males bickering?

[jebediah]

This is a silly question, but do birds have little arguments one day and then are fine the next? My 2 boys (zebras) usually sleep together, and ocasionally have slept apart, but today was the first day I saw them "pecking" at each others beaks. One would hop to another perch or plant and the other would follow, they'd peck at each other, before one would fly away. No actually chasing that I've seen.

Am I worried for nothing? They've been together since I've had them (4 months or so) and this is the first I've seen it.

[lovezebs]

jebediah
Hi.
How old are your boys? When you got them, did they have their adult colours already, or did they just recently molt into adult colours?

The reason I ask, is that quite often baby Zebras will get along famously, all cuddles and snuggles and as cute as can be. However, once they reach maturity, things can change, especially with males. Then they begin to challange each other, to see who is going to be TOP Zebra. The term 'pecking order' could have been coined for Zebbies.

If they are just beak fencing, I wouldn't worry too much. It can however escalate into full blown battles. I have two brothers Teddy and Timmy, that I thought were going to kill each other a few times.

The advice I was given, was to place enough fake greenery in the flight, so that they don't have to be in each other's face all the time. That way, if one is being picked on by the other, there are some private hiding places to go into.

Usually once they figure out whose the boss, things should settle down somewhat (maybe). These after all are Zebras, and some tend to be more aggressive than others. Just make sure that there are enough seed cups and water containers, so that they don't have to compete. Also make sure that one isn't hounding the other and not allowing him to eat or drink.

Good luck.

~Elana~

P.S. Now I have several Zebras, both male and female. We do get the occasional squabbling, and the occasional fights, but so far, no body has killed any body.

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs covered it all quite nicely (and your third photo is just adorable, with the shafttail photo bomber!)

I wouldn't be worried as long as they're not harming each other. Beak fencing is pretty harmless, akin to two people shoving each other (instead of throwing punches).
I would definitely keep a close eye on the situation to ensure it doesn't go south. But hopefully, they'll be okay.

[jebediah]

I didn't think to ask how old they were (stupid move on my part), but they had their adult colors when I got them.

I wasn't able to watch them today, but they were snuggling together when I got home tonight after dark. I'll keep a closer eye on them thus weekend and see how things go

As for the greenery, I have a taller cage rather than wider so I'm worried I would take away flight room if I add anymore greenery than I already have. New cage isn't in the budget at the moment but I'd love to get a different cage in the future.

[lyswood]

Zebras sure are cute!! Great photos of them! I love their little honking sounds, too. The aggression spooks me though, so I probably won't have them. I'm reading all aggression posts, as my Goulds are having issues right now too.

I will say that mine have all done the thing you describe, where they won't roost together, beak fence each other and generally don't seem to get along, then sometimes even an hour later are cozied together. They fight like heck at bedtime, then snuggle up.

Even my bonded pair would do that - suddenly one of them wouldn't want the other on the "night night perch," and despite the fact they'd been sitting puffy and comfy beside one another there for two hours, at lights out, one would chase the other away. Usually after a few days they were back to sleeping together.

I realize that's not advice (because I'm a noob...lol) but I've seen the behavior before.

[jebediah]

So tonight I witnessed a little chasing between my boys and I'm kind of upset about it. I really don't want to separate them. They never acted this way before! I just can't figure out why they would be fighting all of a sudden. I added extra food dishes, but the only thing that's really different from before is I added a heat lamp over their cage. Could one of the birds be "guarding" the area under the heat lamp?

I'm tossing the idea around of getting a double flight cage, especially since wayfair.com seems to have a pretty good deal right now on it:
http://www.wayfair.com/AandE-Cage-Co.-D ... C1033.html

But would I be better off just separating them? Would it make that much of a difference? I just hate to spend all that money on one cage just to have to separate them in the end.

Help please?!

[MiaCarter]

I wouldn't worry about it if it's just an occasional squabble with a bit of beak fencing.
Just like humans, they can get annoyed with each other every so often. Especially boys.

Of course, a larger cage would definitely be nice! That's always a good thing!

I would definitely add some greenery. It can make a big difference.
Think of it like this: you've got a bunch of testy, testosterone-fueled men in an empty room, just sitting there staring at each other. Before too long, they're going to be going at it.
But if you add some cubicles and other features to break up the space, they won't just sit there staring at each other. They'll each have their own little space and there's a much greater chance that they'll be peaceful.

Plus, they really enjoy the greenery. Mine are always hiding in it and playing with it. They even have a little secret hidey hole on top of one of the leaf branches, just below the cage ceiling. (It took me a while to figure out where the missing bird was!)
They'll enjoy it and it helps split up the territories. If you put it mostly along the walls/ceiling, it won't interfere with flying space.

I wouldn't worry too much as long as they're peaceful most of the time and when they do squabble, they're not harming each other.

[jebediah]

I was looking into new cages and I have it down to 2 contenders.

I was thinking about a prevue f050:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002AQ22 ... ot_redir=1

Or this hq/a&e style double flight:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/281467124057

I almost prefer the f050 for its smaller footprint in a room, but if I end up having to split the boys, a double flight would be nicer. Any input on which cage might be better?

I'm also including a picture of my current set up. May someone has ideas on how to make it better?