Lone male zebra needs some friends

[Lemon Poundcake]

I lost my female zebra last night; she lived to the ripe old age of 10! She outlived 2 mates, and Husband #3 (Eric) is now all by his lonesome.
I have a custom built flight cage that is 6' long & 2 1/2' deep. According to the calculator, it can hold 5-6 birds, but I think that's for the more passive species. I'd like to get him some companions, but I'm not sure what the best plan is. I'm not interested in breeding, and the only finches I've ever owned are zebras, but I've owned them for years. I love them but find their pushiness exhausting sometimes.

Options:
1. Get some more zebras: all males, and how many?
2. Go with Societies? If so, how many, and will Eric (the loner) be OK with them? I realize they're very hard to sex, so having all males might not be possible.
3. I'm also intrigued by Orange Cheek Waxbills but know next to nothing about them. Would they be a good choice?

I have extra cages and could keep him by himself while I use the flight with other species, although I'd rather only do this if I have to. To be honest, I can't remember how old he is (I've had him for a couple of years). I could always just get him a female and not let them breed, but I'm not sure I want to deal with that again.

Thoughts?

[lem2bert]

Lemon Poundcake

I am so sorry for you and little Eric's loss . I am not that familiar with Zebras , but they are an easy finch to identify if you want all males.
Your cage sounds wonderful and I would love to see pictures.

[lovezebs]

Lemon Poundcake

Sorry about your girl.

You could get all male Zebras of different color mutation (which would be quite attractive.
However be prepaired for some battles, until they figure out the pecking order.

Getting a female, you will have to deal with breeding (whether you want to or not) seeing as they have minds of their own.

Societies will work with Zebras, but you would have to pick only birds that you actually see singing (or you'll be on the baby wagon in no time flat).

Orange Cheeks, are lovely peaceful little Waxbills, but not good room mates for Zebras . Not at all.

[Sojourner]

I'd go with societies - and would try to pick all males by watching/waiting for them to sing as was suggested by another poster. If you're up to pitching eggs and all that goes along with that, in cases of mistaken identity.

That cage is quite large. I'd have no qualms whatsoever about putting way more than 5 or 6 finches in there. That cage calculator, I have come to think, is geared more towards people who are breeding. I would have no problems with 4 to 6 zebras in a cage half that length (3'), and up to 8 societies. I wouldn't DOUBLE those numbers for your twice-as-wide-cage, but a cage that big could easily hold 6 or 8 zebras and a dozen or so societies. I'm assuming its also taller than 18".

As long as you end up with an even number of birds, including the zebra, I'd say you were good. He won't be a loner that way. Lone member of his SPECIES, but not a lone member of the flock. A zebra can and will pair up with a society or other species, as long as the other species isn't one of the more aggressive finches.

I would suggest Javas but they are SO darn hard to find. Javas would keep him in his place if necessary but are unlikely to pick on him.

How about Indian Silverbills? The males have quite a nice song - as nice as any canary as far as I'm concerned. They should be even easier to select out a male than societies, their song is much more distinctive. However Lady Gouldian's compatibility chart indicates this might be a problematic pairing. On the other hand, we'd be talking about ONE zebra and (in that size cage) at least 5 silverbills.

I'm assuming the cage is at least 2' tall or more. You don't mention cage height in your post. I know that cage calculator totally disses cage height as a factor, but I've had success getting my guys to use the whole height of the cage. As long as a cage is at least 30" long (36" is better, and yours is 6' long so well over the minimum) cage height should also factor in, especially when it gets over 30" tall or more. Strategic placement of perches and feed/water will get them using the whole cage.

As long as you end up with an even number in total, it should work out ok. I'm thinking Javas or societies are your best bet, and societies would be the easiest to find and the cheapest.

EDIT: I should have mentioned also - when you're ready to release birds into the cage with him, TAKE HIM OUT FIRST and rearrange everything. Then put all the birds in at the same time. This will help to reduce territorial aggression as it will seem to be new territory to everyone concerned. Your Zebra guy won't have a long-time "special" spot to get all protective over.

[Lemon Poundcake]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I am leaning towards a couple of societies and maybe a male zebra buddy for Eric. I'll be sure to move him out and then move everyone back in at the same time after quarantine. He'll be happy to have some company too.

[lovezebs]

Lemon Poundcake

Good luck!

[LesLu13]

Lemon Poundcake So if I may ask -- and I realize this post is old -- what did you end up doing? The reason I ask is because I lost my 4-year-old zebra finch a few days ago, and the surviving finch is her sister so she's also 4 -- I want to find a mate similar in age to my Lulu. How old was Eric at the time of his mate's passing and would you happen to know the age of his new friend(s)?