Several weeks ago I contacted Myra needing the incubation temperature for Zebra Finch eggs. I arrived home one day about 8 weeks ago to find in my Finch cage no birds. Just a rather pleased looking Iguana. The fact of the matter was that a neighbor 2 floors below my apartment owed (past tense I'll get to that) this little monster. I went to work one a.m. leaving my patio door open so that my dog could go sit outside and stare at whatever dogs stare at. Sometime during the day this "creature" escaped from the apartment 2 floors down and proceeded to climb up the side of the building. It managed to make it past my dog staring at whatever dogs stare at but obviously not staring at this hideous creature as it strolled past him right into my apartment. The Iguana must have committed this crime before because it managed to climb up onto the table that my expansive and "secure" Finch cage sits on. Inside was my Pied Male and White Female Zebra finch.

Both birds were as tame as I had ever seen a bird get. They ate on the edge of my plate, sat on my head on the couch and at times slept on the lamp shade right beside my bed. This hideous reptile had pushed up one of the access doors to the cage and worked his way inside. Once there, he did what all hungry reptiles do. He ate my little buddies. I came home to find this creature unable to extricate himself from his crime scene. 8 weeks later I still get asked by the neighbor 2 floors down to let him know if I see his pet Iguana. Some place out on the patio right now my dog is licking his lips. I am really not sure why

Now back to the original subject. Myra gave me the incubation temperature because the 2 now deceased Finches had been setting on 7 eggs for about 2 days. I have several incubators (why is another story) and wanted to give these little guys a fighting chance. I will tell you momma birds don't have it very easy. For the next 14 days I was a slave to this little incubator. I would constantly check the temperature. I would forever be checking the moisture in the paper towel under the eggs. Every 4 hours like clock work I would gently roll each little oblong pale white ball and gently place a little marker dot on the egg so I knew where I had rotated it to in the past.

14 days later I was the proud surrogate parent of 7 tiny little naked pimples. Now the real work started. I found most of the information I needed on your site but searched other sites also for what the heck I had to do now. The good part was that they all got hungry at the same time. The bad part was 7 tiny beaks trying to eat at the same time. ALL THE TIME... I was a feeding machine. I made sure not to allow them to over feed or feed at night. They would all get very small portions about every 3-4 hours. This may have been too much, this may have been too little but that was the limit to my insanity. I did not allow one single chick to dominate the feedings. This went on for just shy of 4 weeks. To close what has become a long story. Thanks to Myra and all the excellent information the Finch Niche provides. My horror story has resulted in the loss of 2 wonderful birds into the gaining of 7 happy, healthy birds. 3 Males and 4 Females.

They reside in the same cage their parents did. Now with a clothes pin attached to every access door. As for the Iguana, my dog has long since stopped smiling. The neighbor still asks if I have seen his Iguana. I still tell him no.

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