Fightin' Finches
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:47 am
We have two male Zebra finches - Bock and Beep - who have been with us for three weeks. This is our first time with finches, and we're having a problem with fighting.
They squabble. At the end of the first week, they were fighting quite violently - Noisily, messily, chasing each other quite badly. Neither one seems to have been injured by the fighting despite the occasional lost feather.
The intensity of the battles has diminished significantly, but they still pick on each other intermittently throughout the day. They spend most of their time in the (conveniently wipe-clean) bathroom where we let them out so Beep - the aviator - can sit on top of the cage while Bock lords over the cuttlefish. They're housed in a Hagen Vision II SM01 cage which we try to keep in a quiet part of the flat to minimize their stress levels.
Is this behaviour normal of young males? Will it settle down in time or is there anything we can do? A bigger cage? A quieter room? Permanent separation?
Thanks very much,
L.
They squabble. At the end of the first week, they were fighting quite violently - Noisily, messily, chasing each other quite badly. Neither one seems to have been injured by the fighting despite the occasional lost feather.
The intensity of the battles has diminished significantly, but they still pick on each other intermittently throughout the day. They spend most of their time in the (conveniently wipe-clean) bathroom where we let them out so Beep - the aviator - can sit on top of the cage while Bock lords over the cuttlefish. They're housed in a Hagen Vision II SM01 cage which we try to keep in a quiet part of the flat to minimize their stress levels.
Is this behaviour normal of young males? Will it settle down in time or is there anything we can do? A bigger cage? A quieter room? Permanent separation?
Thanks very much,
L.