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On September 1st, 2004, I left for Manchester, NH to have a double level spinal fusion performed. I have
been disabled for over two years from a collapsing spinal column and severe nerve pain. This surgery was my only
hope at a somewhat normal life. Though I was facing a serious surgery, I had COMPLETE faith in my spine surgeon.
My worries were only for my finches, particularly the chicks, nestlings, fledglings and of course some of my SNFs (special
needs finches) like Jabber Jaws Gouldian Finch.
One pair I was particularly concerned about was Peabody and Delia who were in their black cardboard carton
nest box, on a clutch of several eggs, some fertile others not. I would be out of town for eight days, and the finch
sitter would be caring for not only this breeding pair but all of my finches, the flock population hovering around 200, give
or take.
| Delia - BH PB/WB GB/BB Gouldian Hen |
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| Lazlo's delicately beautiful mother |
| Peabody - BH PB BB Gouldian Cockbird |
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| Brilliantly feathered father of Lazlo |
Peabody and Delia are not the most reliable breeding pair. Peabody (BH PB BB) was given to me by a friend
in Maryland. I know nothing of his pedigree or even how old he is. Delia (BH PB/WB GB/BB) came from another
friend in North Jersey and she is now about two years old. I hated to do it, but I traded one of my male gouldians named
Curley for Delia since I had so many cockbirds and was very short on hens. Its proven to be a good trade as Delia is
sincere about her breeding efforts. It seems the cockbirds are where the liason falls short.
Both had raised two clutches together earlier in the summer. Only one chick survived per clutch.
It was not unusual to find a dead and mangled 2 or 3 day old chick torn from the nest box with these two. Their first
chick to make it to maturity, Echo, had been handfed by me, fed by society finches and then finished off by a gouldian
hen whose hormones must have been on overdrive (Helvetius). She finished off Echo and for that I give her high
points. Gouldians aren't known for their fostering abilities.
| Echo, Lazlo's Sibling from an earlier clutch |
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| Echo just about ready to fledge from the society fostering nest |
| Echo all grown - BH PB GB/BB |
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| From Plain Jane to Electric! |
Their second chick was a blue hen I've named Evaline. Unlike the abandonment that happened with Echo (which
was also my fault since I moved the birdroom around), Delia and Peabody were extremely attentive parents with Evaline.
She had a full crop every time I checked on her. I was thrilled to see she was a blue, which meant that Delia was in
fact split for the blue mutation. In gouldians, the blue mutation is autosomal recessive and the result of not having
any carotenoids (red, yellow or orange) deposited into their plumage.
| Evaline - Lazlo's sibling from a previous clutch. |
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| Evaline is a BH PB BB hen who was just starting to color up. She's also very curious. |
| Evaline at about 4 months of age |
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| She colored up very early, turning into a gorgeous blue hen. |
After Evaline fledged, Delia wasted no time in getting back into the nest box and on eggs. This was when
I was leaving for my surgery. I hoped that with this clutch, Peabody and Delia would be able to raise more than one
chick.
My wishes came true. I came home from surgery to two chicks in their nest box. I was rather happy to
see that this time there was more than a singleton but at the same time, I was extremely concerned about the younger
of the two chicks. He was a blue, but was very tiny compared to his normal greenbacked sibling. I just assumed
that he must have hatched out several days later. Or that's what I hoped. I think I knew that something just wasn't
right though.
Upon nest inspection in another few days, the problem with the younger chick was all too obvious. The little
blue chick was still tiny. But even odder was his misshapen head. I've seen goulds go through a funny
head shape phase and had hoped that was the problem. Now, at this nest inspection, there was no denying
it. I gasped...the blue chick had NO EYES!!!
I was devastasted for him. I just assumed that he would die. I gave him a tender kiss and apologized
to him. I told him that I just didn't know why life was so cruel to such a beautiful finch.
| Lazlo & sibling at 1st nest inspection |
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| This is when I discovered that Lazlo had no eyes. I wept for him. |
I posted about Lazlo's condition on the internet, however no one had ever heard of or seen a gouldian that
just didn't develop any eyes. You can clearly see in the photos that there just isn't any optic tissue at all - the
place where his eyes should be developing was light in color, rather than the usual dark orbits. The skin was smooth
with no indications that eye lids would develop.
