FINCHforum

This might not be exactly the right spot for this question, but I figure it's close enough. I'm trying to avoid having my finches breed. Two of them, a male and female, have quickly become quite bonded with each other. I made the choice to not put any nests or similar in the cage, to try to discourage egg laying. Over the last couple of days, though, they've taken over a simple little seed cup and started building a nest from various materials in the cage (hay, bits of the live plants).

I'm a complete bird newbie, let alone with finches. I'm super paranoid about having a female become egg bound and losing her. So I'm wondering if it's safe to just remove the seed cup now, or if it's a little too late and I should just let the process continue and then dispose of the eggs. I don't know how long it takes for the egg forming process to start until they're laid, if that makes sense. It IS really sweet when they're cuddled up in the cup together, and I feel a bit bad taking that away from them, but I just don't have the finances or space for a bunch of babies. I also live in a very isolated small town, so rehoming any babies isn't really an option (nor would I probably trust most of the folks around here...)

You are smart to think about what to do with babies, as that can truly become a problem sometimes. I believe you have Zebras, and they are known as the rabbits of the finch world. They will breed without any encouragement at all. The only sure way to keep them from breeding is to have only males or only females in a cage. With one male and two females, the only thing you can do is to keep removing eggs. The females likely will still lay eggs, and you will just have to keep removing them. You can take away the seed cup, but they usually figure out somewhere else to lay their eggs.

In a situation like this, if you want to keep all three birds, I would suggest keeping some liquid calcium on hand just in case of egg binding, as it can be a lifesaver.

An open food dish on the floor will stop their nesting attempts, or else a covered dish with only a small opening. Society finches are a little easier to keep from laying eggs than zebra finches, and won't usually drop eggs without a nest available. I've had a lot of finches and though they laid a lot (had nests at the time) I never had one egg bind, but they were kept in a large space and got a lot more exercise than cage birds, which helps prevent it. No nests along with a good diet also make it less likely to happen - crushed eggshells are my favorite way to provide the calcium necessary to lay healthy eggs if they do have to do so, and most finches love eating them.

Yes, I have Zebras. The unintentional Zebra trio that was supposed to be one Zebra and two Societies. Oh well. I'm hoping to add a fourth (and then a fifth and sixth if the two pairs aren't enough, as I'm reading is common), but that won't happen until the next time I can make the 1.5 hour trip to a town with a pet store. In the mean time, I upgraded them to a bigger cage and am putting a lot of things in to both help occupy them and also give some visual barriers. It seems to be working for the most part.

So far they will pick at the egg and shell, which I'm offering occasionally. I did buy some human liquid calcium today, which was the best I could do at the moment. I was searching for Calcium Plus on Amazon, and the only product I could find is about $10 for 16 oz plus another $10 for shipping. Does that sound typical?

I know that their drive to reproduce is perhaps unavoidable to an extent. I'm just trying to be as proactive as possible. I don't think I could split up Dobby and Snitch at this point. When I was moving them into the bigger cage I moved Snitch first and Dobby last, and poor Dobby started scream-meeping as soon as Snitch was gone. It was horrible. The seed cup is an easy removal since it was just an extra anyway and not their main feeder.

I hear/read a lot of mention of fake eggs, but so far I haven't found them through googling or Amazon. Is this something that is sold by certain places or just like fake craft eggs or something else?

In my case, I separated the males from the females. Because with zebras, even without a nest they would try to make a nest out of anything they could find, that was usually the feed dish with nothing else available. And the hen would drop eggs from the perch. So I had to go all the way to separation.

In my case, I put the males and females out of sight of each other. They can hear the other sex, but not see them.

If they scream to be with their mate, you just have to put up with it until they stop screaming. If you give in, you lose.

You could put the cage side by side, so they can see each other, and not be able to mate. That "might" help reduce the screaming.

Quite agree Sally, rightly said

ac12 wrote: If they scream to be with their mate, you just have to put up with it until they stop screaming. If you give in, you lose.

I'll be honest...I'm a sucker. It just makes me too sad for them to break up a bond unless it's a real health or behavioral issue where the alternative is putting them in harm's way. Not to mention separating into a male and female cage would mean leaving Dobby (a female) with Winky (the other female) who she picks on.

