It all started with "Sweetness", a Zebra finch my cousin asked me to adopt. She was managing a small local pet store at the time and noticed that he had a chronic problem with ulcerated feet. I took him to my avian vet, who did cultures, etc., to identify the problem but all tests came up negative. The vet prepared a mix of topical drugs that he hoped would minimize the symptoms and we went home. The foot problem proved to be non-contagious, so Sweetness was able to live in the cage with all my other finches. He didn't seem to know he had a problem; he was just a normal, happy little Zeb, singing up a storm. After about two years, he passed away. At least I know I made those last two years as enjoyable as they could be.

Next came Snowball, another adoptee from the pet store. He was a cute little Albino Zeb, completely blind. Snowball was very intelligent - after all, he'd managed to get to 4 months old without starving to death! I took him home and put him in a cage with another of my male Zebs so he would have some company. All dishes were on placed on the floor, as well as the nest, with a perch that led to the entrance. Snowball quickly located the food, water, grit and used his beak as a blind person would use a white cane, so that in a couple of weeks, he was able to hop onto the perch and then get to the nest at night. My sighted Zeb seemed to know right away that Snowball was different. He would make sure he got into the nest at night and would stand at the entrance in the morning, poking him, to make sure he knew it was time to come out and start the new day. Snowball lived another 3 years and taught me that finches are really intelligent little birds!

Butterscotch passed away three months ago. He was an old society finch with severe cataracts in both eyes. I got him from a breeder friend of mine, who had been using him to foster Gouldian finches. Butterscotch could detect movement out of one eye so he was able to get around with some practice. When I first brought him home, I "walked" him around the large flight cage he would share with my other finches. By "walked" I mean that I put my hand around him and guided him from the seed dish, to the water dish, then to the grit dish and back again. I repeated this a few times and then made sure that I placed the dishes in exactly the same spot each day. After a couple of hours, I went into the bird room to find him sitting in the seed dish, happily nibbling away. As I watched, he found his way out of the dish, and using the "white cane" method, walked the few steps to the water font with no problem. Wow, was I relieved.

The real surprise came the next day, when I got home from work. There was Butterscotch, happily sitting with two of the other Societies, on the lowest perch in the flight. He had managed to find his way up the ladder by reaching out to touch each successive rung, before hopping up, until he reached the perch. The finch "will-to-survive" is truly an amazing thing.

My male Melba finch (Melba) was a perfectly healthy little guy when I bought him. About six months later though, he suffered what I can only term a stroke. No longer able to fly, with little control over his head movements, he can however, still out-run and out-hop anyone. He even sings that beautiful little Melba song at night, when everyone else has gone to sleep. Very sweet, he's definitely one of my favorites.

Other adoptees from my breeder friend:

Flipette, a female Gould with one wing. She uses the ladders to get up to the perches in the flight. To get down, she just launches herself into the air, landing with a bounce on the floor. Doesn't seem to hurt a bit, and if any of the other finches try to give her a bad time, forget it. She a real tough little girl.

Then there's Hoppy, a female Gould still getting her first batch of color. She was born with a deformed leg, which is basically useless. She flies just fine and has mastered the ability to balance on a perch on the good leg. She even gets in the bathing dish with everyone else.

Fluffy came to me with practically no feathers. My friend had tried numerous things to encourage feather growth, to no avail. Finally, after three months in a separate cage with my moulting Strawberry finch for company and daily vitamin therapy, she is covered with pin feathers, all of which have appeared in the last week. It's as if her system finally decided to "sprout"!

My last story is about Lancelot. Another old Society, he developed an injury to one leg, which, despite my best efforts, resulted in the loss of half of that leg. Still, he uses the "peg leg" just like a normal one and in his mind, he's no different from anyone else. His greatest talent - loves to incubate eggs and raise babies. Must come from all those years of fostering Goulds!

With the exception of Snowball and Fluffy, all of these birds live(d) in the large flight cage with my other normal finches and have never been hurt by any of them, despite all the articles I've read to the contrary. When Fluffy is fully feathered, she and my Strawberry finch will go back in the flight also, I'm sure with no negative results. Maybe I just got lucky and have a really tolerant group of birds. Either way, caring for handicapped birds is extremely rewarding, not to mention educational. They teach us that with persistence, anything is possible.

Note from the Author: I live in the Las Vegas area. I would be willing to adopt some finches from people in the area. If you are looking for a home for your finch please e-mail me. I can't take in every finch but I will help when I can.

Article © Pam 2003