Despite my horror, fortunately Peabody and Delia were still feeding him. I was grateful for this.
Yet still, I had a feeling of impending doom. I feared that Lazlo would never fledge. That he'd never learn to
eat for himself. That because he was blind, he'd dash himself on the cage wires. I just didn't know what to expect
for Lazlo's future, or if he had much of a future at all.
| Lazlo (left) on the day his sibling was banded |
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| The abnormal shape and absence of eyes is all to obvious by this stage of development. |
| Pinhead Lazlo (R) at about ten days of age. |
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| Lazlo was banded on this day. His foot was still tiny but it stayed on. |
| Lazlo a day or two before forced fledging. |
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| All of Lazlo's feathers are finally in and there's no reason for him to stay in the nestbox. |
Lazlo had bigger plans for himself than what I ever thought was possible. Since I knew he was at least
4 or 5 days behind his sibling developmentally, I decided to wait until his sibling fledged and then keep a close eye on Peabody
and Delia to see if they were still going into the nest box to feed Lazlo. Fortunately they did.
However, one week after his sibling fledged, Lazlo was still inside the nest box squealing away indignantly -
Feed me! Feed me! On top of that, Delia had once again re-cycled, and now Lazlo was crapping and stepping
onto delicate eggs, not to mention not really incubating them correctly. While I hadn't planned on Delia re-cycling
again, the fact was that Lazlo now had to get OUT of the nest box both for his own health as well as to prevent the ruination
of this clutch of eggs that Delia had already laid.
| Lazlo cannot decide should he go in or stay out. |
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| So he opted for neither for long periods of time and perched at the nest box entrance. |
So
much to his consternation, I forcibly removed Lazlo from the nest box. He was extremely wary but all fledglings
are by nature extremely cautious. In the wild, this would be when they are most susceptible to predation.
As Lazlo continued to grow, the feathers seemed to cover up the fact that he has a pinhead. While his head was still
disproportionately small when compared to his sibling, now that it was cloaked in fine velvety feathers. He looked a
bit more normal.
On
several occasions, I could have sworn I looked at him and saw eyes. But no - it was just a trick of the light and my
mind seeing something it wanted so badly. Of course, there is no way a fledged chick will suddenly sprout eyes - it’s
the things of fairy tales. The fact was that Lazlo was hopelessly blind, and the only home he'd ever known
(his black nest box)was no longer his own.
Now
my real worrying time began. Would his parents feed him once they saw him in the light of day? If not, would I
be willing to take on feeding a blind finch, one that might never learn to feed himself? Would feeding him just
prolong the inevitable.
I
cannot tell how much I agonized over Lazlo's fate.
| Lazlo quickly gets a grip on a perch. |
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| Lazlo always perches looking towards the heavens. |
Fortunately,
for the first few days, Peabody dutifully fed both Lazlo and his sibling. The problem, however was that Lazlo didn't
beg normally. Instead of begging in the position that is known as the estrildid crouch, he was begging upright like
a canary. He seemed to beg like Stevie Wonder plays the piano, staring at the heavens with his head waggling back and
forth.
Peabody
quickly lost patience with Lazlo's wacky approach to begging, and Delia was busy with her next clutch of eggs. I began
to worry again.
Enter
the Calvary!!! Yoyette & Bluto zebra finches left their nest of one IF egg and suddenly took Lazlo under their proverbial
wing. This was both a blessing and a curse. I didn't find out about the curse until later on. The
blessing was very obvious - Lazlo was still completely unable to feed himself and the zebras were more than happy to be right
there stuffing food down his throat. Lazlo had a temporary reprieve from either starvation or crop feeding.
| Lazlo practices perching. |
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| This was the day that Lazlo was forced to fledge. |
And so began the real hard work with Lazlo. Each night, I'd put him back into the nest box to stay warm
since his sibling was still roosting inside at night. This was a real effort since it spooked Delia off the
eggs. Inevitably, the sibling would panic and fly out of the cage, zipping around the bird room before I could
capture him. I began to hate lights out.
One time, while I was handling Lazlo, he took off like a bullet. He made a beeline for the other side of
the room (26' long) and ran smack dab into a cage. Then he flew back in the opposite direction, smacking into the wall.
