Pondering over Javas and Whydahs
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:05 am
A few years ago I got a pair of Pin-tailed Whydahs. I was bad and didn't research them, so I didn't know how aggressive they are. For quite a while they weren't any problem, but after reaching around two years of age the male became very aggressive.
I removed him and the female to a different cage but found he would tend to intimidate her and cause the female to keep her distance from him. When he lost his long tail I placed him and the female in a new, larger 6 ft flight cage. I figured out of breeding, he may not be as aggressive. Wrong!
He became even worse. I saw him grab my Orange Cheek by the top of the head and dangle him off a perch. I saw him do likewise to a male Zebra, except dangling him by his wing. A second male Zebra, which is very old and can't see or fly well was a constant target of his. It got so bad that I was fearful the Whydah was going to kill this Zebra. He would pluck him nearly bald and even scratch at him with his feet/talons. He struck me as a fighting rooster with how he wad being.
I moved him back to the other cage after all this, without the female. He doesn't seem to care that he's alone that much. I feel bad though because he is in such a small cage, can't do his display flight, and the male still sits there and calls to her and fans his tail out as he can still see all the other birds.
Since then I've gotten a pair of Java Sparrows. They seem to get along well with the female Whydah and i've read they can be goid companions for more aggressive finches. I've often wondered if I could move my smaller birds to another cage, or wait until the time in which my smaller birds pass, and try adding the male Whydah back in with the female and Javas.
What do you think, would they get along, of would the Whydah attack the Javas?
I removed him and the female to a different cage but found he would tend to intimidate her and cause the female to keep her distance from him. When he lost his long tail I placed him and the female in a new, larger 6 ft flight cage. I figured out of breeding, he may not be as aggressive. Wrong!
He became even worse. I saw him grab my Orange Cheek by the top of the head and dangle him off a perch. I saw him do likewise to a male Zebra, except dangling him by his wing. A second male Zebra, which is very old and can't see or fly well was a constant target of his. It got so bad that I was fearful the Whydah was going to kill this Zebra. He would pluck him nearly bald and even scratch at him with his feet/talons. He struck me as a fighting rooster with how he wad being.
I moved him back to the other cage after all this, without the female. He doesn't seem to care that he's alone that much. I feel bad though because he is in such a small cage, can't do his display flight, and the male still sits there and calls to her and fans his tail out as he can still see all the other birds.
Since then I've gotten a pair of Java Sparrows. They seem to get along well with the female Whydah and i've read they can be goid companions for more aggressive finches. I've often wondered if I could move my smaller birds to another cage, or wait until the time in which my smaller birds pass, and try adding the male Whydah back in with the female and Javas.
What do you think, would they get along, of would the Whydah attack the Javas?
