Sexing my Society

[mieu]

Hello! I'm a relatively new finch enthusiast, here! I had two zebra boys, unfortunately one of them contracted a nasty something a few months ago, and passed away very rapidly :[ His buddy has been alone for a little while, because I balked at getting another zebra as he is very tiny and was often bullied and plucked by his cagemate (I separated them for a two-week trial, which was almost up right before the larger of the two fell ill)

So I went out and purchased a Society finch, who is in a separate cage and had a day or so to become acclimated to the general sounds of the house. I've just placed the two cages side by side and I'm waiting for the telltale song to tell me whether or not my Society is a male. If I had owned Societies previously I'd probably be able to tell by now, but I've never owned hens of any breed so I can't tell what is characteristically male behavior. Right now the new bird, whom I've dubbed 'Cricket' is very curious, hopping across its perch, frequently beak-wiping and making calls to the Zebra and the birds outside. It's VERY vocal and active so far, even though it hasn't sang it's 'song' yet. The Zebra himself hasn't sang his song either or made any sort of courtship display, so I can't tell if the Society has shown any characteristically female behavior.

Could this hint that it's likely a male? I'm not about to place them in the same cage right away, but I feel like an expectant mother eager to at least know.

Thanks!

[L in Ontario]

I am going to presume you named your Society "Cricket" for a reason. Does it sound like a cricket when it calls?

Males have a very up-and-down the scale song. Only females Societies make the cricket like sounds. If that's the case then Congratulations on your Society hen!

[mieu]

Thanks!

It does sound like a cricket when making it's distance call--I haven't seen it attempt to sing a full song however. Do males and females not share the same 'Hi, I'm here!' type of call? I assumed that both would have some sort of generic call just as my zebra has the loud 'BEEPBEEP' that it makes when it's not singing it's full-scale song.

[mieu]

I can't seem to edit my last post so I apologize for the double-post, I would like an honest opinion though on something!

Like I said before, my Zebra boy is very tiny for a zebby male...I've been shopping around for a male companion for him, but they're all big fatties, and I'm afraid that he will automatically revert to his submissive state where he was allowing himself to be plucked and chased by his cagemate that he was once completely, peacefully bonded to.

To resolve this I've been looking for smaller birds among the different breeds/species of finch, hence why I got the Society since all of the ones I'd seen while shopping before looked a little smaller than the zebras and a heck of a lot more docile. I was even considering getting a canary since I've read that they're very calm. Anyone to keep my boy company with a lower risk of him being on the receiving end of a beatdown.

So long story short, should I consider a female companion for him instead? I know I could remove and shake any eggs that are laid and replace with fake ones. I have no experience breeding any animal, and feel that doing so without having an intimate knowledge is irresponsible (especially with animals that breed so readily). So I wouldn't want them to raise a clutch together, but I also don't want to make the female tax her body by laying eggs if fake ones aren't convincing...

Any thoughts?

[G8love4finches]

I don't have Zebras myself, but a close friend does, and I babysit her birds while she is on holidays....She has a RH Parrot, a Blue Headed Parrot, 2 Goldbreasted Waxbills, 2 Orange Cheeked Waxbills and 2 Owls in with her 2 Male Zebras.....She has had no problems with her Zebras picking on any of her birds, even the tiny waxbills, but each bird can have a mean streak....Stars and Owls would be good choices if you don't want to get another Zebra...Check out this link for other suggestions:

http://www.finchniche.com/a-chart.php

Have fun with your birds!!

[tobyneilson]

I have kept zebs and societe in same cages for years and never had any problem on plucking or alt
As to breeding,I never had zebs breed with socite,but i always had at least a pair of each in the flight cages at once,Societes are very social birds and love to be in as big a colony as possible

[ac12]

I sexed my societies by putting them in the bathroom w/o any other bird, and put the cage next to the mirror. If it is a male, in a few days you should hear it singing to "the other bird" in the mirror.

I understand zebras and societies can interbreed.

I have a similar smaller than usual zebra. It will sometimes be on the plucked end of a buddy pair. Because each bird has its own personality, you have to experiment to find another bird that will buddy up. But that it is not practical when you have to buy that other bird.

My societies are ALL larger than any of my zebras, so I'm surprised that you have a small society.

If you do NOT want to breed, do NOT get a female. Put a M and F together and sooner or later, more likely sooner than later, you will have eggs. I had pairs mate as soon as I put the pair together.

[mieu]

G8love4finches, that's an awesome chart! Thank you! As for the plucking, it was really odd, when they first came to me, they were in a cage that was too small but got along fine, so I moved them both to a large flight cage and they were fine for a couple of months until the larger one started being aggressive. Something between them must have changed for the worse

Toby and ac12, thanks for your insight as well. The goal is to not have any chicks, however I'm not sure if it's feasible to fake out the hen from now until well...forever. I can return the Society for full price, but I hate bringing an animal back to where I got it from, so that fact combined with the likelihood that my boy will get plucked by any other male he is housed with is what's making me entertain the notion of a female companion. It's funny you mention the size of the Society, ac12, because I looked at them side-by-side (as their cages are next to one another) and the hen is ever so slightly bigger than my zebra!

The concept of taking any lain eggs and replacing with fake eggs to keep her from laying isn't exactly 'nice' but can you reasonably limit the frequency of a pair's clutches this way (as long as you're providing the hen with the supplements she needs to stay healthy)? All I'm really after is peaceful companionship here!