He ping ponged off everything in the birdroom. I was terrified he would break his neck before I finally caught
him and calmed him down. Fortunately, other than a slight dulled beak, his maiden voyage left him relatively unscathed.
This incident only reinforced my initial fears that he would fly like a jet into the cage sides and break his neck.
Then the worst started. Lazlo became extremely fluffed up. I didn't know what was wrong with him.
Was he fluffed because he was not getting enough food? Was he getting enough water? Perhaps he was cold.
Or my worst fears, maybe he's sick???
| Lazlos manages to flutter over to a swing. |
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| An obviously fluffed Lazlo perches while his father, Peabody looks on. |
As if being blind and fluffed wasn't enough misery for one little finch, Lazlo started spinning. He
would get so frustrated and not know what to do. He'd shriek at the top of his lungs, spinning in tight circles, running
into things and other birds, even the zebras who were trying their best to help him. He was inconsolable. His
begging style got worse, now he was rising up when the zebras were feeding him, knocking them off the feet and leaving most
of the regurgitant running down Lazlo's face or on the cage bottom. He seemed hopelessly lost and adrift. He'd
perch right outside of the nest box couldn't go inside anymore because his parents started chasing him out.
And this is how he slept on the perch at night unless I put him in front of the light for warmth. My worrying about
Lazlo had reached as high of a frenzy as his shrieking & spinning. I just didn't know what to do for the little
guy.
My
heart was being torn out. How to help this little finch that I SWORE I wasn't going to become attached to, but couldn't
stop thinking about. Despite telling myself REPEATEDLY that Lazlo was a goner, I had named him. His name stems
from his blue color (lazuli) and that I hoped to resurrect him from the dead (Lazarus). I just started calling him Lazlo
and the name stuck. He had wormed his way right into my heart despite my efforts to be tough.
He
liked to ride around on my shoulder. I seemed to be the only one who could calm him down when he spun in endless
circles crying at the top of his lungs. He would snuggle into my cupped hand and immediately go to sleep. He found
my voice soothing and perhaps something constant in a world that must otherwise have been choatic for him.
| Bluto - Lazlo's First Fostering Dad |
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| Bluto is a Fawn zebra cockbird who took a special interest in feeding Lazlo. |
Lazlo
was sleeping ALL the time. I just knew there was something wrong. Something more so than being blind. I
was convinced he was dealing with a protozoal infection and put hin on Flagyl. This did NOTHING for him. So I
put him on trimethoprim/sulfa. This seemed to help not only him but the zebras were also fluffed up.
Then
the hour of decision making was upon me. Yoyette and Bluto had built a new nest, and they were busy with that.
Lazlo lost their attention. On top of that, he seemed completely lost in a four foot flight cage. He continued
to be ridiculously fluffed up and was sleeping in front of the heat light. When awake, he cried nonstop and usually
spun in circles.
Something
had to give.
| Yoyette Zebra hen - Lazlo's first Foster Mom. |
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| Yoyette is a Fawn Dominant Silver/Orange Breasted Zebra hen. |
So
I decided to start crop feeding him. I also moved him in with my best fostering trio, who I affectionately call "the
Dads". And I decided to start dosing him with the liquid version of trimethoprim - commonly known as 'the pink
stuff'.
A
very rough week passed. Whereas before Lazlo has been exploring with his beak and I had seen him eating some on
his own, he now stopped completely. He wouldn't eat egg food or millet spray by himself. He continued to screech
and spun in crazy circles for hours on end. I honestly thought I was going to pull my hair out in clumps.
I
was seized with all kinds of doubts. Was I really doing the best thing for him? What if the trimethoprim wasn't
working? What if moving him in with the societies exposed him to yet more pathogens - societies are notorious disease
carriers. Perhaps I had jeopardized him. Worry and doubt took over. I confess that I started to obsess over
him. I just didn't want him to die. I had become hopelessly attached to Lazlo by this point.
| The Dads. These were Lazlo's Third Set of Parents |
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| Fostering Society Finches (L to R): Prince Valiant, Ringo and Mikimoto |
One
thing I KNEW I was doing right was that Lazlo had a very warm place to sleep now with a heat light on 24/7. I wrapped
the cage in a towel, holding more of the heat in. He had three warm society finches to snuggle up with each night and
during the day as well if necessary. Still he was fluffed and lethargic, napping continually except when frustrated
and spinning.
