FINCHforum

I've recently bought a female zebra finch and I am trying to join her with my 10 year old male white zebra finch, he is completely white with no tear drop or zebra stripes on his tail.
I've tried putting the male in the females cages , just so that i see his and her reaction to each other.
It was all good but the male started picking her with his beak , i am not sure if he was grooming her or something but she didn't freak out , as a matter of fact i freaked out and banged on the cage so that he stops.
After that i quickly separated them and kept them in separate cages , untill they get to know each other better.
Today i brought them together and everything seems ok untill the female jumps on the males twig, the male cant chase her since he kinda lost his ability to fly , well he can still fly up and make a few circles but the horizontal flight seems to be a problem.
They even ate from the same cup and didn't fight , but as soon as the female gets a finch close to the male , the male kinda pushes her off by picking her with his beak, as if he wants his own personal space.
I've made a nest out of a small pumpkin, the size is a bit bigger then a hand and will put nesting material on the ground.
The male doesen't move that much , just left and right on the branch and when he wants to eat , he jumps down on the ground eats and then jumps from branch to branch up on his branch where he spends most of the time.
When the female gets spooked she always jumps next to the male , but the male kinda picks her off of his branch.
Can someone tell me what steps i need to take in order to make them stop fighting and make them breed.
Thanks in advance.

When adding a new bird to an aviary, some keepers take everything out of the aviary, re-arrange the perches and feeding cups etc, and then put the birds back. Then all the birds are equal. The upper perches should be at the same level, so the birds don't bicker or sitting spots. Multiple feed and water stations helps, too.

I agree with rearranging the cage/aviary to introduce new birds, but I'm not sure that expecting a 10 year old bird to breed is realistic or even safe. Most 10 year old zebras are probably sterile, but if he can fertilize your new hen it would be very hard on him to actually raise the chicks, especially since your male already appears to be showing his age.

In general though, if I want to get my zebs to think about breeding I start feeding higher protein foods (homemade eggfood & sprouted seed) in greater quantities. I have had luck breeding with fewer than 11 hours of daylight, but the traditional advice is to have at least 11 hours of daylight (or the equivalent of bird appropriate artificial lighting) per day.

StodOne

My first bit of advice, would be to NEVER BANG ON THE CAGE!!!

All this does as frighten your birds half to death, and will only make them afraid of you. It will most definitely not encourage them to breed , or raise any chicks.

You mention that your male is ten years old , which is very old for a Zebra finch (usual life span is 5-8 years). He may or may not be able to breed at his age.

That said, you can't MAKE birds breed.
You can offer them favorable conditions, good food, a large cage, peace and quiet, and hope for the best.

If your male has been all alone for a long time, then it's probably strange for him to have another bird with him. Zebra finches, are territorial, and it takes them a while to accept another bird.

You already had good advice from Dave about introductions.

Poking at each other with their beak, is not necessarily a bad behavior, unless they chase and seriously attack each other. Zebras, do preen each other, and at times it may look like they are pecking at each other.

Regarding a nest, a pumpkin is not a good idea. It will get moldy and rot , producing all sorts of nasty things to grow in there. I don't think your birds will attempt nesting in there, and even if they do, it is highly unlikely that any chicks would survive.

You would do better with offering them a nest box, an open nest, or even a thick cardboard box to nest in.

If you have any questions, regarding diet, housing, behaviour, or breeding, please feel free to ask . Most of us here on the Forum have bred birds, some for many many years, and would be glad to share information, and any answer questions.

Good luck

Thanks everyone , that was very helpful
Well that bang on the cage was kinda a reflex , alright i will try to follow the advice , hopefully something good comes out of this and get to post again xD

Although he is old i think that the age isnt the problem with his flight , i kinda have a feeling he is just lazy because he learned that i wont do nothing to him and when ever i get close to him he just stands there without freaking out , he is kinda tamed , a lot of the times i pull him out of the cage and put him on a branch i placed outside the cage , and he would just sit there , hop around left and right and seem healthy ... the problem is when he takes flight he just flies up , makes a few circles and lands on the ground , but that is because i dont have that big of a cage , it is aprox. 40 cm long and 25 cm wide which i know is not that big of a cage , but i dont know where to get a bigger one , considering making one with net type wire and just make the edges of the cage with either some wood or metal , and join the wire with the frame ..

That's a very small cage - ~16"x10" - I wouldn't keep a single bird in a cage that small full time, much less 2. Where are you located? Perhaps someone can help you find more appropriate housing for your birds. Perhaps it is best to focus on getting a better setup for your birds before focusing on breeding.

Like xz_zebs said, see if you can get a larger cage! My own feeling is that 30" or 36" (76 cm or 91 cm) lengthwise is a minimum for 1-2 birds. They stay a lot healthier if there is more room to fly.

I've built a lot of cages over the years, but I've never built the perfect one. But some room end to end so the birds can flap more than once or twice is important. They need to fly. Once that happens, a lot of things stop being a problem.

I will try to build a bigger cage , i knwo this is small , thanks for response tho..

Here are the love birds

oops , sent a same picture 2 times ...
This is what im talking about thought , they can eat together without fighting but as soon as the female stands right next to the male , male pokes her

Look what we have here




Althought the male is making me worry now , in the morning everything is fine , but in afternoon he tries to sleep , i've checked on some symptoms that he is sick the only signs that he has is fluffiness and sleepiness , although he was kinda like that , no other symptoms are visible , no green droppings , he doesent have cold feet , he sings a lot and communicates with the female , is it possible that after a period of time when finches are old they tend to sleep more?
Also i've noticed he rises one leg and stands on only one leg when he is resting , i think he is just resting his leg , his leg is fine i've checked on it..
So this is what he does , in the morning sings and what not , later in the day at around 4 o'clock he starts feeling sleepy , when he goes to sleep he kinda brings his legs together and maybe rises one leg and kinda sleeps like that...
a few moments ago well it is his time to sleep now , he kinda dropped his head down , i am not sure if he was awake and just trying to pick a food to eat i saw his head down and called his name , he looked up at me .
He regulary grooms himself , altho he is missing some feathers on the back of his head due to females peaking him long ago , i am glad he is still with me , and cant imagine what would happen if he wasnt , all other birds picked on him , and he is still alive 10 years later