Rearranging Zebras-what to do?

[Nerien]

Well, with impending Frankenstorm and most assuredly loss of electricity (and therefore heat, water, etc), I cleaned cages today and combined the zebras into one cage of 3 males and one cage of 3 females. Necessary because all creatures will have to come into the living room where we will be able to run a space heater off the generator, and there just isn't enough room to add 4 separate cages. As is, the two cages are up on top of the entertainment center.

So quarantine is cut short a bit, but no way around that. Will definitely be too cold in that back bedroom once the power goes out.

The three females could not have cared less about their new companions, and just went about eating and whatnot.

The three males, however...two had been together already, but one started endlessly chasing the other back and forth throughout the cage. Did not care about the new guy, just focused on his current roommate. Sprayed him down a bit with the water bottle, that seemed to change his attitude a bit, but every now and then he'd start up again. Had pretty much calmed down by bedtime, so hoping they learn to behave themselves, as we really don't need pet conflicts to deal with right now.

Put both cages up on top of the entertainment center, and covered them with a towel. But every so often, they all, and I do mean ALL, suddenly call out MEEP MEEP MEEP MEEP for no apparent reason, then go silent for another while. Has been longer and longer between MEEPS as it has gotten late, hoping I get to sleep uninterrupted tonight.

[Nerien]

Well, the all-male cage was a total disaster, non-stop chasing and attacking. The all-female cage was mostly better.

So, this afternoon, before they could kill each other, we moved the three males in with the three females.

Mostly, it's been pretty good. They all seem rather pleased to be together. Minor squabbles only.

Sure hope this works. Frankenstorm is fast approaching, and I really don't need to be dealing with uncooperative finches.

[ac12]

Odd number of zebras is usually a problem. The odd bird out will get picked on, sometimes VERY BADLY.
I keep mine in all male and all female cages, to prevent unwanted population growth. Even so, I've had problems keeping the zebras from picking on each other, or actually fighting.

A LARGE cage would help, as it gives the ones which are picked on a place to hide/escape from the dominate bird.

[Nerien]

Somehow I guess foolishly, I thought 3 males alone in a cage, and 3 females alone in a separate cage wouldn't count as odd numbers of birds. Blame it on concern of the impending doom of Storm Sandy, yeah, that's it. (today, according to my 10 year old daughter, I have not become "an old fart", nor "an old toot", I am now "just old", she said! Love that kid!)

So anyway, for a week and a half, the six of them have managed to coexist fairly well in one cage. Until today. When the BF male seems determined to wipe out most everybody else. If I could get the cage down from on top of the entertainment center myself, I would have pulled him already. Have had to settle for waving the fuzzy duster up at the cage to break up fights and distract them, or shouting "MEEP MEEP MEEP" from across the room sometimes does it.

But honestly, Birds, I will make you either a giant cage or set up appropriate separate cages if you will just give me some time, already! If I'd known we were going to get wiped out by a hurricane that would travel a thousand miles farther north than any hurricane has the right to, I would have planned acquiring you all and making cages much better. Just keep your fluffy little feathers on a little longer, please, and I will find a way to make you happy!

(except, of course, we're going to get clobbered with a Nor'easter in two days...)

there. I feel better now.

[Sally]

Happy Birthday, Nerien, though you've had so much on your plate lately that you probably won't get to do too much celebrating. I hope your Zebras settle down soon--unfortunately, they don't realize they are lucky to be warm. As long as they aren't killing each other, squabbling can be survived, it's just unsettling to us.

[Nerien]

Well, this morning it went from very aggressive chasing, to outright flutterballs of fury. They seem to have backed off a bit, probably got tired of being fuzzy-dustered.

Tomorrow is my son's birthday, and daughter has special dance performance pictures she needs to go to, so hubby took the day off from work, so we are deciding whether to build another hardware cloth cage, build several, or rearrange the house to make room for the new cage(s).

Originally, before they proved to be so cantankerous, we were figuring on a five foot long tube diy cage, would be about two feed in diameter. That cage would sit perfectly on top of my parakeet's double flight cage.

So will the six of them be much less aggressive if they have a giant, 5 foot long by 2 foot round cage? Or will it just give them more room to harass each other?

Or, we could still use 5 feet of length, but divide it into 2 or 3 separate cages, and just make compatible pairs, but then they get only 20 inches of length and about 2 foot diameter per pair.

Or, we could make the 5 foot long, hope for the best, and if not, then subdivide it, but doing that when they were already inside would not be as easy as making three separate chunks or dividing the long one to start.

What to do, what to do.....

And oh yeah, we don't have enough hardware cloth in the house at the moment...gotta add a trip to Lowe's into the plans...

[Nerien]

oh yeah, and I got handmade birthday cards from my kids, a box of chocolates this morning, and now a cherry pie is cooling and waiting for candles and singing....so not too bad.

(last year we were still out of power on my birthday, so my birthday "dinner" was Red Cross Shelter canned gelled creamed chicken over powdered gritty instant mashed potatoes. So this year is much better.)

[ac12]

More space with vision blocks is always better.
It gives the ones that are picked on more space to "get away" from the dominate bird.

I have had same w some of my zebras. They not only got aggressive, but actually started fighting. It got to the point where I had my zebras separated in same sex pairs, to stop the fighting/aggression. The worst were put in solitary confinement, then later given away.

[Nerien]

big 5 foot long tube diy cage is in progress. if necessary, it can be divided up into two or three subcages, going to put three doorways evenly along the length. dang storm Athena interfering with getting it done, gotta fill buckets with water, prep generator, store food, etc, all over again.

but we are getting good at making them, now. if anybody continues to be a problem, we can just whip out a tube cage of hardware cloth, and hang them from a plant hook, if any of the traditional cages we have don't seem to fit our plans.

Hang on, little zebras, we will get you in a happy home yet.