The
first few crop needlings were discouraging indeed. Lazlo's crop volume was less than a half ml. This
is very low for a fledgling. I added nyastatin to the handfeeding formula in case Lazlo had picked up a yeast
infection. Twice a day, I needled Trimethoprim into his crop.
By
the second day, his crop volume was up to 1.5 mls. Not great, but I'd take it. By the third day, I not only heard
him crying to be fed, but heard the muffled sounds of a bird being fed. So I crept into the bird room and watched.
Sure enough, the pearl bonten society finch I call Mikimoto caved in and was FINALLY feeding Lazlo. Somehow and with
the patience of a saint, Mikimoto was managing to get food into Lazlo, forcing Lazlo to beg in the crouching position to get
fed, though Lazlo still popped up like a canary most of the time. Mikimoto learned to time his feedings to the
random oscillations of Lazlo's head. I give Mikimoto so much credit for taking on Lazlo. Ringo usually pecked
at Lazlo and I think considered him to more than a bit of an annoyance, while Prince Valiant would only feed Lazlo if he could
get high enough above to feed down into Lazlo's outstretched beak. Only Mikimoto had the fortitude and patience
it took to get food into Lazlo's gullet.
| Lazlo FINALLY sees the light. |
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| After weeks of being fluffed, Lazlo is tight feathered again. Did I dare hope? |
At this point, Lazlo was 2-3 weeks out
of the nestbox and should have been well onto his way to weaning. His sibling was pretty much weaned at this point yet
here was Lazlo, still begging, still shrieking, still spinning in circles like a feathered top on a wobbly orbit right before
it crashed.
I
continued my crop dosing and medications because the few seeds I would find in his crop was certainly not enough
to sustain him. This continued for several days when much to my suprise, one night when I went to feed him before lights
out, he had half a crop of food! I was so thrilled, on a cloud. I gave him less handfeeding formula so as
not to overfeed him and risk aspiration.
Finally,
it looked like Lazlo was pulling out of his funk!!!
Still he
was not eating completely on his own, and so I decided to try soaked seed. I just soaked a finch mix over night in water
with a few drops of bleach added to curb bacterial growth. Rinse and serve. This made all the difference
in the world. Within one day of putting soaked seed in his tray, Lazlo started eating on his own again.
And
his spinning and shrieking finally came to an abrupt hault. PHEW!
Then
another disaster struck. Lazlo has developed some sort of respiratory distress. I treated him for air sac
mites (Ivermectin) just in case, however I suspect that he aspirated some of the formula. With each passing day, his
clicking got louder and louder. He started losing weight again, and I realized that I had no choice, I'd have to medicate
him once again.
| Lazlo Already Getting Adult Plumage on His Head |
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| Bright blue feathers are already appearing at just 2 months of age. |
I've never had any success treating respiratory infections with birds in my flock, so I decided
to try two meds. I put him back on the trimethoprim yet again, since I've seen this help out several of my birds
with this same sort of clicking sound as chicks/juvies. I also put him on doxycycline since it has a high affinity for
lung tissues. Once again, I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
In
a day or so, the clicking started to subside. With each day, he sounds clearer and is flying up to perch again on his
own.
I'm
no longer giving him forced feedings, but he is still receiving trimethoprim via crop needle and Doxycycling via the water.
Lazlo is eating on his own and is no longer fluffed (YEAH!!!).
He
also remains completely perplexed about how to drink water for himself.
| Sight for Sore Eyes - Lazlo Eating by Himself. |
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| I never thought I'd see the day when Lazlo would eat on his own. If only we could get drinking.... |
Lazlo
had quite an aversion to water from the beginning and currently he will only drink water if I drip it onto his beak.
I'm working on getting him to drink by himself, but like learning to eat by himself, this is NOT going smoothly.
Lazlo
is not out of the woods. The respiratory clicking is still present but slowly receding. He has already started
to get his adult plumage in. I can see brilliant blue feathers are coming in on his neck. I had suspected
he was a male bird due to his behavior (sorry guys but male handfed chicks are whiners) and also because he had a long central
tail leader even as a chick out of the nest. Males typically have longer tails than hens.
