Things Can Get Very Sad So Fast

I have always been a pet owner and an animal lover, and I recently became the caregiver to two young zebra finches. When I bought them, the store did not realize that they had mated, and that soon this inexperienced girl would have to assume the responsibility of little baby birdies. My female had laid an egg the day after I got them, and since I was under the impression that they had not mated I had not given them a nesting area. Once the first egg was around, I gave them a nest, but it was too late for the egg. I didn't know if she would lay any more, or if she had left them all back at the store. Its sad to think that I possibly took her away from her brood, even unknowingly.

To begin with, I wasn't even sure there were any other eggs or chicks, until I started hearing the unrelenting cheep from hungry babies. I couldn't see them, just hear them. Things were going good for about a week. Then I found my female dead at the bottom of the cage. I have no idea what happened, or why something killed her and left the male and chicks healthy. That really struck me, first her eggs and now her.

So, I had to very quickly learn how to become mother to some chicks that I had never even seen. Feedings are every two/three hours, day and night. At first Papa got fairly noisy each time I took them out of the cage. Now he patiently waits for their return, checks on them, and proceeds to sit on them. Oh, there were two chicks and an unhatched egg. Another one down. Geez.

So I've been feeding them for about five days. This morning I fed them before leaving for work. I had planned on taking a picture of them, but forgot. Even young, they each had their own characteristics. One is a loud little piggy, the other was a small quiet thing. This morning, literally as I fed the smaller one, it died. I don't know why. It took maybe three seconds to go from slurping chick to limp. I can only assume that it inhaled some of its food into its lungs. I'll always be an animal lover, but man can it get hard sometimes. I miss the little guy.

May many seeds and fruits ripen where ever you all are.