Mom finch dead

[Toadfish]

Hey everyone for those of you who have been following my zebra finch story, a traggic event has occured. The mom of the two fiches was found dead on the bottom of the cage. She's been activly caring for three babies for the past week. I'm just stunned that she has all of a sudden died. So my question is what could have happened and is the dad going to be ok as a single parent raising 3 kids? I've read of how finches sometimes foster other finches babies, should I get another female? or will she kill the babies? Help please.

 

[Angry_Platy]

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Unfortunately I cannot help you with your question. I hope someone else can though

 

[Toadfish]

Good news the new found single dad has taken over beautifully. The babies are hungry as ever and growing rapidly, I'm just waiting for their eyes to open and they start developing feathers. But the news is good.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Hmm. The only thing I can figure is that she was either depleted from egg laying and nesting and thus had a deficiency resulting in death, or was so busy feeding her babies that she didn't feed herself enough. Birds have an extremely rapid metabolism, which can result in a fast depletion of vital nutrients, resulting in heart failure. If she was already weakened from laying and brooding, she could have been pushed over the edge by the stress of motherhood.
Glad to hear dad is doing just fine. I'm sure that so long as you have a variety of rich, readily available food, he'll be just fine. Very sorry to hear of your loss, and I hope the babies all do well - keep us posted!