And here I was thinking finches we're going to be just this easy, pleasant bird experience! Little buggers gotta cause trouble!

camorrow wrote:

ac12 wrote: If they scream to be with their mate, you just have to put up with it until they stop screaming. If you give in, you lose.

I'll be honest...I'm a sucker. It just makes me too sad for them to break up a bond unless it's a real health or behavioral issue where the alternative is putting them in harm's way. Not to mention separating into a male and female cage would mean leaving Dobby (a female) with Winky (the other female) who she picks on.

And here I was thinking finches we're going to be just this easy, pleasant bird experience! Little buggers gotta cause trouble!

This made me laugh. I got 2 Gouldians to enjoy as pets with no intention to breed (they're both males). I thought they would be easy little pets to enjoy in my living room. After 2 months of owning I am now completely obsessed. I constantly research to make sure I'm giving them the best of everything and I fret over every little sound/move they make. I completely understand how you feel. But I must say I'm enjoying them immensely and can't imagine having a quiet house again.

Good luck!

Yes, luckily despite the mixup of species and the squabbling and the quick necessity to upgrade cage, etc etc, I'm greatly enjoying the Finch Experience. I work with dogs as my job, and I was a vet tech for years, so my general animal experience is fairly solid and vast, but birds are a whole new chapter. I'm reading and learning a lot.

Their little meeping and hopping about and exploring new things is endlessly entertaining and fascinating. I'm happy to say that I don't find their commotion at all bothersome. I'm kind of throwing myself all in and trying to learn as much as I can as fast as I can, so I apologize if the questions come frequently. I like to balance first hand experience with just reading info.

Reducing the amount of protein, eg eggfood, given to them might help, too.

camorrow wrote: And here I was thinking finches we're going to be just this easy, pleasant bird experience! Little buggers gotta cause trouble!

Haha! I know that feeling well! It seems that zebras, in particular, cause a lot of trouble for their keepers. I fortunately accidentally ended up starting my collection with two males, so it was easy to build up an all male colony (mixed zebra and societies.) I think I'd be just as uptight as yourself about eggbinding. Good luck to you and good on ya for being proactive!

camorrow

I keep my societies from laying by replacing their eggs with plastic ones. My hens will sit on fake eggs for up to two months without breeding again. This gives them the rest they need and lowers the chances of egg binding.

Some zebras however will just make another on top of the eggs and keep going. Try the fake eggs first and if that doesnt stop them, separate them.

Babs, where do you get your fake eggs?

camorrow wrote:

ac12 wrote: If they scream to be with their mate, you just have to put up with it until they stop screaming. If you give in, you lose.

I'll be honest...I'm a sucker. It just makes me too sad for them to break up a bond unless it's a real health or behavioral issue where the alternative is putting them in harm's way. Not to mention separating into a male and female cage would mean leaving Dobby (a female) with Winky (the other female) who she picks on.

And here I was thinking finches we're going to be just this easy, pleasant bird experience! Little buggers gotta cause trouble!

Zebras can be rather nasty to other zebras.
Been there, experienced that.

You need to REALLY WATCH them. I had a male pair who looked like "buddies." Well while I was away on vacation, the dominate male KILLED the other male.
When I came home, I felt like flushing the male that killed my favorite zebra, down the toilet. Instead I gave him away.

And as you have, I found that certain pairings do NOT work.
I spent many months playing musical cages, trying to find compatible combinations of zebras. I had some that were so aggressive (ATTACKING the other bird) that I had to put them into solitary confinement. In the end, I gave up out of frustration, and gave away all but 2 zebras. I only have 1 left.

The friend that I gave my zebras to has had success with them. She has a LARGE cage, and my guess is the LARGE cage gives the zebras enough private space and room to escape to.

BTW, 3 zebras in a cage does NOT work. I did that twice, and regretted it both times. 2 of the hens would pair up, then gang up on the 3rd hen, plucking it BADLY. One was plucked to death.

gud luk

camorrow

http://www.glamgouldians.com/shop-breedingsupplies.php

Scroll down about 2/3 of the page. I get 12 eggs for about 3.25 dollars. I get most of my finch items from her and her delivery is very fast, which I LOVE. She always includes a free sample and a lovely handwritten note.