FINCHforum

Do you guys think that getting him a little finchy girlfriend might help him chill out a bit? I'm guessing he might be a little uh, frustrated

I've posted here a few times before about his agressive behaviour. He (Henry) and my other male zebra (Chester) used to be buddies, but suddenly he turned into a little flying jerk, and they've been living in a divided cage ever since. Separating them seemed to calm things down a bit, but this past week has been very annoying.

I gave him a mirror with a little perch (about a month ago), and at first, he seemed to like it. He's been doing his very best to build a nest in front of it (out of feathers and leftover millet twigs ) and seems to spend a lot of his time sitting up there. However in the past few days, I've seen him trying to attack his reflection. He goes nuts, chirping and chattering away, flying back and forth and pecking at the mirror. And he's being really loud. He's making sounds I've never heard him make before.

Has anyone had any experience like this? Do you think adding a female to the mix would set him off even more? I'm hoping I can get him to quiet down a bit, because he's driving my roommate nuts. It's getting to the point where I'm worried she's gonna ask me to get rid of him which I don't want to do. If getting him a mate will ease the situation, I'm gonna need to figure out a way to convince my roommate that adding more birds will make things quieter. Or am I just totally kidding myself here?

Thanks for any and all help.

It's a tough call, it may quite things down getting a girlfriend as it will keep him otherwise occupied for the time being, but you'll also be adding to your bird population as they will most definetly start laying and having babies. Then once the babies fledge, you'll need another cage to separate the babies from the parents.

What size cage do you have them in?

Renee

I dont know if it has anything to do with having a girl actually. I think it has everything to do with the other mirror. To him, its another male... and thats a threat on his turf and he will be aggressive towards it. Def remove the mirror and he will chill out again. If you toss a girl in there, he is just going to get more aggressive because he will want to protect his girl from the "other" male.

Zebs can be pretty territorial. Being neighbors with another male and also having a mirror reflecting his image is probably making him agressive. I'd try removing the mirror and try keeping them out of view from one another maybe. Although anytime a finch is alone it will call out alot... Maybe you could get him a friend that is a different species. Then he can make buddies without reproducing or getting defensive. ie a society finch or something friendly like that.