After a zebra finch has its first egg can i move the nest and the birds to another cage?

Question

the birds are in a little cage so i want to move them to another bigger cage with the nest isit okay?

Answer 1

Hi,

No, she will abandon the eggs and any new eggs will just layed on the cage floor because its a new enviroment.

Answer 2

Some birds react differently.

One pair may not be bothered by the change, whereas another could abandon the nest as a result.

I find if you want to switch them to a larger cage, it's best to wait and do it until the eggs have hatched and the babies are at least a week old.

At this age, the parents have a stronger bond/desire to stay with the babies and are less likely to abandon.

I had one pair of Gouldians that let me move them and their eggs and they were fine, another pair immediately abandoned the nest when I relocated them.

So I think it's better to be safe than sorry - after all, during incubation the size of the cage isn't so important.

It's once the chicks fledge really that space becomes a bigger issue.

So I'd wait if I were you until the eggs hatch.

Answer 3

I think it should be fine, but it might depend on the individual finches.  Normally it should be okay.

I have a pair of zebra finches, and I've had to do that a couple of times - I had to either move/re-adjust the nest with the eggs or transfer the finches by hand to another cage along with the nest - and they're perfectly fine with it.  They continue taking turns incubating as if nothing has ever changed.

Same thing after the eggs hatch - a baby finch might eventually tumble out of the nest.  I just reach in and put the chick back in the nest, and the parents continue feeding the chicks normally.

Some birds will abandon chicks after human contact, but this is very rare, especially for domestic birds.