FINCHforum

Hello all,

One of my two female society finches has died and we want to arrange for a new companion for our surviving one. We have no other birds so the little one is all alone at the moment.

I assume I have to quarantine a new bird before putting her in the main cage? How long would I do that? Do I allow them to check each other out in the meantime (put their cages side by side) or keep them in separate rooms? Then at some point the second one goes in with the first and I assume they take it from there?

Our remaining bird used to pluck the neck of the other one. I hate to subject a new bird to that but don't know what I can do to stop it

Tessa
As to quarantine I'm not sure. ask lovezebs about the quarantine period. However it is common sense not to put the cages side by side because and diseases or viruses can easily be transmitted through the pars at such a close quarters.
As for the plucking problem get a feather duster and put it in the cage for her to pluck. You can pm me with any other questions you have.

Tessa

Quarantine is usually recommended for at least a couple of weeks, with the cages preferably being in different houses. However, that isn't exactly practical; they should be fine in separate rooms, so long as you wash your hands after dealing with the new bird's cage.

Society finches are usually peaceful, but for more aggressive birds, move the cage furnishings around prior to adding the new bird.

Plucking could be a sign of nutritional deficiency (often protein or calcium), aggression/overcrowding, or breeding behavior; it's hard to know for sure. She might stop plucking as much if she has a bit of grass or something to play with.

I usually just leave them about two weeks if they have came from a clean place and not a scruffy pet shop some I’ve had from certain pet shops I keep in the cage and don’t put in aviary for loger