I had bought a pair of finches and a nest for them to sleep in and like most beginners I didn't know a thing about what I was doing. Well, to my surprise they did more than sleep in their nest. I noticed one day there were 5 eggs in the nest. I was not expecting that so it scared me. I didn't have a clue what to do so I ended up giving the pair along with the newly hatched babies to a friend. Well, years later I decided to get another pair AFTER I took the time to study their needs.

The second pair I bought, quickly laid several eggs. Two babies hatched. It was so much fun to watch the parents raise the babies and I was amazed at how well they worked together to see that their babies needs were met. I often wondered why on earth I gave the first pair away. UGH

I had read in several places that it's better to keep six zebras together because four would fight, but to my surprise the four (mom-dad-2 sons) got along beautifully. I was so thrilled with my new little family. I did everything for them that I was suppose to do. I fed them a quality seed, egg food, snacks, fresh food, and I changed their water several times a day and cleaned their cage often. I absolutely loved them!!.

Well, one day I decided to make them some new toys so they wouldn't get bored. I made, what I thought was, an awesome toy. It had beautifully colored rainbow string and some large beads as well as a bell that dangled from the bottom of one of the strings. At the time I didn't realize that Zebra finches like to shred things like string and I also didn't realize that the string that I used, when shredded, would fray into long pieces of fuzz.

It was between Thanksgiving and Christmas that I had made this toy for my beloved birds. We have a lot of activities during that time of the year so I would quickly feed, water, and clean the cage and then go to clean the house and prepare for things that were happening at that time and needless to say with everything that was going on in our lives at that time I was not able to just sit, watch, and enjoy my birds.

When the toy frayed I did take it out and threw it away but what I didn't notice was that the very fine fuzz had gotten wrapped around one of the birds feet. After the holidays were over I got back into my routine of sitting and watching my birds with joy and I noticed that one of the birds was limping. I took it out and looked at its foot and I was horrified at what I saw. The string was tied so tightly around his foot that he could no longer use it. It took over an hour to get that string off. We did everything we could to help the bird but in the end the damage was to extensive and it claimed his life.

I felt so guilty for not checking on them more closely and I felt so guilty that I had made the toy that ended up claiming my birds life. I just wanted to write this and warn everyone NOT to use string that will fray into fine fuzz. It is so VERY dangerous to a bird. I now use small, short leather strips that do not fray and the birds love it and I don't have to worry as much about them being injured. I also inspect my cages daily for any problems that might have occurred during the day. I learned my lesson the hard way, but hopefully by sharing my experience you won't have to go through what I did.

Article © Becky 2008