Sleeping Shelves

[Vaiti]

I have two male Zebra finches in cages next to each other, and at the top of their cages I've provided each with a little unenclosed shelf for them to sleep on.

I provided these after they got spooked a couple times at night and fell from their perches or flew into the side of the cage in the middle of the night. We would find them sleeping on the floor in the morning as they couldn't seem to find their way back to a perch after and so just slept where they fell.

Since we gave them selves, they sleep there and even move to the shelves when they are ready for bed.

My only concern is that the grey one sometimes makes the "this is a nice place for a nest" noise.

We bought the pair thinking they were male and female. Turned out to be a grey male and a white male. Opps. They got along well, but we think the white one is sick, he is smaller, less energetic and seems to tire easily. We are taking him to the vet later this week (closest bird vet is over 200km away). The grey male started plucking feathers from the white males neck, so we separated them.
We are hoping the plucking is just due to the white being a little ill and is prodding by the grey for preening attention, and once the white is in better health the behavior goes away so we can put them back together, which they prefer.

The issue is with the shelves tho, I am concerned it is causing nesting behavior in the grey, which may make them harder to house together. I've thought of maybe making the shelves smaller, so they are less appealing as a possible nest site, and I've also considered removing the shelves all together, but am worried they will end up flying into the sides of the cage again if anything spooks them at night.

Any advice or experience with this would be appreciated.

[Barbara]

The only time I ever had a problem at night was the first night my society babies couldn't get back in the nest at night after last baby fledged(took out no more breeding)they woke us up flying and banging on the cage.Never had to use a night light with parents,Now have one on every night and no more problems,This was my experience but someone else I'm sure can help you too.I have society which are very easy going I have never had zebras too many that seem to be unpredictable by the post I have read.Hope your little one gets better soon

[Nerine]

I think having a night light is a great idea; there is one in each area where my birds are and there hasn't been any problems with night frights.

Removing the shelves will help prevent nesting behavior

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

I posted this pic before but I use these "sleep stations" for safe and secure roosting spots.

Some call there stress perches but my birds really like them for roosting. You can get them from AABA Products but you might have to call your order in to get the number of stations you need.

Paul

[Vaiti]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm removing the shelves today. At least from the grey, the white one can have his till after his vet visit, feel like it helps him rest.

Thanks Paul, those look like the perfect thing. I am going to set about building one right away.

[Barbara]

Paul how cute all in a row do they sleep in the same one every night or is you snooze you lose

[dbotos]

Here's a link to those partitioned perches on Abba's website:

http://www.abbaseed.com/Breeder_Supplies/Perches/perches.html

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

Hi Barbara, Vaiti;

There is never any argument about roosting spots because I actually have 4 of these stations and yes V, they were easy to build.

I would bolt them to the roof of your cage so there's no shelf on top like I have.
Some finch species prefer to sleep in a next box or basket so I have about 35 of those positioned around the walk-in. They can also perch and hide in some artificial ficus trees (easy to clean occasionally with a hose).

In case of a night fright episode, I installed 8 halogen track lights. With a dimmer switch, I can easily bring the room up to full daylight or down to just enough light to calm everybody down.

The lighting system is rarely used but it's there if I ever need it. For a smaller scale, there is a dimmer switch you can buy that's mounted on an extension cord so you don.t have to disturb things to much. I also use that kind of device to control the temps from a heat lamp over my rarely used ICU in the garage.

Paul