1zebra, 2zebra, 3zebra, 4....

[lovezebs]

Hello all you Zebra lovers out there!

Don't know if I remember this right, but... Was there a post somewhere on here about how 4 zebras were not a good idea? That for whatever the reason, 6 was a better number??? Am I remembering right, or just a figment of my imagination? Or did that only apply to mated pairs? Would that work with all males as well????

Yes you guessed it! This all has to do with Teddy and Timmy (the terrorists)... They are driving everyone crazy, including me. I am just about ready to make zebra soup here folks.

Just caught Teddy, holding poor Max by the wing, with poor little fella trying desperately to fly away. Now what is with that? I screamed at him, "DROP IT!!!" (yes I have dogs as well and its a fairly common command) and surprisingly enough he actually let him go. Max seems to be alright but a bit shaken by the incident. His wing is ok but this can't go on. I'm worried someone is going to get seriously hurt.

Any ideas before I start chopping carrots and cellery for soup???

[Ginene]

Oh Boy!!! Yes...you are correct, btw. 6 or more and equal M/F pairs or they will fight over mates. Sometimes all boys and all girls work out better. I had 3 M/F pairs...2 were fresh and 1 was actually very sweet! Eventually, I separated all 3 pairs into different cages. My sweet pair went with my societies (without issue). My Black Cheek pair was actually alone. My Normal Grey Pair was the WORST of them all, so they resided with a Shaft Tail pair and a Cut Throat pair in a 60"W flight. That cage was actually very peaceful. I think the zebs figured out they were no match for the Shafties or Cut Throats.

[Zebrafincher]

Hello there,

regardless of your bird types (M, F, different species however) personality will also have a great effect! My current Star finch Merl annoys my canary by just existing. He also pokes him up the bottom when ever he's in the same cage, and also tries to pick on my poor Zebbie, Beaky, who is SOOOO friendly! My previous tiny star finch, Fruit, was even MORE aggressive, and would jump from his cage to attack any other bird (which was often comical as he couldn't fly!).

Finches have very BIG personalities for such small creatures!

Good luck

Kind Regards

Zebrafincher
Proud owner of:
*Kevin aka “The Old Man” - cranky canary – 12 years old
*Beaky aka “Beakster” the Zebrafinch – 1 year old – and a real, real cutie!!!
*Merlin aka “Merl” the Starfinch – 2 years – and “bossy as anything for such a small fry!”

[lovezebs]

??? So I should leave them to murder each other? Or start playing musical chairs again? No soup???

[Angela&Shalamar]

I also have found who I put them next to makes a difference if you have multiple cages where the can see their neighbors. I can put a pair of males together but if they can see females nearby they start fussing with each other. I've found keeping a male female pair and just not giving a nest to those I don't want to breed is the best way to keep everything peaceful....well...as peaceful as those goofy zebras can be

[lovezebs]

Hi Angela.
Problem is, all boys, no girls around at all.
Two brother zebbies (grey) and two other boys, white and WCF (probably cousins of some sort). The grey brothers are the nutty ones. Either one or the other picks on everyone else. And then they turn on each other like rabbid skunks.

[lpappy]

I have the very same issue. I seperated them M/F and even though they couldn't see each other the males were fine and the females were ripping each other's feathers out. I gave it some time and it never got better so I seperated mine into pairs without a nest and put the spare female in with my goulds. It's quiet now.

[lovezebs]

Hi again.
Those darn silly birds.
So now, I have Teddy, Micky and Max together, with Timmy in a seperate cage. Urrrgh! Teddy has taken up with Micky, Max feels like a fifth wheel and is crying. Timmy is lonely and unhappy and crying... As for me... I'm debating how large a soup pot I'll need.

[lpappy]

You are so funny lovezebs! At least you have a sense of humor about it all!

[Nerien]

Lots of perches, all around all four sides of the cage, lots of greenery, LOTS of greenery, so they don't have to look at each other all the time (Mo-om! He's LOOKING at me! Make him STOP!), several food bowls and waterers so they don't have to share with anyone they don't like.

It's how I stopped my six psychos from killing each other. Right now I'm up to nine in there, five males, four females, (while waiting for better arrangements) and all are doing okay with each other.

Had a post or two on this back at the start....

Here it is: http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... ilit=zebra
At first I didn't have so much greenery in there, and they still fought. Got fed up one day, started SHOVING stuff in all over to give them private places, it worked. They can still fly the length through the middle, but there are lots of places for them to get away from each other.

[lovezebs]

Nerien
Hi Ruth.
Will put in more greens. Already have a bunch in there though. They hide in the greenery and then when an unsuspecting zebbie comes by...wamoh! ..... . Momma, Momma, he beaked me! He beaked meeee.... Waah wahh! Just watch I'll get him back.... I'll get him good... He'll regret the day he was hatched!!!

Your cages are beautiful, Ruth. God I wish I could get my hands on those petco flights. But no go. Checked in pet store for similar flights. $ 100.00 for one. Yikes!!!

Well , another day....

[Ginene]

lovezebs...Thanks for making me LAUGH every day!!! Truly...you have a gift! As for your naughty boys... ...I fear you are up a creak without a paddle, my friend! But if anything is going to help it is listening to my friend Nerien!!! She is literally my cage GURU and has managed to house zebras TOGETHER peacefully! I would go with her advise and her set up, as close as you can get it. Otherwise...I'm starting to think soup might be your next option ...

[lpappy]

You guys are too funny! I thought it was only me with my crazy zebras! Everyone else gets along just fine but for some reason they are my pain in the you know what! I love having them don't get me wrong but they are something else. Just when you think you have them figured out they start picking on each other. Right now I have two pair seperated and a lone female in with my goulds. They seem to be doing well but I had to put a divider into my flight cage to seperate the two pair and I've been toying with taking it out to give them more room. Plus I read the 6 do better than 5 so - crazy me - was wondering if I should take out the divider and get another male or just leave things as they are for now. I might be making myself a bigger problem if I do that. I guess I have to ponder that for awhile!

[Ginene]

lpappy
Linda, When I first got my finches, the breeder sent me an extra zebra hen by accident. She was a lovely fawn, so I didn't mind, but I ran out the next day and got her a mate at my local pet shop. She and her mate turned out to be my sweetest pair and best parents. They wound up being housed with my societies, while my BC pair (naughty) had to be housed alone and my NG pair (psycho) was housed with shaft tails & cut throats. So believe me when I tell you...6 zebras isn't a dream set up...I think the recommendation means 6 finches not 6 zebbies . This time around, I didn't get zebs...I miss them...and they are gorgeous...but you guys remind me that there's not enough room in my bird room for their many housing issues

[Nerien]

Oh yeah, after my exasperated plant shoving day, the males did start to chase each other a bit, and I now remember pulling a bit of dog and cat and degu discipline on them.

Pulled out the squirt bottle, set it 2/3 of the way between mist and stream (so it was a broad, misty stream, not a killer, focused stream), and when they started chasing, squirted several times at the offenders. Would immediately stop the chasing, as they didn't know what had hit them. Sometimes distracted some of them into thinking it was bath/shower time. But there was no doubt that bad behavior meant getting squirted more than was pleasant.

I think this may have helped. It certainly works on the dog, the cats, the degus....but not on the kids. Just starts a water fight.