UPDATE:
Lazlo is totally independent. He now drinks from a water font and eats millet spray. He doesn't want to
be held anymore - which doesn't suprise me based on the "touch me not" personality of Gouldian Finches. I'm happy that
he feels he doesn't need to cling to me and is confident with his world and life. I continue to give him soaked seed
and eggfood to be sure he's getting enough protein and water. Alas, he also continues to have a respiratory situation.
I'm totally perplexed as to what is going on there but he seems to be holding his own despite it. I'm hoping once the
respiratory is cleared up that I can move him to a four foot flight and acclimate him to a much larger living space.
To
watch Lazlo find the water font is like watching someone look for precious metals on the beach. He knows which side
of the cage its located on. How he gets his initial bearings - quite simply - I DON'T KNOW. But he does.
Perhaps its the millet spray hanging down combined with the plastic seed cup. Once he knows he's in the right general
area, he sweeps the cage bottom with his beak - back and forth - like someone using a metal detector. As he homes in
on the cage wires, he rachets his beak along the wire until he locates the font lip sticking through the cage wires.
Then he slakes his thirst. I'm so happy that he's mastered this final necessary survival skill.
Lazlo's
seed cups, egg food tray, millet sprays and water font is consistently placed in the same spot every day so that he can easily
find whatever it is that he needs. Additionally, because he cannot SEE when I put fresh food in for him, part of the
feeding routine particularly with the egg food, is to pick him up and plop him down into the eggfood so he knows there is
fresh goodies. He will immediately test it with his beak. Sometimes he even gives out a little wee wee of glee
at discovering some veggie goodies.
Outside
of the respiratory situation, the other thing that worries me about Lazlo is that he doesn't seem to have a point of reference
as to when he should go to sleep. I had noticed he was sleeping late in the morning and had attributed that to respiratory.
However, with a new little waif in the birdroom and getting up at 2:30 am to feed the 2-3 day old chick, I've seen that Lazlo
is WIDE AWAKE and eating happily at this hour. He seems to crash somewhere about 4 am and then wants to sleep all morning
long - rising after noon - literally. I didn't have this problem with him when I put him to nest every night and so
now I'm considering a bed time ritual for him so that he knows its time to sleep.
I'm
extremely proud of all that Lazlo has overcome in his short life so far. He has shown me that even a little blind gouldian
has an incredible will to live and if given the right support, guidance and love - he can overcome a serious developmental
defect such as being eyeless.
UPDATE:
Delia and Peabody successfully raised two chicks in the clutch after Lazlo - one NG and one BB. Alas, the BB also has
an eye defect. While its not nearly as severe as that of Lazlo, I've come to the conclusion that something UGLY is definitely
going on. After this clutch, Peabody and Delia will go on rest. If I do pair either bird up for breeding
again, it will be with different mates. I'm not sure why precisely this eye defect is occuring, but it seems to be genetic
in nature.
The
BB chick does have TWO SEEING EYES - fortunately. However, one eye slit is considerably smaller than the other eye.
In fact, it took me several times of looking at him to figure out what was 'wrong'. I guess you could call him
squint eyed. I gave him an eye test and he does respond to visual stimulus from the right side (the squint eye) so at
least he can see and was spared Lazlo's fate. I guess Lazlo will have a nonbreeding buddy to keep him company for his
lifetime as I have no plans on breeding Quinton anymore than I plan on breeding Lazlo.
UPDATE:
Without my realizing it, Peabody
and Delia re-cycled YET again. I took the eggs and fostered them to zebras. Two chicks hatched out. Both
blues and normal so far as eyes were concerned. One of the blues developed very slowly. Both did fledge and the
one blue never really learned to eat very well for herself. She went back into her foster parents' nest and didn't
come out. I realized what was happening only too late. I tried to save the second blue, but she died. She
was not thin though she begged incessantly for the whole day before she died. I got up at 6 am to feed her, and as I
was walking into the bird room, I heard a kerplop. As I ran to her cage, she was having a seizure and died in my hands.
