Sick zebra?

[vgonzalez]

Hi... I got 2 zebras about 6 weeks ago, ages unknown. I had assumed that the female was young due to the lack of feathers behind the head. (Is that a correct assumption anyways?)

Anyways, during this time she has laid eggs although they never followed through with them, deserting the nest.

My question is... she still has no feathers on the back of her head and neck area. She seems well otherwise, eating and flying around as normal.

She's in an aviary with about 14 other finches, who are all well and showing no signs of losing their feathers this way.

Any idea of what she may have? Should i remove her from the aviary?

I tried to look for pictures online to see if i could find something similar, but really didnt.

thanks
vivi

[tammieb]

It sounds like she is missing feathers due to being plucked. They may or may not grow back, depends on whether the follicle was damaged or not.

Zebras cocks are notorious for plucking hens or other males. They can be rather aggressive, especially when breeding. Often they will pluck the feathers to use for nesting material.