FINCHforum

Hello, I have a pair of zebra finches that were in quarntine but are ready to be moved in with the society finches that I have. The societies are 1 breeding pair, plus 3 of their adult babies. My concern is the pair is now in the nest again with 3 more eggs. When would be the best time to move the zebras in with them. My feeling is to wait it out until those eggs have hatched and those babies are out of the nest; which unfortunately for the zebras keeps them in a small temporary cage for alot longer than I had planned.

Thoughts?

The best time would be after the Soc babies are fully weaned. If you add birds before then the parents may get distracted and forget all about feeding the babies.

I would also keep a sharp eye on them.
Zebras and societies don't always mix well. The zebras maybe too aggressive to the societies. Heck some of my zebras were too aggressive to each other and had to be kept in solitary confinement.

Thanks, I figured it was best to keep them separate for now. I will keep an eye on them when we do finally move them (I don't want them hurting the babies!). Hopefully all should be fine. I had societies and zebras mixed together years ago with no problems.

Here is my rather limited experience with societies + zebras in the same cage.
- Zebra juv chewed the tails of the societies, so the societies tails were VERY RATTY looking.
- Zebra juv took over the societies nest, aggressively keeping the societies away from the nest.

My experience with zebras has generally been negative. Generally, mine have been aggressive, even with other zebras. Some pairs are compatible, but most combinations are NOT.

Ditto - I have had the same experiences with my Zebs while I had them as Gary.