Zebra Finch Wounded:(

[M1chaelP]

Hello guys,
Thought of updating you guys regarding her status. Shes doing good. having food and all. But still at times shes the one perched a bit low (body to perch distance). lets see what best can be brought about to her by the next week.. its like whenever i go to have a check on them she starts hopping and all so i just hope shes not doing that because I'm seeing and i shouldn't put her in hospital cage this is currently the 2week of quarantine so do you think this quarantine should be extended more than 4 weeks>? i just want to remove the separator for the big cage and try to mix all of them so that they can adjust before rains start pouring here. Currently mornings the temperature will be like maximum 30C at nights it'll be 21C or so. So what do you guys suggest

[Corkysgirl]

I'm happy she is doing okay. Because it is two weeks...and because of what you said about what the boy did to her...I still think it may be an injury vs. illness. I don't think you need to quarantine her more than 4 weeks unless you think the other birds would be aggressive an hurt her. Does she fly at all or just hop? Does actually fly from one perch to another? Does she "ever" stand up on her legs or is she always in the squatting position?

[M1chaelP]

Shes flying equal to other finches out there in that cage. The main problem is i hardly get to see her during the day times because by the time i reach back home shes like sleeping on the perch beside her other companions (sometimes alone), But when she sleeps with the others i generally get some relief by the thought that birds generally don't allow other ill birds to come into their flock groups, the ill ones gets chased out. this is not happening now. i hope things will be fine soon.. and she uses both her legs most of the times unless the time she remains perched low but now with both legs for gripping. whenever shes landing its like a perfect landing and as soon as she lands i keep observing whether shell lift her leg because of pain. that doesn't happen she just remains way calm, even during her low perched conditions also shes using both the legs to take support now!!!!! that's a bit of relief!!! the main reason i wanted to maintain quarantine even though the whole flight cage has just 2 other 6 weeks finches is because the new ones are way toooooo peaky than the other ones in my house. i wanted them to grow in strength before they end up being bullied by the others. its too scary to read some posts out in the internet which mainly shows zebras are unimaginably cruel to each other
So now the concern is about the end of the quarantine period or to say the span

One more Question, Do birds know to act??? I told you about her acting very normal when a human comes to see them

[Corkysgirl]

Okay, I'm hoping I understand. She's flying fine, using both legs equally but still sitting low on the perch? You want to keep quarantining her beyond the period that you normally would? There is not issue with the time being longer. I just don't think she needs it unless there are mean birds if she's flying with them and they're accepting her. I'm not there so go with your gut instinct. So the two birds you want to continue quarantining so you don't put them with the more aggressive birds yet? (not sure what the word peaky means. Here it means slightly ill but I don't think you mean it that way). So...if you think she needs an extension of the quarantine, just do it, but if she's getting along, then don't. If you do add her to the other birds, do it at a time you can be there for an extended period to watch and see their reaction to her to make sure everyone gets along. Also if it's possible to add plastic plants to make a place she can separate herself if necessary, it would be good. I'm not sure about the acting thing. If it was my one finch, my 10 year old, I'd say yes. She's very smart and does some really funny and smart things. My other finches would never be able to think of something like that...to try to keep you from putting her in the hospital cage...but you can never be sure. She just might be very smart!

[M1chaelP]

I'm sorry i think i got you confused in the quarantine span thing which i mentioned earlier. ill try to give you a clear picture, i had purchased 2 pair of finches from the pet shop 8 weeks ago, 1 pair started to breed after 4 weeks. after a few suggestions i separated the other pair to a smaller enclosure, but they weren't happy there as there was very less amount of fly space available, so i ordered a flight cage which became a huge space, very spacious place for the other pair so i decided to get some more companions for them and went to the pet store to get some more finches (i went by the rules that 3 pairs can get along well). so in the flight cage i added the separator and left my 2 new pairs down while the old pair who were about 8 weeks old remain on top. By the word "peaky" i meant very thin, because the pet store had a lot of birds in the small cage they weren't that big as the zebras which i had at home, so i thought if i even introduce them with the old pair they'll be bullied by them so thought ill help them to eat well and become strong and then end the quarantine period, so am i doing it right?

[Corkysgirl]

Yes, I would wait until they are strong to introduce them. How many birds all together are there in the flight cage because you now have fledglings also, right? If the fledglings...or the weak ones are put together with the stronger ones, or if there are too many for the flight cage then they may get attacked. Even though the flight cage is seemingly large, any more than 6 birds...and even that is a lot, there will surely be an issue. As I said, it would be really good to put plastic plants in there so they can maybe escape behind them if there is a fight, or just to have a place of refuge, especially if there are more than 4 birds in a flight cage sized cage.

[M1chaelP]

As of now in the flight cage i have 6 birds though they are separated, i didn't know about the fact that even 6 zebras can start to fight so now ill make the plastic plant zones so that they can escape if anyone is being attacked. The fledglings are with their parents yet in another separate cage, I'm not planning on moving the fledglings here. now my question is, is it OK? to add the parents also in the cage???? i mean the cage size I'm taking about is 3.5ft Wide X 6.5 ft tall X 2 ft depth. so if i add the other birds it'll make a total of 8 birds.

[Corkysgirl]

If it's that sized cage...6 1/2 foot tall....then it's an aviary size and not a flight cage size, then it should be fine for 8 birds. They may still fight. Zebras do. It would still be good to get the plants. Just make sure if you're taking the parents from the fledglings that they are completely weaned. My one chick was a little over 6 weeks and not completely weaned though his two siblings were completely weaned at 4 weeks. Have multiple food dishes, multiple water dishes so there's less motivation to fight.

[M1chaelP]

Thanks Corkysgirl.
that's whats my plans are to put in all possible things in abundance to make their lives peaceful and happy

[Corkysgirl]

You're welcome! I'm sure they'll love they're home and new friends! You have a good day also.

[MiaCarter]

I'm so happy to hear she's doing well! Sounds like she's on her way to recovery!!

I agree with Corkysgirl; I'd wait until they're a bit stronger to integrate. But I think they should do nicely in a cage of that size, especially with foliage to create different territories and zones.