Poor thing. I have no clue what her problem was. Her sibling seems to be 100% normal as do the zebras she was
fostered with.
| Lazlo Coloring UP |
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| Lazlo sings up a storm. He's the happiest little gould that ever was. |
Lazlo
is currently about 1/4 colored up. There is zero doubt he's a male since he's started singing and likes to go for rides
on my shoulder all the while whistling in my ear. He's a very sweet singer. He is still having some issues
with his eyes. The eye slits did partially form, and there seems to be a lot of secretions and goo that comes out of
them. Once he is done coloring up, I plan on taking him to the vet and having these tiny eye slits sewn shut - assuming
they can do such a thing. He rubs his eyes constantly and there are no feathers in that region due to the constant rubbing.
I feel badly for him and would like to see this issue resolved so that he's more comfortable and happy.
Lazlo
continues to keep very odd hours. His day isn't 24 hours but seems to be a bit longer. Some days, he is sleeping
for most of it. At first, I was alarmed and thought that he was ill, but soon realized his circadian rhythm was out
of wack. I've tried to keep him on a normal schedule but have given up. I let the little guy sleep when he wants
to and if he's still up and moving about at night, well there isn't much I can do about it. Its not like turning out
the lights affects him at all. LOL.
He
continues to have a slight pop when he breathes, but he remains seemingly healthy. I've given up on his flying
lessons. About a month ago, he started to fly backwards very quickly and then flail around on the carpet. He seems
particularly upset when this happened. He is no longer flapping his wings like he'd like to fly. I was trying
to keep his wing muscles exercised but if you saw these backwards dives, you'd understand why I don't want him flying any
longer. I truly fear he'll backwards nose dive into the floor and shatter his neck.
| Lazlo All Colored Up |
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| Isn't he a beautiful Gouldian? |
While he is out on me for some time each day
(I wear fuzzy clothes so he can get a grip), he likes to bite my ears and my clothes. He also sings into my ears and
preens any wayward strands of hair he finds. He will take very tiny flights from one part of my body to the next, and
he also sometimes clings to me and flaps. He's no longer making bee-lines across the bird room or backwards nose dives.
While I hate to see him no longer flying on one hand, on the other, these were always very scary for me and its a relief he's
given up these things.
UPDATE July 2005: I've been amazed by Lazlo's behavior. While he's not mating with any birds, he
has gone up into a nest and gotten a bit broody. He then tore the nest all apart. I also found out that much of
gouldian behavior is purely genetic - not learned. For example, the classic mating posture: Breast puffed out,
head feathers flared, the head posture, tail twisting and even hopping, they are all genetically programmed. I had somehow
thought that perhaps some of it was learned bahavior from visual cues but since Lazlo does all these and he hasn't any eyes,
there goes that idea. I was still holding out for head waggling - thinking perhaps this required learning. However,
about 2 weeks ago (July 2005), Lazlo was swinging, singing and head waggling. So its seems all of the gouldian mating
ritual is genetically pre-programmed.
| Lazlo Ponders Life's Mysteries |
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| While cleaning or servicing his cage, I remove Lazlo so he doesn't get startled by noise. |
Lazlo's days have straighted out some. He does now take his cues from the birds around him. He tends
to sleep at night, though he still isn't quite on the same schedule as everyone else. Lazlo's eyes remain a problem.
They continue to seep exudate. This requires constant attention. Otherwise, his lungs seems to be clearer these
days and he's very content in life. We have a routine established, which I stick to each day. He tends to be thin
and I give him egg food 2x a day to keep his weight up. He loves his swing & millet spray and spends hours
bathing and preening himself. His feathers are impeccable. Lazlo readily steps up and has learned to just flutter
fly. He no longer takes those wicked kamikazi nose dives that used to scare me half out of my wits.
Despite all the worry and sometimes trouble involved with keeping Lazlo, I wouldn't trade him for anything.
Getting to know this little blind gouldian has been the second most special experience in my finchkeeping, second only to
Pippy and Cosette, my tame blue capped cordon bleus.
THANKS YOUS....
I'D
LIKE TO THANK THE MEMBERS OF THE YAHOOGROUPS GOULDS RULE, FINCH SOFTBILLS METROPOLITAN AND ZEBRAFINCH FOR THERE HELP AND SUPPORT
WHILE TRYING TO COPE WITH LAZLO'S BLINDNESS. Some finches take a village to raise - Lazlo seemed to need
the help of the World Wide Village - the Internet. The names of those who helped with suggestions or support are
just to numerous, but realize that both Lazlo and I appreciated everything. He is living proof that all our
efforts were not in vain.
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