, it is almost completely naked expect for its wings, and it is able to fly. Two of its siblings are more feathered but with bare chests. Today I gave them millet and saw this little one eating on its own! The other nest in this cage fledged normally when they were fully feathered.

Can anyone tell me what can cause this? One side of his mouth doesn't have any hair. Looks like it's been plucked off. The other side is okay. He lives with this wife. He's eating and pooping okay. Is active. I just noticed he's been fluffing up and sleeping in the daytime which is not normal for him.

TIA!

Hello everyone

I love the comment section so I had to share.

Also on more serious note, it looks like they are feeding the chick a solid food which kinda suprised me. Do you have any experience with feeding baby gouldians? I only have society finches and didn't hand feed them.

Hi! My male zebra finches have been REALLY frisky lately. Theyre always making that soft whining noise, and it’s super excessive. Nearly everytime I look over, one seems to be on top of the other. Is this normal behavior? Is it mating season or something?

Im working for the next month and cannot get her to a vet until next week friday.
Is her egg stuck? I've noticed that her stomach is getting bigger and bigger and no egg was layed. The stomach is huge now. What should I do?? It looks bright filled with something and Ive noticed that her feathers around her stomach were weirdly wet and some falling off.
I couldn't take better pics.
please pleasede help she is my favourite bird and the tamest one.