Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am sorry I have to bother you with this, but the
fact is that somehow, my couple of zebra finches seem
to not be able to raise their "babies" (they all die),
at least that is what happened so far, but they have
no problem whatsoever in laying eggs and building
nests... TOO OFTEN! I am deeply worried about their
health, especially the female, because of how often
they lay eggs, but I also worry and get all sad about
them having babies and them dying.
AGH!
The problem is: how can I prevent them for copulating
/ the female laying eggs?
HELP! I don't want to put them into separate cages, I
just can tell they suffer when they are not together.

HELP!!!!!!!!

Make sure that your little female finch is getting plenty of calcium to replenish her body. You can change the cage around, remove nests or nesting materials, and reduce the number of hours of daylight. That should discourage the continued efforts to breed. You may need to put the couple in separate cages (but next to each other) for a while.

If it's any consolation, my finch girls don't lay eggs on a regular basis anymore, even though there is the occasional one. The girls are between 4 and 6 years now. So apparently, there is a "cut-off" point for regular laying.

>>I am sorry I have to bother you with this, but the
>>fact is that somehow, my couple of zebra finches seem
>>to not be able to raise their "babies" (they all die),
>>at least that is what happened so far, but they have
>>no problem whatsoever in laying eggs and building
>>nests... TOO OFTEN! I am deeply worried about their
>>health, especially the female, because of how often
>>they lay eggs, but I also worry and get all sad about
>>them having babies and them dying.
>>AGH!
>>The problem is: how can I prevent them for copulating
>>/ the female laying eggs?
>>HELP! I don't want to put them into separate cages, I
>>just can tell they suffer when they are not together.
>>
>>HELP!!!!!!!!
-----
PH Canary
Bird Forum Message Board Host

Thank you so much for the info, really!!!!!

Don't laugh, but my mom used to remove the eggs, boil them, and then replace them back in the nest. The birds would sit on them happily, but not lay any more. I have never tried this, but did get some appropriate sized plastic eggs which I replaced the real ones with, and got the same result.

How old are your finches? Sometimes they get better at raising babies as they get a little older.

Wendy

Oh, thanks for the advice! I really never thought of that! I do have those fake eggs, though. I might give it a try! and btw, I don't know how old they are, but the first time they laid eggs the female was probably too young, indeed .