Fighting zebras.

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 6:44 am

What are the dimensions of their cage right now? Are they the only two finches you have?

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:54 am

by putting the pacifier in you have started the instinct to breed again,and the fizzing you here is very much a part of arguing with zebs they are just warning each other because there are no nests in there i would take out the pacifier and just leave the cage bare and they should calm down again,it just shows that they did quiten down until you introduced the facility to get nesting material.this instinct in birds is very very strong so they will argue over the slightest little chance of building a nest in case a female happens by

ken

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:07 pm

Emily- They are the only 2 finches I have. I am seriously considering splitting them up and buying a couple hens. (I may have found one fawn and one white.) This cage is a little larger than my last which was 18x24x18. I am not 100% sure though, I threw out the stuff it came with. I have another about the same size I will use if I split them up.

Ken- The pacifier is going away today. I will post another update when I can really see what happens.

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 6:41 pm

Just a quick update...
I took out the pacifier to remove the last of what i considered to be any potential nesting material. Ever resourceful though, the aggressive male is trying to break off bits of mostly eaten spray millet (just the stick bits). I'm sure he's thinking to use it to make a nest. He was trying to break a perch in the last cage when he went nest crazy, too.

Post by **Sally** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:23 pm

It is amazing how strong that instinct is! I have also had mine try to use pieces of what's left of the spray millet once all the seeds are gone. I use newspaper in the tray bottoms of the cages that have non-removable grates, and they will reach thru the bars of the flooring to get to the newspaper and shred it up, trying to gather nesting material. I use plastic plants, and I see them tugging at them, especially the ones that look like grass. Fortunately for me, this is mostly with my extra Star females, all sisters, and they get along great, no aggression whatsoever.

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:46 pm

Before I switched to walnut litter they would shred newspaper for nesting material too! I am looking for a couple females. I am starting to think they just won't stop until they have mates. I believe the aggressive one has tried to mount the other boy a couple times too (I've only found one picture on the net of what it looks like, and that's what they were doing).

My hubby is out of town and I want to talk to him before I go out and double the bird population in our apartment, so I am waiting to hear from him.

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:53 am

If you don't want any breeding going on, you can always get a different species as a buddy/mate for each zebra.

I have a male zebra that is bonded with my male owl finch, and they cuddle up together every night. It is very cute!

Also, I know that Herman Brothers sells millet that is off the sticks, and it just looks like seed.

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:04 am

Emily- Do you think societies would be fine to put in with zebras? I'm pretty sure I've read other people on this forum talking about putting them together , and from what I hear owl finches are very docile and if that works for you... There is a small bird store I found that has some beautiful societies. They have two (unsexed) and I want them. I also found a white female zebra finch at another nearby bird store. I was thinking I would pair one with a female zebra and perhaps I will get the societies and pair the other zebra with them. I got the ok from my husband so I want to go get more birds!

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:53 am

emily
i think the millet off the sticks is panicum millet which is usually found in foreign finch mixtures

ken

Post by **Sally** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:47 pm

Just a note of caution on mixing the male Zebra with a pair of Societies; three to a cage often brings problems of its own. Two will be buddies and either keep the other one away or pick on it. The fact that two of the three will be Societies makes it more possible. I don't think there is a species around that is as easygoing and accommodating as the Societies. Their ONLY drawback is that you can't visually sex them, but otherwise, they are the perfect beginner finch. So they may just cuddle up with that male Zebra and all three will be buddies! Just be aware that the Zebra may decide he only wants one friend, not two, so be prepared to separate them, if necessary. (See how one finch leads to more and more.

) Oh, and I forgot to add, Zebras can crossbreed with Societies, which is undesirable.

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 4:30 pm

Beccafigs. I used to raise Zebras too. What I did was put one or two more nests than I had pairs to use them. I tried to separate the birds, but the figting always went back to the way it was before. I tend to be somewhat unconventional with my birds and "fly against the flock" so to speak. I also just kept giving them things to build with. Zebras are soooo busy that I thought mine got depressed without the "job". As for the feather plucking, one of my males would pluck himself for nesting material. I began to tear up kleenex ( plain white with no additives) for him. He just wanted something soft. When the fighting got bad again, I took out the nests and cleaned them and then put them back in sort of rearraged and started all over again. If you plan on breeding your Zebras, I would get a female for both of them or you will have a war again. My Zebras eventually worked it out and the fighting was less severe. In my opinion, they also needed their perches to be at different levels so they could work out a pecking order. When they were all the same level, seemed like the fighting never got better. Like I said, I do tend to "fly against the flock". One last thing, I have always tried to keep and even number of birds together. Everybody has a buddy. I once had a Rosy Rump buddy up to a Zebra for a long time.

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:07 pm

I do plan to split the boys up into mating pairs and keep it even. I am waiting for word from someone regarding a fawn hen, and I got a white hen today and she is in quarantine now. I decided to wait on the societies. I went to look at the gorgeous pair I want, but I want the boys I have now to be happy. I have room for 3 mating pairs, but not for all the babies.

So I will have the two pairs in their own cages, and I have 2 more empty cages if I end up with oodles of babies.