Flood of Zebra's

reddstagg · Post by **reddstagg** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:08 pm

Some of you may of seen the aviary i had built over summer,http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... c&start=30 well the birds have certainly been busy, i started off with 5 pairs (huge mistake)

i have 2 fledglings, and 3 occupied nests with about 15 eggs in them.

What should i do? will i be flooded with babies? They do have a bit of room and apparently according to calculations i can have 40 birds in there, Im just wondering what you would do in my position? Keep breeding Zebs or get a more challenging bird?

Currently i'm thinking of waiting for the end of this season, and sell all the birds and buy some Orange Breasted Waxbills(Smaller bird) or Chestnut Breasted Munia(native to region) or maybe some Red head Parrot Finches, i do really like the shaft tails as well?

Would really love some input from other hobbiests

Cheers
Dean

Post by **Hilary** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:33 pm

In my humble opinion, if you want to add different species of finches (something I can certainly identify with) you will not want 20 or 30 zebras in the same enclosure (who will, by the way, continue breeding like bunnies in any nest or plant you leave in there!). Even if you toss the eggs and stick with the five original pairs you MAY have trouble adding other species - it all depends on the individuals (zebras can be pushy). It depends on you - are you happy with your busy little zebs or are you a variety kind of guy? Even if you decide to stick with the zebs, I'd either pull the nests when you have the desired number of birds or start thinking about what you're going to do with all of the extra babies.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:17 pm

hi red
you could always go for some societies as they dont breed as freely as zebs..that why i added a few javas to my aviary as they are a bit more challenging to breed

ken

reddstagg · Post by **reddstagg** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:46 pm

I defiantly wouldn't be too keen on adding more species in with the zebs, i am more of a species person, i find 1 species of finch in an aviary more appealing than a community of species.

I totally underestimated the breeding ability of the zebs, I have 5 fledglings now and still 3 nests full of eggs, in hindsight, probally should of got 2 pairs of finches, so i wouldnt have to address this problem so soon.

At the moment im going to wait for the eggs to hatch and chicks to fledge... and im not going to let any more nest be built, and after the birds start roosting outside of the nests ill remove the existing ones.

I guess my real question was, if the zebs keep breeding (which they will) i will want to sell them and move onto another species, what is a good 'beginner' exotic species to move onto from zebs?
how difficult or easier are they to breed?
Would African finches breed in Victoria/Australia?
(Summers are around average 33-40*C and winters average around 18*C)

Im feeling more comfortable getting some native (australian) finches then getting african finches, but i do love the colours on the african finches, im not sure how they will cope with the temperate winter here. However i assume the local stock is quite use to being housed in outdoor aviarys and have adapted overtime.

Thanks Dean

Boothcreek · Post by **Boothcreek** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:04 pm

African finches should do fine if they get the chance to adapt to the temps. It gets darn cold at night in Africa.
I live in Canada and have a pair of Weavers, they are outside during the day right now without any trouble, our day temps are between +3 and +7°C right now(gonna be +30 to +41°C during the summer though). I don't leave them outside during the night though, since temps still drop to -11°C.
When nights stay above freezing my Weavers will stay outside 24/7.

I would never keep these birds out during our winters though(-40 to -20°C), then I would surely get Finch-sicles.

African Finches are awesome when it comes to colours!!
I would consider my pair of Weavers great beginner birds(they are my first finches and a joy to take care of), they don't reproduce like rabbits, and are not very shy or spooky. Don't neccessary mix well with other types of finches so I have heard(these are my only finches so I cannot tell you how true that is). They sure got a strong bite.

Anna

Post by **Hilary** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:39 pm

I would take a look and see just what is available where you are. I do believe that many of your native birds are illegal to keep captive (like owls/bichenos?). My local breeders have been my best resource - if you have any nearby they can probably guide you toward birds that do well in your climate.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 8:37 am

there are plenty of lovely native species of australia you could put in an aviary if you are allowed to keep native species...just look at this link

ken

http://www.the-australian-finch-society.co.uk/

reddstagg · Post by **reddstagg** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:36 am

Took some of the empty nests out today, i have 6 naked babies, 5 fledglings and 2 nests with eggs.

The problem here in Australia, well Victoria at least is there is a wide range of native and Africans and we have a fantastic club scene (apparently) native finches arn't illegal to keep but you do need a license for some species,

The following natives can be kept without license:
Blue-faced Finch, Double-barred Finch, Gouldian Finch, Long-tailed Finch, Star Finch, Zebra Finch Most finches are around the same price, ($100pr) so its hard to find out whats a good beginner exotic finch.

However i have been doing my research and it seems that the red headed parrot finch is well suited to my situation, http://www.nfss.org/Articles/Article/rhpf-1.html the author of this article is on the coastline of Victoria and he kept them, so i am considering this species to replace the (possible) 21 zebra finches with 3 pairs of Red headed Parrots.

Has anyone got any experience with red headed parrots?

Cheers Dean

reddstagg · Post by **reddstagg** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:15 am

Spent a good hour at the local breeders place today, got some fantastic recommendations.

I'm going replace my zebras with a pair of Red and a pair of Blue faced parrots, he said i will have to watch for cross breading, but it shouldnt be an issue. He also recommended 3 pairs of orange brested.

Apparently the Australian bird trappers are buying loads of pairs of parrot finchs and orange breasted and selling them to malta, with the way the Australian dollar is they buy them at a good price here, which is realatively cheap in other countries... sell them at a cheap price in malta... its also much easier to export non natives.. and they already have the export license.

Apparently these 3 species are easy to breed and use to be alot cheaper until the trappers started selling them and they are harder to find now which is why the price has risen.

He got 35 babies out of 1 pair of red face parrots finches this season, so the birds are more than suited for our climate, just need to make sure i have lots of plants and got to get some good polycarbonate sheeting to prepare for winter... drafts = bad

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 1:19 pm

35 chicks from one pair in one season?!?:shock:

Sounds to me like he's overbreeding them. Poor things. They aren't machines!

reddstagg · Post by **reddstagg** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 5:57 pm

It could of been over the year... it could of been out of multiple birds... but he deffiantly puts the care of the birds first... and his a super breeder. I think i might of miss heard what he said now that i look at it

Post by **Hilary** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:51 pm

I have a pair of red face parrots and love them. They're too young to breed yet so can't help you there, but they're beautiful and seem to get along with everybody.