Society finch died, should I get another??

[JewelrywithTab]

Hi! I’ve had my two society finches for over a year and one of them died suddenly this week. Do I need to get another one right away to keep the remaining one company? I do not know the gender of my remaining one or the one who died. Will my finch accept a new finch? Should I only get a society or could I get a zebra finch of I can’t find a society? Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

[hfinney]

I’m sorry for your loss. It’s sad when a feathered friend dies.

Finches do like to be in the company of other finches. So if I were you, I would get another finch to keep your current one company. Zebras can tend to be aggressive, so again if I were you, I’d get another society. However I have heard if zebras coexisting with societies, but it depends on the cage size and the individual finches.

Does your society sing or just chirp? If it sings, it’s a male. If it just chirps, it’s a female. If you add a bird if the opposite sex, prepare for eggs, esp if you put a nest in.

I would also try to figure out why your finch died this week before adding in a new bird. You may not know; sometimes it’s not easy to figure out. But if you can find any evidence of disease (mites, parasites, etc), you might want to treat your current bird with meds and do some major cleaning before adding another bird. Just my thoughts!

Good luck to you!

[Babs _Owner]

JewelrywithTab

Sorry you lost your little society. Yes YES! Get another society to comfort him/her.

If you dont know the gender of your finch, I will assume its a female and the one you lost was also a female (as neither sing and society males sing throughout the say so that would have been a dead give-away).

Male or female means nothing to a society, they will bond with both.

NOOOO zebras with societies. Even our local Petsmart has headed my advice and will no longer cage the two species together (took me months). Zebras pluck too much. hfinney is absolutely right about zebra predation on societies.

[Fraza]

Sorry for your loss So sad when the little birds fly to up above

And does it sing if it sings it will be a boy and if not then it’s a girl

And yeh I would get it some company especially because it’s not use to be alone do you know what caused the death by any chance or was it more like old age

[Fernando]

I would also try to figure out why your finch died this week before adding in a new bird. You may not know; sometimes it’s not easy to figure out. But if you can find any evidence of disease (mites, parasites, etc), you might want to treat your current bird with meds and do some major cleaning before adding another bird. Just my thoughts!

Good luck to you!

This is a very important advice!! I'd wait three to four weeks before buying any new bird. Check the remaining bird daily. Clean the cage more carefully than ever. Clean it twice and clean it again. Change perches and eventually other items in the cage.
Give the remaining bird changes in the cage every other day. This will keep it busy and will help it not to feel too lonely.

[JewelrywithTab]

Thank you everyone for your replies. My deceased bird sung all the time. I’m assuming it was a male. He used to also try to gather things. I do not have a nest in the cage. Before I saw these responses, I cleaned the cage and purchased another society finch. They seem to be getting along fine and my “old” bird is chirping again.

[Fraza]

JewelrywithTab that’s good news then atkeast they are getting along and if it sings then it’s a boy and if it doesn’t it’s a girl goodluck and by the way are u bothered if u have a breeding pair or not

[sparrowsong98]

Usually when animals of mine die unexpectedly (they were not old, had a lot of food and water, were not egg bound) I wait at least a month before introducing a new friend. I am currently trying to figure out what to do with my girl as her hubby just died, and have deicded to quarantine for 4-6 weeks before bringing another bird home. I would suggest the same for you.

[wildbird]

A month is a lot longer than a month to a bird and they may become depressed and die of loneliness before the end of it.

[Fraza]

wildbird I was thinking a month is too long you can atkeast put them next to each other in a cage for one week then put them together

[wildbird]

That sounds more reasonable.

[Fraza]

Yh. Amonth istoo long in bird world lol

[Sojourner]

A month is a lot longer than a month to a bird and they may become depressed and die of loneliness before the end of it.

HIGHLY unlikely. My society male has been alone since last summer - I've been sick and my dog up and died of cancer after a long illness, just did not have the time or energy to go looking for a friend for him until recently. He was, in fact, a "rescue" from a pet store where they had been keeping him alone in a teensy cage in the back for months after the other societies mobbed and plucked him (he is now permanently tail-less). So if he was going to up and die of loneliness, he'd have been dead before I got anywhere near him.

There is no doubt that finches are much happier with at least one friend, but up and dying of loneliness is highly unlikely. As long as the bird is eating, drinking, and not self-plucking, you have some time to get him/her a friend.

sparrowsong98

I concur. The OP has already solved her situation but for future reference, proper quarantine is important. I often keep them in separate rooms at first before moving the quarantine cage into the same room so they can get acquainted and have "some enchanted evenings" before introducing them to the same cage, LOL!