Two female zebra finches feather plucking

[amanda]

I have two female zebra finches in a cockatiel sized cage. They sleep next to each other, and seem to get along, even calling to each other when separated. However, my grey one plucks the feathers out of my white one's head. The white one has become less active, so I removed her from the cage.

Is there any way to stop the feather plucking? Should I get another cage and keep them separated? Should I get a third female to see if that alleviates it?

[finchmix22]

The one that is plucking may just be asserting her dominance. I'd keep a male/female pair or separate them or even get a new cage mate for each one, in separate cages. Zebras can be aggressive toward their own and so it can take mixing up the way they are housed to find a match that gets along. Good Luck.

[Diana]

The one who's plucking maybe wants a nest?

[cindy]

This is an excellent article on plucking the why's and how to stop it

http://zebrafinchsociety.co.uk/index.ph ... &Itemid=68

[ac12]

My experience is once plucking starts it won't stop.

Some times, if they have eggs to sit on, the attention of the plucker is diverted to the eggs and she won't pluck the other bird. But that "trick" does not always work. As soon as the eggs are gone, or they give up sitting on the eggs, the plucking will probably start again.

For me, separation was the only option.

Separate them and let the plucked one regrow her feathers. With a heat lamp and lots of egg food. If she is BADLY plucked, keep the heat lamp on 24x7. If she become stronger during the separation, she might be able to stand up to the plucker when she is put back. But you need to keep an eye on her, in case she is plucked again. In which case separation has to be permanent.

[Nerien]

Do not get a third bird. Three is a very bad number for zebras, pretty much guaranteed to cause all kinds of trouble as they will pick on the "odd man out", and continually fight each other to not be the odd man out.

[ac12]

oops
I did not see the question about a 3rd bird.

Definitely do NOT get a 3rd bird.
As Neiren said the 3rd bird out will get PICKED on.
I lost 2 zebras this way. 2 will pair up, and start to pick on the 3rd bird out. The 3rd bird out got picked on and plucked so badly that it eventually died.

[amanda]

Thank you for all the replies! I decided to separate them. My grey one seems to pluck every bird she is with male or female. Is that normal? I put her in her own cage but still in view of the other one so they can meep at each other.

[ac12]

Yes some zebras are VERY aggressive.
Some are even more aggressive than yours, to the point of attacking and fighting with any other zebra I paired them up with.
This seems to be the nature of the breed.

The one lady that seems to not have the trouble that I have raises her zebras in an aviary. So adequate space/territory may be a bigger factor for peaceful zebras than other finches.