Society finch basics

[zebsoc]

Basic questions on society finches:

Can males and females be housed in separate cages in Same location/room
Or will this lead to either males or females, or both, fighting because they can see and hear the opposite sex but not interact/mate with them?

2 males together?
3 females together?

What are the best combinations but No breeding?

Can 2 males and 3 females be kept together or do they pair up like zebra finches?
Would 2 or 3 pairs/couple get along best in a 25 x 20 cage?

[Sally]

You can definitely house males and females separately. If you put the males and females together, you will have breeding for sure.

[lovezebs]

zebsoc

Did you mean housing '3' pairs in a 25 by 20 inch cage??? Or did you mean 25×20 feet?

If we are talking inches, than that size cage is actually too small for even one pair of finches. Finches exercise by flying from side to side, and need at the very least 30x18 x18 inches, for two finches, with bigger being much better. Without the sufficient room to fly, they tend to get obese, unhappy and unhealthy.

Regarding genders.
If you don't wish to breed, then an all male community would be ideal. Society finches, are very laid back and very peaceful, the odds of them 'fighting' , are extremely unlikely.

If you have a community of only females, you may end up with eggs. These eggs will be infertile, but when females continue to lay eggs, there is always the danger of egg binding (which can be fatal, if not treated appropriately and immediately ).

Good luck with your choices.

[Sojourner]

I had a female society who died of egg-binding during her 2nd attempt at laying.

The first time she had laid 2 infertile eggs in the clutch, which mysteriously disappeared along with all the nesting material. While dumping or eating sterile eggs is not an unexpected outcome, there was no egg mess to be found. It's a mystery.

Anyway she was in a cage with only one female friend, who has since been re-paired with a little male I rescued from the pet shop (they thought he was female but I'd have taken him anyway).

However, I don't think the fear of egg-binding is such a concern that you should totally eliminate the possibility of an all-female cage. Just be aware of the possibility.

Also, if you remove all nests from the cage, it makes it a lot easier to toss eggs, and it reduces the chances that they will try to lay. Doesn't STOP it, but it does cut down on the chances.

The bigger issue regarding keeping a single-sex cage full of society finches is how to accomplish this due to their total lack of any reliable dimorphic features. Head and beak shape and what not don't cut it - several folks were convinced my little white female was actually a male, but I can promise you she is in fact a female, LOL! Those things are just too tricky (especially over the internet via shaky cell-phone-camera-pictures) and while an experienced keeper might be able to tell 80% of the time what the gender is for any given bird, you only need to miss one to end up with a bunch of babies.

I've decided the better option is not to worry about gender and just watch to make sure that everybody ends up in SOME kind of pair bond. That, and don't provide any nesting spots and discard any eggs that happen to get laid. And keep LOTS of calcium sources in the cage at all times to prevent egg binding! LOTS. and LOTS.

I took out any feed cups large enough to even faintly resemble a nest, I even had to take the egg cups out for awhile because Aunty Pywacket was trying to "nest" in them. I've been able to put them back this past week, but for awhile there she was obviously determined to treat it like a miniaturized nesting site.

So their feed and water are in silos, and then there are only the treat cups in the rest of the cage. Nothing big enough to lay an egg in.

[Babs _Owner]

zebsoc

Society finches will rarely fight over anything. I've had a single cage filled with 8, all males, and the antics and just hysterical.

In an all male cage they constantly explore, get in each other's faces and puff up and sing their hearts out all day long. As long as you have an even number, 2 or 4, 6 etc....they will pair-off with each their favorite and create male bonds and preen each other all day.

Mixing males and females can create issues if you have an uneven number. Especially if the "odd man out" is a male. The males will give their attention to the ladies and not include the other male.

Societies are never outright mean, but it does make the "odd guy" very sad and lonely, as they are very emotional due to their social nature.

All males fine, all females fine......mixed males and females fine. RULE IS no uneven numbers.

Each society MUST have a partner-buddy, and it doesnt matter if its male or female. Unless the males outnumber the females.....thats not a good idea.

[zebsoc]

Thank you Sally, Lovezebs, Sojourner, Babs
Very helpful info

Quick background if someone haven't seen my other post.
Squeaky female zebra in cage with Whitey male Society.
They seems to be doing ok right now. Keeping eye out in case Squeaky gets into plucking mode.

3 Society females together. 2 black and white, 1 fawn and white.

What I need now then would be a fawn female to pair them up since it's the fawn that has no partner.

If Squeaky and Whitey don't work out tho, then I would need :
A male for Whitey. Separate cages.
If put Whitey in same cage with 4 females, would still need a partner for Whitey to make even numbers.